Augusto Farfus member of the M4 development program

May 15

Part 3/4 of Augusto Farfus interview where Augusto comes back to the BMW M8 time, the development of the M4 and his 2024 program with three different teams for three championships.

Developing the M4

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Left at 1000 Miles of Sebring 2019: #82 BMW Team MTEK BMW M8 GTE Augusto Farfus, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Bruno Spengler ended seventh. At 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Right at 6 Hours of Spa 2019: Despite qualifying 3rd, #82 BMW Team MTEK BMW M8 GTE driven by Farfus and Felix da Costa, ended fourth, only 4.313 sec. from the podium.

CRR: You Started for BMW in 2007. There has been, a difficult moment, when they dropped the BMW M8 program. You have been racing for Hyundai and Aston Martin Customers during that period. How could you stay with BMW with almost no car to race?

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 21st/22nd June 2021. The new BMW M4 GT3 during Official Test Days.

Augusto Farfus: “Being member of a manufacturer, one need to understand the moment, there are cycles. I had phenomenal years, I had some difficult years myself when races did not happen the way I expected, and there was time with very little racing program. Over these 17 years I understood that, if you’re loyal, they will be loyal to you. Between 2018 and 2020, the M8 project was not going so well, the M6 was at the end of its life, so there was not much racing and BMW decided to develop the new M4. I’ve been chosen to help developing the new M4. I did 8 or 10 races with BMW the first year and convinced them I needed be able to race to keep sharp. They allowed me to race 2 years with Hyundai, and 1,5 year with Paul Dalla Lama in the Aston Martin Vantage, still being a BMW works driver. Home for me is BMW. I did those 3 years of transition, where I worked a lot in the M4 development program.

Today, whenever I see the M4 winning, I have a smile because there is a little bit of Augusto Farfus in that car. This year we have won everything with our M4: in Asia, last Sunday in Brands Hatch, in Misano, I won in Imola in WEC and they won in GT Challenge America. It is simply phenomenal. And that car, is the one for which I spent two years of my life testing with no racing for BMW. There is no greater joy when I see the results.”

Three championships, three teams

CRR: You are working for 3 different BMW Customer teams: ROWE, Team WRT and team RLL. What are the differences between the three? .

AUGUSTO: “They are all extremely capable. Technically, they are all on the same level. WRT does not need an introduction. I think they are probably the most successful GT Team in Europe. ROWE, they are also a small team, but they are extremely successful. The same count for Team RLL. The biggest difference is a cultural difference, because one is American, one is mainly German, and the other one is more Belgian. So, I think, technically, they are all extremely good. Then, of course, the way you talk to the engineers, the way they work, they are a little bit different. But, if you see the success in Europe from ROWE and Team WRT, it is impossible to say that one is better than the other because both are extremely successful.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Left at Le Castellet (GT World Challenge Europe): win in #998 ROWE BMW M4 GT3 with Dan Harper and Max Hesse. Center at Imola (WEC): win in #31 BMW M Team WRT with Sean Gelael and Darren Leung. Right at Sebring (IMSA): 6th in #24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 with Jesse Krohn, Philipp Eng.

I enjoy that I have been fortunate enough to drive for BMW in pretty much every BMW team around the globe. I have friends and I learn a lot from those teams, from the time I drove in Japan, the time I drove for Schnitzer. All those teams have their own specialty and their way of doing things.”

CRR: Does it need an adaptation when you move from one team to the other?

AUGUSTO: “Today I know very well how they work, how they behave. But, of course, when your start with a new team, you don’t know your race engineer, your teammates, … so it needs a little bit of adaptation. With the top teams, and BMW is fortunate to have a lot of top teams on board, the way of working is very similar. The way of preparing the races is very similar. Yes, for the first race one must learn a little bit, but we are very quick up to speed.”.

CRR: Is there a difference between a M4 GT3 in GT World Challenge or in WEC?

AUGUSTO: “Not a lot. It is mainly the tires and the BoP! In GT World Challenge we use Pirelli, in the Nordschleife we use Michelin and in WEC we drive with Goodyear. So, yes, as the tires are different, the set up are different as is the BoP. For example, when you drive your first lap on the Nordschleife, during the first km, you have the impression that the car is not so fast, but it is because of the BoP, the conditions, as one car may be a little bit stiffer or softer. It is about adapting to the track and the championship but the car itself is the same.”

Augusto Farfus member of the M4 development program

Developing the M4

Three championships, three teams

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