Why the BMW M3 Touring was even faster than its sister M4 GT3

The Schubert Motorsport-run #81 BMW M3 Touring 24h shared by Jens Klingmann, Connor de Phillippi, Neil Verhagen and Ugo de Wilde finished fifth at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, marking one of the most positive surprises of the entire race.

It was more than the team had hoped for, having aimed for a top 10 result, but in the end, there was even a hint of disappointment.

«I think nobody could have really anticipated that. We saw that we were not far off during the NLS race, but we were not really on the pace either,» Klingmann told Motorsport.com Germany.

«This weekend, we were really very strong,» the BMW driver added. Already in the first Top Qualifying, the Touring surprisingly set the fastest lap time of any BMW in the field. «That gave us a bit of hope to look ahead and to also hope for a better result.

«But everyone knows the Nordschleife is a challenge in itself. And just finishing, which you saw again over the past few days, is hard enough. Accordingly, we are very proud of the project and also of the result,» the 35-year old added. The wagon celebrated the class win in the SP-X class, easily outperforming the HWA EVO.Rs and the single KTM X-Bow GTX.

But there was also a hint of disappointment within the team after narrowly missing out on the overall podium. «As a racing driver, you naturally want to reach for the trophy when you are close to the podium, that is very clear,» the Klingmann openly admitted.

«But if someone had told us on Saturday that we would finish fifth, everyone would have signed up for it happily. It is a matter of perspective. And I think we should take the perspective from when we arrived.

Missing out on the overall podium by a whisker was a luxury problem, Klingmann felt.

«When you are that close to the podium, you want to push. But fifth place is really everything we could achieve on our own strength,» he said.

«In part, cars also retired, which played into our hands a little bit,» he added, recalling the misfortune of the #3 Winward Mercedes-AMG led by Formula 1 star Max Verstappen. «But realistically, more would not have been possible from our own perspective.»

And that was despite the fact that the team shifted its approach to push for a top result only as the race progressed. Finishing was the main priority at the start. «In the early morning, they told me to push,» Klingmann revealed.

«Suddenly, they also started to constantly read out the gaps to the front and back, telling me that we were closing the gap to the other cars.»

It was only in the final stint that the podium attack was cancelled. «Then they told me that we are managing it now. In the end, we had a gap of almost three minutes to the back.»

Furthermore, the Touring became really difficult to drive due to the rain shower in the final stages, the BMW driver reported. «Then we really did not want to risk it anymore. There was nothing more to win, but everything to lose.»

The BMW M3 Touring finishes fifth at the 2026 24 Hours of Nürburgring

Photo: BMW

The slight advantage the Touring enjoyed over the M4

Surprisingly, the M3 Touring was even able to run faster times than the M4 GT3 for large parts of the race. For comparison: the fastest lap of the wagon was 8m13.580s, while the fourth-placed #99 Rowe BMW remained almost two seconds slower with a time of 8m15.405s.

Also, the Schubert-run BMW M4 GT3 never really got into contention and was clearly slower than the Touring, because it couldn’t make the Yokohama tyres work in the cold conditions, which the Touring did.

«The chassis is a bit stiffer, primarily due to the body shell and the roll cage,» Klingmann explained, which helped the wagon here and there. During the first test, the experienced GT3 driver had assumed that exactly this could rather be a disadvantage, but on the Nordschleife, the stiffness turned out to be an advantage.

«Maybe not when riding over the kerbs, but to give the tyre a bit more energy here and there when it matters.» As a result, the Touring managed to bring the tyres into the optimal working window much quicker compared to the M4 GT3.

«That worked very well, and especially tonight during the low temperatures, it was really super competitive out there,» added Klingmann, who, similar to team-mate Ugo de Wilde, credited the progress that had been made since the debut.

«All in all, there were two or three small steps. No massive development steps were necessary. We got the aerodynamics into a good window, and we also received a slightly better BoP because we have to compensate for the aerodynamics with more wing angle,» the BMW driver said.

That allowed the Touring to generate a bit more downforce, which also had a positive effect. «And to be fair, the BoP also helped us a little bit to be on eye level, also in terms of top speed compared to others.» The BMW M3 Touring 24h was allowed a little bit more turbo boost than the M4 GT3 Evo.

The BMW M3 Touring has more downforce than the M4 GT3

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Going down in BMW history

However, for Klingmann, the decisive reason for the success of the Touring was lying elsewhere: «We had a 100 percent flawless preparation, and maybe a 95 percent flawless race.» Over the course of the race, the Touring only received a 45-second penalty for ignoring flag signals.

Otherwise, the four factory-drivers consistently stayed out of any major trouble, aside from minor slides, such as on an oil slick at Aremberg. «I think it will go down in BMW history for what it is. And it is good the way it is,» Klingmann said.

«It was great fun to really push the car to the limit. And I think this was a project that will not happen again like this in the near future. But I hope it was a door opener to really do a project that people just find awesome.»

For the M3 Touring, the short motorsport history ends with a surprise success. This year, the car is still set to appear at selected events, such as the parade before the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and the MotoGP race in Spielberg. A return to the Nordschleife is ruled out.

We want your opinion!

— The Motorsport.com Team