Bavarian brands BMW M2 and Mini JCW. The Italian branch of the house of Monaco also participates in the GT championship

MILAN – The 2023 sports season of the Italian branch of the BMW Group is full of appointments and news. After all, the race is frequent in the Bavarian team, so that it would also infect the Italian team is a common thing. Also because the tradition of sports in our country is connected over time. And not only about the BMW brand, but also the MINI brand, which over the years has returned to national headlines with its MINI Challenge. The policy is open, to satisfy all tastes (and budgets) with the aim of entertaining every driver. So a chance for those who are beginners as well as those who have really done it, or are an enthusiastic gentleman driver.

That said, the “line” drawn is clear. It starts with the MINI Challenge Academy, goes to the MINI Challenge EVO, and continues with the M2 CS Italia Racing Cup. The MINI-branded competition features a 3-door John Cooper Works roadster as the protagonist. If only in the first case it is a racing version called Lite, closely related to the standard model (apart from safety-related equipment and anything else) in the second the EVO model is actually a real racing car, with a capacity of 306 horses . . . The championship is divided into six stages, starting May 5-7 at the Misano racetrack, and ending in October in Imola.

Shared milestones as well as the M2 CS Racing Cup Italia, where the M2 CS is the main protagonist. Which, with the exception of safety equipment and a separate control unit for the 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox, retains the usual characteristics of the road model. And so we’re talking 450 horsepower all on the rear axle. This is a companion piece of software designed for sports customers, ready to express their passion on the track. Then there is the more competitive element which sees BMW Italia supporting the BMW Italia Ceccato Racing Team again in 2023.

Which will participate in two championships with different staff. BMW M works drivers Jens Klingmann and Bruno Spengler and a crew consisting of drivers Carlo Tamburini and Francesco Massimo De Luca will be in the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship. When it comes to the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship, two cars of the BMW Italia Ceccato Racing Team will be entrusted to two crews made up of Marco Cassarà, Stefano Comandini, Alfred Nilsson, Carlo Tamburini, Salvatore Tavano and Francesco Guerra.

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