Following another season overshadowed by Covid, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (hopefully, not a train coming towards us with the headlights on). The latest update from the Motorsport Gods is that competitors in the 2021 Kumho BMW Championship can finally get on track in late Spring.
With a massively re-arranged 2021 calendar from that publicised initially earlier in the year, the venue for Races 1 & 2 is Donington Park in the East Midlands on the 31st May, Spring Bank Holiday Monday. This means drivers will have to be on their best behaviour at Donington with only 4 days to fettle their cars before Races 3 & 4 at Brands Hatch the following weekend. Pembrey has been cancelled due to the revised calendar having competitors racing four weekends in six, not a great idea for so many reasons. Sanity has now prevailed, and we are currently expecting to race on the dates shown below:
- Donington Park – 31st May
- Brands Hatch – 5/6th June
- Snetterton – 3/4th July
- Brands Hatch – 31st July/1st August
- Silverstone – 21/22nd August
- Oulton Park – 23rd October
The format will be qualifying followed by two races, with competitors split through 4 classes defined on a power/weight ratio catering for any model BMW from virtually standard to “out & out” full race versions, and the overall champion can come from any Class due to the points scoring system.
This year the championship looks to be wide open, with a number of ex-invitational class drivers and newcomers taking on established regulars. Drivers to look out for include previous champion James Card, 2020 front runners Mike Pensavalle and Brad Sheehan and long time regular Ian Crisp.