Marcel Schrötter: Disappointing EWC finish, redemption at Hockenheim

Following a solid and promising build-up to the Bol d’Or – the second 24-hour race of this year’s FIM Endurance World Championship at the Le Castellet circuit in southern France – expectations were understandably high for Marcel Schrötter and his BMW team from Karlsruhe. However, the race got off to a difficult start for the ambitious team. A protracted pit stop caused by a sudden technical problem cost the team a great deal of time. After the first hour, the team’s BMW M 1000 RR was in 44th place, three laps down.

Problems persist

Despite further problems as the race progressed, Marcel Schrötter and his team-mates managed to make up a lot of ground on his compatriot Jan-Ole Jähnig – the pair are also team-mates in the Euro Moto Superbike series with Team GERT56 – and the Frenchman Loris Baz, to make up a lot of ground and work their way up to sixth place, with a comfortable lead over the teams behind them. However, two hours before the end of the race, the team was forced to retire due to an irreparable problem.

“The past week has once again been a gruelling experience for me,” Schrötter admitted. “24-hour races are the toughest events I’ve ever taken part in. Nevertheless, Le Castellet was a unique experience for me. After our solid preparation, we really had a good chance of a strong result. But after that incident at the start, a race like this feels extremely long, especially mentally. Suddenly, it became a real challenge to persevere and carry on.”

Nevertheless, this 24-hour race was gruelling.

Marcel Schrötter

“That’s not meant to be a complaint,” he added, “because, after all, we race drivers get to experience something incredibly cool. But we also do this to be successful. Nevertheless, this 24-hour race was gruelling. We fought hard and gave it our all as we battled our way back up to sixth place. After the initial problem, there were further technical difficulties, which is why we had to make no fewer than five unscheduled pit stops in total.”

“Even so, everyone did a brilliant job. Everyone in the team, including my team-mates, really gave it their all right up to the end,” Schrötter assured us. “Still, it was a real shame that we couldn’t finish the race. The retirement two hours before the chequered flag was very, very painful. But that’s just the way it is in endurance racing. For us, it was, so to speak, all about fifth place in the championship. When you consider that the BMW works team retired just half an hour before what seemed like a certain world championship title a year ago, you can imagine just how big the disappointment is. Nevertheless, I’m proud of our performance at the Bol d’Or and also of what we’ve achieved throughout the season. A huge thank you to the entire ERC Endurance team for everything they’ve done this year. I’ve had an incredible number of wonderful experiences in this championship. Now I need a day or two to recover before I go full throttle into the Euro Moto season finale. Finally, I’d like to congratulate the BMW works team on winning the title. I’m really delighted for my brand colleagues.”