“Our newly structured BMW Motorsport Junior Programme proved to be extremely successful in its inaugural season in 2014, and produced an outstanding young driver in Jesse Krohn, for whom we have high expectations in his further training in GT racing,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Now I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the second class of our development programme for young GT and touring car drivers as they join the BMW family. Our four drivers came out on top over numerous rivals during the selection process. This shows that they bring a lot of talent with them and that we can expect a lot from them. I’m really looking forward to seeing our four new BMW Motorsport Juniors out on the racetrack soon as part of their year of training.”
In difficult weather conditions, a total of seven candidates competed against each other on the “Circuito Monteblanco” in the BMW M235i Racing. A jury, which, alongside BMW Motorsport engineers and others in charge of the junior programme, also included BMW works driver Dirk Adorf, assessed the abilities of the talented young drivers in areas such as driving strength, consistency, understanding of the car, teamwork with the engineers, concentration, flexibility, self-assessment, ability to receive feedback and criticism, and behaviour in the group. The four new BMW Motorsport juniors made an outstanding impression. The quartet will make their first joint appearance at a welcome event in Munich on 28th April.
The BMW Motorsport Juniors training programme, lead by chief instructor Dirk Adorf, gets underway with testing in May. In addition to a further test in September, the programme includes two workshops at the iZone Driver Performance Centre in Silverstone, and three VLN race starts in the BMW M235i Racing. At the end of the year, the most successful BMW Motorsport Junior of the season will be given the opportunity to continue his training for a second year in a higher racing category. The winner of the 2014 BMW Motorsport Junior Programme, Jesse Krohn, will complete an intensive racing programme in the BMW Z4 GTE and BMW Z4 GT3 in his second year of training.
Victor Bouveng will fly the BMW Motorsport colours for the first time on 11th/12th April. The 18-year-old is in BMW Motorsport’s driver line-up for the BMW M235i Racing media car, which will once again contest both the qualifying race for the 24 Hours Nürburgring and the actual endurance classic on 16th/17th May 2015.
“It means a great deal to me to be part of the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme this season. I worked hard for this opportunity,” said Bouveng. “The shoot-out in Monteblanco was a real challenge because the competition from the other candidates was so fierce. But I did it and I’m sure I will learn a lot in the coming months through working with a team as professional as BMW Motorsport. I’m especially looking forward to getting to know the Nordschleife even better. I competed in two VLN races there last season, but driving in the dark at the 24-hour race in particular will be a new challenge for me.”
Bouveng has already gained experience in a touring car over the past two years. In the DTM supporting programme, he took part in the Scirocco R Cup races and in his second season in 2014 finished in an outstanding third place overall. Over the course of the season he finished on the podium six times. Before switching to touring car racing, Bouveng competed in karting and formula racing up until 2012.
Nick Cassidy has had his biggest successes to date in formula racing. Notably, he demonstrated his exceptional talent in 2014, when he finished third on his debut at the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. In the same year, he won the New Zealand Grand Prix in his home country for the third time in a row. He also got his first taste of touring cars in the Australian V8 Supercars and New Zealand V8 SuperTourers. “Being a part of the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme is an important step in my career, and one I am very happy about,” said Cassidy. “My career has been primarily single-seaters, but I have had some experience in touring cars in the past. I have two priorities this year: I want to win in Formula 3 and, together with BMW, I aim to learn as much as I can to improve myself as an all round driver. A challenge I am looking forward to!”
Louis Delétraz turns 18 on 22nd April, making him the youngest participant in the 2015 BMW Motorsport Junior Programme. But the Swiss man is not a new arrival to the BMW family. He was successful in the Formula BMW Talent Cup in 2012, before switching to Formula Renault 2.0 NEC in 2013. He had a convincing season last year with one win, five podium finishes and second place in the overall standings. “It’s great to be back in the BMW family,” said Delétraz. “I enjoyed my time in the Formula BMW Talent Cup very much. Now I’m looking forward to joining the new programme for touring car drivers. So far I have driven single-seaters, but I’m sure that there is no better place to learn all about touring car racing than at BMW Motorsport.”
Just like Delétraz, the fourth BMW Motorsport Junior Trent Hindman is no stranger to BMW. He contested the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) in a BMW M3 for the Fall-Line Motorsports team in 2014. Alongside BMW works driver John Edwards, Hindman celebrated two season wins and won the drivers’ title. In the privateer standings of the BMW Sports Trophy, Hindman ended the year in 11th. “It’s truly an honour to be given this opportunity to further my education and development as a driver in the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme, especially after being involved in the BMW Sports Trophy last year and celebrating great success with my team Fall-Line Motorsports and John Edwards in the BMW M3,” said Hindman. “I can’t wait until the programme begins and I’m looking forward to spending time at the most incredible racetrack in the world; the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. I’m really grateful and can’t thank everybody at BMW Motorsport enough for allowing me to be a part of such an excellent programme.”
