Competition history of M3 E30
In Group A competition form, the M3 developed just on 225kW (300bhp) and weighed just 960 kilograms.
The M3 made its competition debut in early 1987 at the Calder Park Raceway, in Melbourne, Australia. Two M3s were entered by the Australian factory BMW team for Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst. Richards took pole, but the two cars finished fifth and sixth, an inauspicious debut for the car which was to go on become the most successful touring car in history.
Not long after its competition debut in Australia, the factory BMW teams assembled at Monza in Italy for the round one of the first and only World Touring Car Championship. For the World Touring Car Championship, BMW M3s were entered by the Schnitzer, Bigazzi, Linder and CiBiEmme teams. Drivers included Roberto Ravaglia, Emanuele Pirro, Altfrid Heger, Marcus Oestriech, Luis Perez-Sala, Roland Ratzenburger (who was killed in a Simtek in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix – the same race that claimed the life of Senna), Christian Danner, Johnny Cecotto and Gianfranco Brancatelli. These drivers were amongst the best touring car drivers in the world at the time. Ravaglia and Brancatelli were former European Touring Car Champions, Cecotto was a former 500cc Motorcycle World Champion and former Grand Prix driver with Toleman and Danner was another former Grand Prix driver. The other drivers were young stars, most with F3000 experience.
The M3’s competition in the 1987 WTCC included Ford (Sierra RS Cosworth), Holden (Commodore VL), Alfa Romeo (75 Turbo) and Maserati (Bi-Turbo).
In the opening race at Monza, a Sierra took pole, with no fewer than six BMW M3s in positions two to seven on the grid. The Sierra retired after only a few laps, and BMW M3s went on to finish in the first six positions, only to be disqualified for running illegal light weight bootlids. That left an Australian entered Holden Commodore as the winner.
The first Australian race and the Monza race both highlighted the BMW M3’s potential for the 1987 season, despite the ultimate lack of success in these two races.
After this somewhat unplanned start, the M3s went on the dominate the World, European, German and Australian Touring Car Championships in 1987.
Jim Richards won the 1987 ATCC. Wini Vogt was the European Champion. Eric van de Poole was the German Champion. Roberto Ravaglia was the World Champion.
BMW also took the manufacturers title in the European Championship and finished second to Ford in the World Championship.
This remarkable performance in 1987 came despite the M3 being significantly less powerful than its opposition. As noted earlier, the Sierra had about 360 bhp in early 1987, but by the end of 1987, it had 460 bhp. The M3’s had no significant gain in power during the season. Up until the debut of the RS500 in August, the M3s had no trouble defeating the Sierras. Prior to the introduction of the RS500, the M3 had a better power to weight ratio, better handling and superior reliability. The result was that M3’s won three of the first five rounds (including the Spa 24 hour race) of the WTCC compared to one a piece for Ford and Holden. Once the RS500 arrived, the M3s lost their power to weight advantage, but retained their superior reliability and handling over the Sierra. In the final six rounds, the M3s took one more win, compared to four for Ford and one for Holden. At the end of the 1987 WTCC, Roberto Ravaglia was crowned World Champion, and BMW had four victories, Ford had five and Holden had two. Combined with the four outright victories, BMW took all eleven class victories. The way the points structure was set up in the World Touring Car Championship, class victories were as important as outright, thus helping Ravaglia to be champion.
More championships and victories followed in 1988. The World Touring Car Championship was cancelled after just one season. However, thanks to a points system that favoured class victories over outright victories, Roberto Ravaglia won the 1988 European Touring Car Championship. Ravaglia’s BMW M3 also scored three outright ETCC victories to go with the dominance of the 2.5 litre class. During 1988, the M3 took its second straight Spa 24 hour victory and its first Wellington 500 victory in New Zealand. New Zealand driver Trevor Crowe also took out the 1988 Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship, while Frank Synter won the British Touring Car Championship.
The M3 was hardly the dominant car in 1988. During the 1988 season the BMW M3 Evo 2 debuted (the Evo 1 was used from the start of the M3’s competition career), giving a little more horsepower and allowing teams to use a six speed gearbox.
Despite these improvements, it couldn’t beat the RS500 out and out performance. However, it was more reliable than the RS500 and on tight, twisty circuits such as the Wellington street circuit or the Macau street circuit, the M3 was the best car to have due to its excellent handling.
In 1989, the FIA cancelled the European Touring Car Championship. BMW concentrated on the German, British and Italian championships instead. Roberto Ravaglia took his fourth straight major championship for BMW, winning the 1989 German Touring Car Championship. The German Championship ran a variant of the Group A regulations, but allowed further engine freedoms and adopted a handicap system on successful drivers to keep the competition close. The BMW M3 Evo developed about 330 bhp for the 1989 German Touring Car Championship, and was more than a match for the Mercedes opposition. As well as victory in Germany, the M3s also won their second straight Wellington 500.
The 1990 season wasn’t the most successful for the M3, but even so, it still recorded its third victory in both the Spa 24 hour race and Wellington 500. The Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Swiss and Belgian championships were also won by M3s. In the Italian Championship, Roberto Ravaglia took his fifth major touring car championship in as many seasons. In the German series, BMW finished second.
For the 1991 season, the Evo Sport debuted, and power was increased to around 360 bhp. BMW couldn’t win the German series that year, finishing only fifth in the title chase. However, a 2.0 litre version of the M3 was developed for the new British two-litre rules, and Will Hoy was the BTCC champion in an M3. Also, 1991 season resulted in a fourth victory for an M3 in the Wellington 500. BMW returned to competition in the Australian Touring Car Championship during 1991, with the little M3 Sport Evo in the hands of Tony Longhurst and former World Champion Alan Jones. The M3 Sport Evo’s were the only cars to beat Nissan’s Skyline GTR in the 1991 ATCC, with Longhurst winning the Amaroo Park round.
The 1992 season was the final one for the M3 in Europe. A fourth victory in the Spa 24 hour race was recorded. However, the German championship eluded BMW once again. By the 1992 season, the M3 was an obsolete car, and the fact that BMW drivers were still able to win races in the German series that year is a testament to the strong basic design of the M3.
In Australia, in 1992 the M3 once again took out a round of the Australia Touring Car Championship and managed to finish fourth in the Bathurst 1000. Tony Longurst and Paul Morris defeated the European Schnitzer BMW team to record the fifth straight victory for BMW in the Wellington 500.
Changes to the regulations in the various European championships in 1993, plus the introduction of the new BMW 3-series E36 meant that the M3 E30 was retired from European competition at the end of the 92 season. However, there was one last season left for the M3s in Australia. The M3 was allowed to compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 despite the introduction of the new V8 Supercar regulations. For their final season of competition, the Australian factory team ran four BMWs in the 1993 ATCC, occasionally scoring podium finishes against the much quicker Ford and Holden V8s. The M3 E30 went out on a high note at the end of the 1993 season, when Charles Kwan won the Macau Ghia Trophy race.
There were three races that the M3 had a particularly spectacular record. These were the Spa 24-hour race (victories in 1987, 88, 90 and 92), the Wellington 500, where it scored five straight victories and the Macau Ghia Trophy race, where it scored five victories. The one major race that eluded the BMW M3 was the Bathurst 1000. Late in the 1987 race the Cecotto/Brancatelli M3 appeared to be on course to win the race, until a brush with the wall dropped it back. That was the closest the M3 got to victory at Bathurst. The Bathurst circuit was the hardest circuit in the world for the M3, due to the long uphill climb that highlighted the M3’s lack of power.
Why do I suggest that the M3 was the most successful touring car ever? On paper it wasn’t a match for the much more powerful Sierras, Nissan Skyline GTRs, Holden Commodores, or Audi 300 Quattros. Yet, it was still able to beat these rivals regularly.
The reasons were that the M3 had an excellent, well balanced chassis that worked on any circuit. It had bullet proof reliability. The resources of the BMW factory were poured into continually developing the M3 over seven seasons, to ensure that it always remained near the front of the field. The M3’s competition career coincided with a time when the majority of the world ran similar touring car regulations. Finally, some of the best touring car drivers ever drove the M3s for various BMW factory teams during this period. Put simply, there was no other manufacturer that could consistently match BMW during this period. Such was the success of the M3 that it will be a long time before its international touring car record will ever be matched or surpassed.
4 Attachment(s)
Results, Specifications and Photso
[B]Major Race Wins (Endurance Races Only)[/B]
[B]Major championships[/B]
1987 World Touring Car Championship – Roberto Ravaglia
1987 European Touring Car Championship – Wini Vogt
1987 German Touring Car Championship – Eric van De Poele
1987 Australian Touring Car Championship – Jim Richards
1988 European Touring Car Championship – Roberto Ravaglia
1988 British Touring Car Championship – Frank Synter
1988 Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship – Trevor Crowe
1989 German Touring Car Championship – Roberto Ravaglia
1990 Italian Touring Car Championship – Roberto Ravaglia
1991 British Touring Car Championship – Will Hoy
[B]Belgium[/B]
1987 Spa 24 hour – Jean-Michel Martin/Eric van de Poele/Didier Theys
1988 Spa 24 hour – Roberto Ravaglia/Altfrid Heger/Dieter Quester
1990 Spa 24 hour – Johnny Cecotto/Markus Oestriech/Fabien Giriox (M3 Evo’s 1st & 2nd)
1992 Spa 24 hour – Steve Soper/Christian Danner/Jean-Michel Martin (M3 Evo Sport’s 1st, 2nd & 3rd)
[B]New Zealand[/B]
1987 Pukekohe 500, NZ – Gianfranco Brancatelli/Allan Grice (M3)
1988 Nissan Mobil 500, Wellington, NZ – Roberto Ravaglia/Emanuele Pirro (M3 Evo)
1989 Nissan Mobil 500, Wellington, NZ – Roberto Ravaglia/Emanuele Pirro (M3 Evo’s were 1st & 2nd))
1990 Nissan Mobil 500, Wellington, NZ – Emanuele Pirro/Johnny Cecotto (M3 Evo)
1991 Nissan Mobil 500, Wellington, NZ – Emanuele Pirro/Joachim Winkelhock (M3 Evo Sport)
1991 Nissan Mobil 500, Pukekohe, NZ - Emanuele Pirro/Joachim Winkelhock (M3 Evo Sport)
1992 Nissan Mobil 500, Wellington, NZ – Tony Longhurst/Paul Morris (M3 Evo Sport)
[B]Other major Endurance Race Wins[/B]
1987 WTCC - Jarama 500, Spain – Emanuele Pirro/Roberto Ravaglia
1987 WTCC – Dijon 500, France – Johnny Cecotto/Gianfranco Brancatelli
1987 WTCC – Silverstone Tourist Trophy 500, UK – Enzo Calderari/Fabio Mancini
1987 ETCC – Donnington 500, UK – Wini Vogt/Dieter Quester
1987 ETCC – Estoril 500, Portugal – Johnny Cecotto/Gianfranco Brancatelli
1987 ETCC – Anderstorp 500, Sweden – Wini Vogt/Altfrid Heger
1987 ETCC – Osterreichring 500, Austria – Johnny Cecotto/Gianfranco Brancatelli
1987 ETCC – Imola 500, Italy – Wini Vogt/Altfrid Heger
1987 ETCC – Nogaro 500, France – Fabien Giriox/Jean-Pierre Jassaud
1987 Pukekohe 500, NZ – Gianfranco Brancatelli/Allan Grice
1988 ETCC – Donnington 500, UK – Eric van de Poele/Roberto Ravaglia
1988 ETCC – Zolder 500, Belgium – Eric van de Poele/Roberto Ravaglia
[B]Major Non Endurance Race Wins[/B]
Macau Guia Race
1987 Roberto Ravaglia (M3)
1988 Altfrid Heger (M3 Evo)
1991 Emanuele Pirro (M3 Evo Sport)
1992 Emanuele Pirro (M3 Evo Sport)
1993 Charles Kwan (M3 Evo Sport)
[B]Specs:[/B]
Engine:
Evo 1 & 2: 2,302 cc 4-clyinder, 16 valve, DOHC, Efi.
Evo Sport: 2,467 cc 4-clyinder, 16 valve, DOHC, Efi.
BTCC 1991 spec: 1,990 cc 4-clyinder, 16 valve, DOHC, EFi
Power: Evo 1 – 225 kW (300 bhp)@8000 rpm.
Evo 2 – 235 kW (312 bhp)@8000 rpm.
Evo Sport – 274 kW (365 bhp)@8,750 rpm.
BTCC 1991 – 206kW (275 bhp)@8,500 rpm
Transmission: 1987 5-speed.
1988 on: 6-speed.
Driving Wheels: Rear.
Homologated Kerb Weight: 1987 – 960 kg.
1988 on – 920 kg.
Performance: 1987 0-100 km/h – 5.0 seconds, top speed 264 km/h (165 mph)
1992 Evo Sport: 0-100 km/h – 4.6 secs, top speed about 275 km/h (171 mph)