RACE: Robert Thiele earns 2009 BMW Sports Trophy

BMW Awarded SCCA Racer Robert Thiele BMW Sports Trophy For Second Consecutive Year

Robert Thiele scored 11th place in the global BMW privateer driver competition, and was the only US driver in top 25 award ranks.

SCCA Jersey Racing Board demonstrates continued momentum with 2010 SCCA TeamDI.com ProIT Series season starting April 10th, 2010 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH.

(Dover, NJ, April 6, 2010) - Robert Thiele, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was awarded a BMW Sports Trophy for the second year in a row finishing 11th overall in BMW's 2009 competition. This is a nice addition to the BMW Sports Trophy he was awarded for 25th place in 2008. Robert Thiele raced successfully in SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) with his BMWMotorsportCollection.com BMW 325is celebrating a second place in the TeamDI Pro IT Series, with a second place in the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship (NARRC) and a Championship win in the New Jersey Road Racing Series (NJRRS).

The top 25 BMW privateer drivers were honored by BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen and BMW works drivers at the annual Sports Trophy event and celebration in Munich on December 5th, 2009. Other 2009 BMW Sports Trophy winners included Colin Turkington, who won this season's British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in a BMW 320si WTCC and ranked first place overall, Swedish Touring Car pilots Richard Goeransson (second) and Thed Bjoerk (third), BTCC driver Robert Collard (fourth), as well as last years overall winner, World Touring Car championship (WTCC) privateer Franz Engstler (fifth).

Just like 2008, Robert Thiele was the only representative from the USA to be awarded a 2009 Sports Trophy. Thiele's teammates from the BMW racing team Auto Technic in New Milford, Connecticut, scored impressive 35th (Jeff Henderson) and 49th (Rob Driscoll) places in the global competition underlining the team's successful track record.

Other USA contestants in the top 50 included Matthew Bell (KONI Challenge)26th, Seth Thomas (World Challenge) 32nd and Chris Gleason (KONI Challenge) 46th.

At the 2009 Sports Trophy Awards Ceremony in Munich, BMW also followed the tradition to release details of the forthcoming year's motorsports programs. For 2010 BMW will intensify its involvement in GT and touring car racing and continue to focus on the growing BMW Sports Trophy program. The BMW Sports Trophy 2010 information has been released on the BMW Motorsport website and applications for the current season are now open.

Robert Thiele commented, "The BMW Sports Trophy program and BMW's support for privateer racers are outstanding. I am honored to receive a BMW Sports Trophy for the second year in a row and again become part of a field of drivers who demonstrated their performance in a diverse range of racing series in the US, Europe, Asia and South Africa. I hope that more drivers in SCCA and other US racing series become aware of this outstanding free program and participate in 2010. I'd also like to thank all the regions who put together the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship for their outstanding level of professionalism conducting racing across the Northeastern US. My special thanks go to the Jersey Racing Board for creating such a great momentum organizing the growing TeamDI Pro IT Series and the NJRRS."

Robert Thiele was represented at the awards ceremony in Munich by his father Gunter Thiele due to a scheduling conflict. Robert Thiele's son, Maximilian, was born November 30th, adding another future BMW racer to the team.

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The Jersey Racing Board (JRB) is the official overseer of the NJRRSSM and the TeamDI.com Pro IT Series. The Northern New Jersey Region and South Jersey Region of the SCCA make up the JRB.

-source: scca jersey racing board