The first qualifying session for the 24 hours of Nürburgring did not go exactly as planned for Team BMW Motorsport, as the number 7 M3 GT driven by Dirk Muller crashed in the Karussell two hours into the session. Prior to that, the car was 8th overall, with Dirk Werner lapping the Nordschleife at 8:32.302.

Muller lost control of the car and hit the barriers, damaging the right side of the car, though the team says it will probably be ready for the second qualifying session. During the accident, a Japanese cameraman was sitting behind the barrier and he was taken to the Adenau hospital for a medical check. Even though he was unhurt, he will spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

The No 1 car, driven by last year’s winners Augusto Farfus, Jorg Muller, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy faced technical problems, with the drivers complaining of vibrations, and subsequently lost a lot of time in the pits while the engineers tried to figure out the problem. Eventually Farfus lapped the ‘Ring at 8:35.669, taking the 15th place in the provisional grid.

Here’s what BMW’s drivers said after the first qualifying session:

Dirk Müller (car number 7): “I lost the rear of my BMW M3 GT as I braked, shot over the Karussell and hit the crash barriers. The most important thing is that, according to the organisers, the Japanese cameraman is okay. I am sorry he was hurt in the crash. The damage to our car does not seem to be so serious. However, it is obviously not helpful to miss more than half of the qualifying session.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 1): “My lap was ok, but we are obviously hoping to improve tomorrow. This is a 24-hour race, so the grid position is not crucial. Despite this, we still want to be further up the grid. I tried to lose as little time as possible in traffic. That was not at all easy. We will have to find out exactly what was causing the vibrations. So, we certainly have plenty to do before the second qualifying session.”

Dirk Werner (car number 7): “Most of the fastest times were actually set during the early stages. I was out on used tyres again and managed a relatively clear lap. That is a rarity with more than 200 cars in the field. Our BMW M3 GT is working quite well, and we still have a bit of time to work our way up the field.”

PHOTO GALLERY