Four BMW Independents – Bennani, Engstler, Poulsen and Turkington – were granted authorization to race “old” specification cars in order to benefit from a substantial reduction in weight.
According to Appendix 1 of the Sporting Regulations, a BMW 320si E90 is considered old when it uses parts and chassis homologated no later than 25 months before the event in which the car will start.
The “old” BMW – that was driven only by Poulsen previously – is a model apart as far as the calculation of the compensation weight is concerned and also benefits from a 15kg reduction on the minimum weight. As a consequence, “old” BMW cars can run on a total weight which is 75kg lighter than that of the “new” cars.
This authorization was not granted to RBM drivers Farfus and Priaulx, as the team’s request was considered in contraddiction with art. 84a of the Sporting Regulations that prevents from reverting to an old spec model after adopting an extension of the homologation form.