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BMW and ZF Sign New Deal for 2014 Motorsport Program

Reading just a few reviews of the latest BMWs will make a couple of things obvious. Apart from the usual ‘dull’ and ‘overweight’ adjectives you’ll find in almost all of them, you’ll also start to notice that everyone praises the gearbox setup in these cars.
Samsung BMW M4 DTM Car 1 photo
Photo: BMW
That’s especially true if we’re talking about the brilliant 8-speed automatic developed by ZF. It’s probably the best gearbox of all time, rivaling dual-clutch units in both response and speed.

The people behind it decided to continue their partnership with BMW on the race track. Therefore a new deal was signed with the Bavarians that will make sure the two companies work together in the 2014 race both in the DTM and other endeavors.

No less than 8 teams using the brand new BMW M4 DTM car will be using their units and all of them need the best possible performance. Therefore, the Samsung M4 driven by Maxime Martin will be sporting the ZF logo this season and the transmission specialist will make sure nothing goes wrong with the gearboxes used in the competition.

“BMW Motorsport and ZF enjoy a close relationship, which stretches back several years. ZF is a big name in the automobile industry, and an important and reliable partner to us – in the DTM, and beyond. We are pleased to continue our strong and successful partnership in the 2014 season,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt about the new partnership.

“When BMW made its extremely successful DTM comeback, we were on board as a partner and supplied the clutches to all the DTM cars. We are pleased that ZF will be even more prominent on Maxime Martin’s BMW M4 DTM this year, and wish BMW Motorsport all the best for the coming season,” added Dr. Stefan Sommer, Chief Executive Officer of ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

ZF will also be involved in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class where BMW drivers and teams compete head to head using the same cars and gearboxes within the VLN Endurance Championship.

In this regard, Norbert Odendahl, Managing Director at ZF Race Engineering said: “the ZF 8HP production gearbox, which is designed for use on the racetrack, is further emphatic proof of just how well suited our road car products are for use in a racing environment.”

ZF Friedrichshafen AG is a leading worldwide technology group specialising in driveline and chassis technology, with 121 manufacturing companies in 26 countries. The company cooperates with BMW in the road car range, but also develops customised racing clutches and shock absorbers for the DTM and the 24h race at the Nürburgring as Official Partner BMW Motorsport.
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