The Kumho BMW Championship is a single make racing series based in the UK. Exclusively for BMWs, the championship is run by the BMW Racing Drivers Club in conjunction with the

British Automobile Racing Club The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) is one of the biggest organising clubs for auto racing in the United Kingdom. History The Cyclecar Club was formed in 1912, running races for the small and light motorbike powered vehicles at Brooklands ...

(BARC). The championship is a BARC registered, BMW-exclusive motorsport series.

Introduction

The Championship is open to any production BMW sold in the UK. It provides close competition in four classes split by a power-to-weight ratio. The aim of the championship is to provide a closely competitive series for drivers, having a low cost entry class where cars can be competitive running standard engines, and a ladder of increasing cost and performance accommodating the latest vehicles. In 2009, 46 contenders scored points in the championship with the race victories shared between 9 drivers across the four classes.

History

The BMW Car Club Championship was started in 1987 by husband and wife team, John and Linda McVicker. The Championship was an amateur club series, for BMW owners who wished to race their BMW's at all the national circuits in the UK. The championship was open to all types of BMW from 2002s to

CSL CSL as an abbreviation may stand for: Places * Coordinated Science Laboratory, at the University of Illinois * Liège Space Center (Centre spatial de Liège), at the University of Liege in Belgium * Central Science Laboratory, a former UK DEFRA ...

s, Bat Mobiles, new or old. The first race meeting took place on a cold and overcast Saturday at Silverstone where it the club managed to field a full grid. The Championship continued under the BMW Car Club banner until late 1999, where the championship was renamed to the BMW Racing Drivers Club. The championship became the ‘Drivers Club’ where all the drivers had a say in how the organisation was run, and it is continues in that fashion to this day. The series is established as one of the fastest road tyred (treaded) championships in the country, but it is not necessary to use the latest models, or to run at the front to be competitive. *The championship has its own driving standards policed by the competitors' own BMW Racing Drivers Club, membership of which is a requirement of entry. This is in an attempt to eliminate the damage caused by modern tactics of blocking, weaving and tapping (or as it used to be known, driving into one another). Do not however think that this makes for a gentle series. Racing is getting ever closer as drivers become confident that these undesirable tactics are removed from the sport, allowing competitors to trust one another to not take out the opposition. Some founder members remain at the club today. These include Evelyne Buanic, Stuart Laws who compete in Class B and the club's president, Trevor Ford.

The Kumho BMW's Today

2022 marked the 35th anniversary for the Kumho BMW Championship, and also the 25th Anniversary of successful sponsorship from

Kumho Tires Kumho Tire (formerly known as Samyang Tire) is a Korean tire manufacturer. It is a subsidiary of Chinese tire conglomerate . Kumho Tire was previously operated as a business unit of the Kumho Asiana Group. Operations An industrial conglomerate ...

. The championship is made up of four classes split by a power-to-weight ratio. There are also a number of strict regulations which all cars must adhere to
These can be viewed here
The championship currently competes at many famous circuits in the UK, including

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, Silverstone,

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 201 people living in 74 h ...

, Thruxton and

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

. The championship usually has a 14-race calendar, with 7 race weekends being double-headers (two races, one per day).

Previous Results

2010

Overall Championship Points Table
Overall Table
Class Points Table
Class Table
Brands Hatch ..
Brands Hatch 2010 Race Results
br/> Silverstone ..
Silverstone 2010 Race Results

Mallory Park ''non-championship meeting'' ..
Mallory Park 2010 Race Results
br /> Croft ..
Croft 2010 Race Results

Snetterton ..
Snetterton 2010 Race Results
br /> Rockingham Motor Speedway .
Rockingham 2010 Race Results
br /> Oulton Park .
Oulton Park 2010 Race Results

Thruxton .
Thruxton 2010 Race Results

2009

Overall Championship Points Table
Overall Table
Class Points Table
Class Table
Silverstone ..
Silverstone 2009 Race Results
br /> Snetterton ..
Snetterton 2009 Race Results
br /> Pembrey ..
Pembrey 2009 Race Results
br /> Croft ..
Croft 2009 Race Results
br /> Donington ..
Donington 2009 Race Results
br /> Brands Hatch ..
Brands Hatch 2009 Race Results
br /> Rockingham ..
Rockingham 2009 Race Results
br /> Oulton Park ..
Oulton Prk 2009 Race Results
br /> Thruxton ..
Thruxton 2009 Race Results

2008

Overall Championship Points Table
Overall Points Table
Class Points Table''
Class Points Table
Silverstone ..
Silverstone 2008 Race Results
br /> Rockingham ..
Rockingham 2008 Race Results
br /> Pembrey ..
Pembrey 2008 Race Results
br /> Brands Hatch ..
Brands Hatch 2008 Race Results
br /> Donington Park ..
Donington Park 2008 Race Results
br /> Snetterton ..
Snetterton 2008 Race Results
br /> Croft ..
Croft 2008 Race Results
br /> Oulton Park ..
Oulton Park 2008 Race Results

Previous Champions

2015 - Greg Marking
2014 - Tom Wrigley
2013 - Garrie Whittaker
2012 - Colin Wells
2011 - Garrie Whittaker
2010 - Des Thresh
2009 - James Card
2008 – Karl Cattliff
2007 – Stephen Pearson
2006 – Rick Kerry
2005 – Rick Kerry
2004 – Martyn Bell
2003 – Chris Wilson
2002 – Andy Allen
2001 – Huw Taylor
2000 – Richard Mallison
1999 – Robyn Hood
1998 – Peter Seldon
1997 – Colin Wells
1996 – Peter Challis
1995 – Peter Challis
1994 – Colin Wells
1993 – Colin Wells & Alex Elliot
1992 – Terry Kaby & Colin Wells
1991 – Max Windhauser & Paul Tilleard
1990 – Marc Cramer
1989 – Stephen Guglielmi
1988 – Tony Halse
1987 – John Willcocks

Notable drivers

Martyn Bell and Rick Kerry are both ex-Kumho BMW drivers who have competed in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

.
Geoff Steel, ex-touring car driver and team boss of his eponymous team, Geoff Steel Racing, has also himself competed in the Kumho BMW Championship. The team have also run cars in the Kumho BMW Championship for many years. In September 2009,

Steven Kane Steven Kane (born 5 June 1980) is a British racing driver who currently competes in the Blancpain Endurance Series and Avon Tyres British GT Championship for M-Sport Bentley driving a Bentley Continental GT3. Career Kane, who was born in Ne ...

made a one-off guest appearance in the championship at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

, taking pole and two race wins.

Trivia

*In 2007, the championship had their first teenage driver. At only 16 years old, Liam Hamilton, was racing in Class D driving a 318is E36. *The championship was briefly televised on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

in the UK, in the late 90s. *The championship was again televised in 2010, as part of an all-day live event at

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...

, by

Motors TV Motorsport.tv was a pan-European digital television channel dedicated to motorsport. It ceased broadcasting in late September 2018 to concentrate on web-streaming only. Launched in 2000 as Motors TV, it broadcast an extensive range of nationa ...

. *West Suffolk Racing have either built, run or developed the Championship winning cars in: ** 2004 (Rick Kerry) ** 2005 (Rick Kerry) ** 2007 (Stephen Pearson) ** 2008 (Karl Katcliff)

External links

West Suffolk Racing WebsiteBMWRDC WebsiteBritish Automobile Racing Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumho Bmw Championship BMW in motorsport Touring car racing series Auto racing series in the United Kingdom One-make series Recurring sporting events established in 1987