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JMW Motorsport

JMW Motorsport are based in Colchester, United Kingdom and enter the 2009 LMS Series as a new team borne from previous incarnations to bring together a formidable group of proven winners. Team Owner Jim McWhirter sees his team’s technical department headed by Steve Bunkhall. Behind the wheel for the LMS season is the reuniting of reigning LMGT2 Champion Rob Bell and reigning FIAGT2 Champion Gianmaria ‘Gimmi’ Bruni. For their 2009 Le Mans 24 Hour campaign they were represented by Rob Bell, Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Sugden.

JMW Motorsport’s progress can be followed this year on their website at www.jmwmotorsport.com.

2009 Le Mans Series, GT2 and 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours LMGT2 entrants

Topping The Season With A Silverstone Victory

JMW Motorsport Take Victory In The Final Round Of the 2009 Le Mans Series to

Help Secure Constructor’s Title For Ferrari

JAMS Motorsport secured a hard fought and passionate win at the final round of the 2009 Le Mans Series held at the team’s home race at Silverstone. Sadly, even this epic effort was not enough to take the LMGT2 title and the team had to be content with 2nd in the Championship by the closest of margins. The team did, however, take great pride in helping Ferrari secure the LMGT2 Constructor’s crown for 2009.

The event was always going to be an uphill battle, with the team needing to win the race with their Championship rivals Lieb & Lietz in Team Felbermayr Porsche(#77) failing to score for the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 to take the title. The battle between the two contenders was strong from the outset with Lieb/Lietz taking the LMGT2 pole position by a whisker from the JMW pairing of Rob Bell and Gimmi Bruni.

Race day saw the Northamptonshire circuit dry and warm, if a little cloudy, and a healthy crowd descended to witness what was to be a great race. For LMGT2 the first injection of drama came on lap 1 with both the JMW Motorsport Ferrari and Team Felbermayr Porsche dropping well down the field, indeed Gimmi found himself at the back of the pack after a spin. A spirited drive saw him battle back up through the field, ready to handover to Rob in a podium position, but well aware only a win would do. Looking back down the field the #77 was struggling, even making a quick visit back to its garage with what transpired to be a faulty fuel pressure sensor.

With the tension in the JMW Motorsport garage palpable, on track Rob was up into 2nd and eating into the LMGT2 leader’s 45 second cushion. After another round of pitstops, Gimmi was back behind the wheel and the gap to 1st was a tantalising 36 seconds whilst the #77 Porsche ran just outside the points. By the half way point of the race Gimmi was within 10 seconds of the LMGT2 lead.

Just after the 4 Hour mark Gimmi took the lead and for a split second there was jubilation in the hearts of the many JMW fans present, only to be plummeted into despair as Gimmi was hit heavily on the front right by the Signature Plus Oreca Courage. The front right tyre was punctured and Gimmi nursed the car back to the pits were Rob took over.

Miraculously the team retained the lead in the melee but elsewhere the #77 was close to 8th place and the vital 1 point they needed for the title, and it did not escape attention that their sister car was in the top 8.

Gimmi returned to the car for the final sprint. As the last handful of laps counted down the team made a quick splash and dash, but elsewhere the #77 moved into 7th place, grasping the title, whilst its sister car took 8th. JMW Motorsport took the victory, the car in prime condition and the Dunlop tyres once more performing to the highest of standards.

It was a superb win for the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430, indeed it was this car’s hat-trick of Silverstone 1000kms victories. The reception from the crowd as Rob and Gimmi were joined on the podium by Team Owner Jim McWhirter was rapturous and well deserved.

In JMW Motorsport’s first year they have scored four out of five podiums, including two superb victories and a 4th place at their Le Mans 24 Hours debut. Indeed, the garage door hadn’t been closed at Silverstone before talk turned to JMW’s 2010 Le Mans 24 Hour entry which they had ably secured with their 2009 LMS runners up position.

Team Owner Jim McWhirter was quick to praise and thank his team “I am exceptionally proud of our team this year. The team is a family and everyone has given their all. Rob and Gimmi never give less than 100%. This has been mirrored by the team members, led by Team Manager Tim Sugden and Chief Engineer Steve ‘Doc’ Bunkhall. We came into 2009 as familiar faces in a new team, we finish the season a very proud and strong unit who look ahead to 2010 with great excitement”.

All at JMW Motorsport extend their thanks to the team’s partners, Dunlop, AJ Power, Momo Italy, JBL Professional, MCW Properties and City West Commercials. The team also thank the many family, friends, media and supporters who have journeyed with them on this exciting debut season, whether at the track, on the internet or by the airwaves. The interest, encouragement and gracious goodwill shown to the team has been inspiring and much appreciated.

JMW Motorsport: Gallant Fight Back Not Enough At Nurburgring

JMW Motorsport take 9th Place But The Title Fight Lives On

JMW Motorsport had a tough weekend at the fourth round of the Le Mans Series, held at Nurburgring. Fresh from their maiden victory at Portimao in the third round, JMW Motorsport qualified fourth on the grid which saw just 0.5 seconds cover the top 4.

Gianmaria Bruni started the race and the pace of the JMW, Dunlop shod Ferrari was evident from the outset. Within just a few laps, Bruni took the lead and set about pulling out an impressive gap. A smooth driver change saw Robert Bell take the wheel and further add to the team’s enviable lead, measuring over 50 seconds at one point. With no full course yellows, the #92 JMW Ferrari was looking dominant when disaster struck.

On track Bell was seen to be cruising but was able to nurse the car back to the pits where a broken driveshaft was seen to be the problem. In a display of teamwork and ability which left the commentators and onlookers speechless, the team completed fitting a new driveshaft in just 13 minutes! Bruni returned to the driving seat and the car rejoined 12th in class and four laps down from the first of the points placings.

What followed was nothing short of a heroic display by Bruni and Bell, whose lap times constantly remained sub 2 minutes for the remaining 4 hours of the race, though all appreciated to reach any vital points would mean attrition for those ahead. The team raised the car from 12th to 9th by the chequered flag, setting the race’s fastest lap with an impressive 1m58.080.

The team were, unsurprisingly, somewhat despondent in the initial moments after the race as Team Manager, Tim Sugden summed up “It is a bitter blow not to score points today not least because the determination and teamwork was second to none in today’s race.

“The driveshaft change was nothing sort of awesome and that spirit was taken back on track by Rob and Gimmi whose lap times for the remainder of the race were stunning. Now we dust ourselves down, remind ourselves the Championship title fight remains alive and we head to the final round, our home round, at Silverstone firing on all cylinders!”

JMW MOTORSPORT: VICTORIOUS IN PORTIMAO

Rob Bell and Gimmi Bruni Take JMW Motorsport to their First LMS Win and the LMGT2

Championship Lead

JMW Motorsport fought with all their might after an early set back in the third round of the 2009 Le Mans Series at Portimao, Portugal to take their first ever team victory and the LMGT2 Championship lead.

The team qualified in 2nd on the grid for the 6 hour race which started at 7.15pm and ran into the early hours of the morning at the new circuit located on the Algarve. Rob Bell made a strong start in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 to take the LMGT2 lead from polesitter Richard Lietz in the Team Felbermayr Porsche. However, a melee of LMP1 and LMP2 cars at the first corner caused somewhat of a nightmare for the following GT entrants. The #92 JMW Ferrari was hit by the Team Farnbacher car spinning Rob back to 8th in class.

Soon into momentum, Rob raised the car to 6th and a super smooth pitstop to hand over to team-mate Gimmi Bruni kept the positive flow. Gimmi’s stint saw the team settle in 2nd place by the 2 hour mark as it became clear the racing across the classes was going to be fast and furious yet, remarkably, the entire race would run without a single yellow!

As Rob got back behind the wheel, darkness fell and, with little ambient light, vigilance needed to be kept high with the flying prototypes appearing over the undulations of the circuits in the pitch black. Both drivers reported back it was one of the most challenging races in which they had ever competed.

Past the three hour mark, and whilst Rob came back in for a pitstop there was to be no driver change with Rob double stinting. A stunning performance by the JMW Motorsport crew helped propel the car into 1st in what was becoming a very close battle for the lead along with the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche and Team Modena Ferrari in the fray.

Gimmi entered the car to do a double stint to see the race through to the end. Team Modena took the lead but with Gimmi keeping the #92 flat out, as it had been all night, JMW grabbed the top spot once more. With time for a quick splash and dash before the chequered flag, JMW Motorsport took a superb win just 5 seconds ahead of the late charging IMSA Porsche with Team Modena in 3rd. With Championship rivals Team Felbermayr picking up just 2 points from this event, JMW Motorsport’s 10 points sees them leap frog to the top of the Championship table with 25 points.

Team owner Jim McWhirter was delighted with the result, which marks a milestone in JMW Motorsport’s first year. “This is a wonderful result” said Jim, “and richly deserved by the team lead by Steve ‘Doc’ Bunkhall, Team Manager

Tim Sugden and our drivers Rob Bell and Gimmi Bruni. The whole team have given their all in our first year and to take our first win as a team is incredibly important. It is also an honour to be part of such a successful weekend for our partners Dunlop, who have taken three out of the four class wins today. Dunlop have been instrumental in our success this year and to bring them this win, and take the Championship lead, is testament to everyone’s hard work”.

JMW MOTORSPORT POWER TO THE PODIUM IN LMS OPENER

GT2’s Rob Bell & Gimmi Bruni Take The JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 To 2nd In Barcelona

It was a positive start for Le Mans Series new team JMW Motorsport (UK) as they powered to a 2nd place finish in the LMGT2 having secured pole the day before.

Team drivers Rob Bell (UK), the reigning LMGT2 Champion and Gimmi Bruni (It) have renewed their partnership of the last two years and their successful formula looks set to continue under the JMW Motorsport banner which also reunites them with Jim MCWhirter’s twice Championship winning Ferrari F430 and a number of key personal.

In Saturday’s qualifying Bruni proved that JMW’s Dunlop shod Ferrari returns to the track with enviable flying lap speed as he took pole position ahead of the Team Modena Ferrari F430 by six one-hundredths of a second. With the top six LMGT2 qualifiers covered by less than a second Bell’s pre-race prediction that this would be the toughest GT2 season yet looked set to come true.

After being fastest in Sunday warm-up, the team took to the grid with Bruni at the wheel. Dropping to 3rd on the opening lap it was a 1-2-3 nose to tail battle in the LMGT2 class which was to last the first hour of the six hour race. After a smooth pitstop and driver change Bell’s first stint continued Bruni’s hard work and the car raised to 2nd and into the lead as the next flurry of pitstops approached.

With Bruni at the wheel for his second stint he slotted into 2nd and made a storming charge on Leo Mansell in the leading Team Modena Ferrari to take back the lead with the Felbermayr Porsche also making headway. Into the fourth hour and Bell’s second stint saw the first real gaps in the GT2 class form with himself and the Felbermayr Porsche breaking away from the other contenders.

When the Felbermayr Porsche took the lead, Rob was never far behind in what was turning out to be a real battle. The final round of pitstops saw Bruni back in the car as the Porsche’s slight advantage eked out a lead and luck favoured them as a final safety car period came in just as the LMP1 leader split the Felbermayr Porsche and JMW Motorsport Ferrari, giving the former the opportunity to gain the better part of a lap.

With 2nd position safely in the team’s pocket, a quick ‘splash and dash’ was more caution than necessity and the team celebrated their first podium.

Rob Bell was quick to praise his ‘new team with familiar faces’ after the race. "That’s a fair start for the first race of the year. We are learning all the time and the team were fantastic. Prefect pit stops, the boys did a great job.

"I predicted the Lietz/Lieb pairing in a Porsche would come out strong and I was right! We’ll do our homework now and then roll on Spa!"

Team Principal Jim McWhirter was equally pleased with his new venture "I’m very proud of the team. They worked exceptionally hard and have come together to form a strong crew. As always Rob and Gimmi have given 100%. The GT2 class is looking very competitive this year. We know and relish the fact that we will have be at the top of our game at all times."

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