ALPINA and the Nürburgring, this combination has proven successful. The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 has claimed four victories at the "Ring", the most recent only eight weeks ago. Now in the title-deciding stage of the season, the ADAC GT Masters visit the Nürburgring a second time for the penultimate race weekend of 2012, taking place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of September. With only four races to go, defending champion Dino Lunardi and Maxime Martin are still in contention for championship honours with their BMW ALPINA B6 GT3.

This time round the long Grand Prix layout of the track will be used as opposed to the short sprint layout which was used back in July. To stay in contention for the title all the way up to the final round at the end of the month at Hockenheim, ALPINA really has to push hard. Lunardi/Martin are trailing the Porsche 911 of championship leader Engelhart by 47 points, this means two podium finishes are required to keep any championship dreams alive.

"I am confident that we will be fast this weekend," says defending champion Dino Lunardi. "The Nürburgring should suit us much better then the previous circuits, but we should not underestimate the very strong competition from Corvette, Porsche and Mercedes. The season this year is a bit crazy and it is extremely difficult to still win the title. But at the Nürburgring, we have the good chance to gain crucial points. Back in July we arrived at the Nürburgring with a 28-point gap and left the circuit with a five point lead. So anything can happen this weekend and we are up to the challenge."

For both Martin and Lunardi it is a first to race the Grand Prix track layout in the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3. "It's looking good for us at the Nürburgring, but we have to score a massive amount of points this weekend. For me the track layout is new, so I don't really know what to expect. But considering the good record of ALPINA, our car should work very well there and on the short sprint track, we have been successful earlier this season. But a fast car and two good drivers will not be the only thing this weekend, we also need a great deal of luck." Martin starts with big bag of extra motivation since BMW invited the rapid Belgian to test their DTM car, having impressed with a great performance during this season.

"At the Nürburgring, we will certainly be more competitive than in the previous two rounds," ALPINA's Andreas Bovensiepen predicts. "But we have to finish on the podium in both races, to stay in contention for the championship. As our successful record at the Nürburgring proves, we have every chance of a good result there. And one thing is for certain: We will fight until the end".

A second BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 is entered at the Nürburgring by the ALPINA customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler for Florian Spengler and Johannes Leidinger.

Source: Team