BMW completes young driver test in Jerez

BMW Motorsport tested four young drivers at the tests held in Jerez this week. Jesse Krohn, Louis Delétraz, Alexander Sims and George Russell were in action for the Bavarian manufacturer in Southern Spain for three days.

Krohn was crowned “BMW Motorsport Junior of the Year” in 2014. The Finn raced in the VLN Endurance Championship in 2015, at the wheel of a BMW Z4 GT3. Delétraz is also a member of the family, having participated in the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme this year.

Alexander Simms raced in the British GT championship and the Blancpain Endurance Series this season, whilst George Russell made his debut in the Formula 3 European Championship, finishing sixth overall, in 2015.

Team RBM driver Tom Blomqvist, who made his DTM debut this season, winning In Oschersleben and becoming the Rookie of the Year, was on duty at Jerez to establish the reference laps.

Jesse Krohn was amazed at the performance of the BMW M4 DTM: “The DTM is the pinnacle of tin-top-racing; it is the highest class you can reach in a car with a roof over you. It was amazing, as good as I expected, probably even better. The downforce was just amazing, as was the way you are able to enter all the quick corners flat without the car moving. That was mind blowing. This test was an awesome experience for me and the perfect ending to my best season so far in racing.”

Louis Delétraz felt thankful to BMW Motorsport for the opportunity: “I really enjoyed it. It has a lot of downforce, a lot of power and also the braking is impressive. To be honest, my expectations have even been exceeded. I was surprised how quick it went into the corners, it was awesome. I am really happy that BMW Motorsport offered me this opportunity. It was a great end to the year.”

Alexander Sims was surprised by the downforce and power provided by the M4 DTM, compared to the GTs he is used to race: “It was pretty awesome. I have heard a lot of good things about the BMW M4 DTM and it was fantastic to experience it myself. The car has a lot of aerodynamic downforce. It means that when you are braking and going into a corner you have to be very precise with the amount of braking pressure, and also the steering input. That is different to the GT car and it took some time to adapt to, but in the end it was pretty good. Also the amount of power the car has is awesome, as is the braking. With carbon brakes it slows down very quickly, and that was very impressive.”

George Russell found the DTM car to be similar to his F3 single seater: “It was the first time that I had driven such a car with such pace and it was a great experience. It was the first time I had experienced a tin-top with this much grip. It was just incredible and being able to be on the limit was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially liked the downforce. There are many similarities between a Formula 3 car and a DTM car. They both have a lot of downforce and impressive horse power, so for me as a Formula 3 driver it did not take long to adapt.”

BMW Motorsport is yet to announce their 2016 DTM driver line-up, although no major changes are expected.