Late last week, BMW M reached out to us with a special invite: Come to our BMW Driving Academy in Maisach and we will teach you how to make the best pretzel. The ambiguous invite was in fact an exciting opportunity to not only spend some time with DTM Driver Martin Tomczyk, but also to learn from him how to achieve the perfect drift. Unfortunately due to a schedule conflict we had to painfully pass on the invite (one that we might regret for years), but our sister-magazine Bimmertoday was invited as well and we can now bring you some exclusive photos and thoughts from the drifting event.
Just in time for Oktoberfest, at the wheel of the easily driftable BMW M4 Coupe, journalists were given instructions on how to draw the famous Bavarian pretzel. Martin Tomczyk personally gave us the instructions for the perfect drift pretzel: DSC disable, full turn steering, first gear and full throttle! After two or three rotations, the steering is slightly open, in order to increase the drift angle to draw the second loop of the pretzel. Whoever closes the steering again, and remains constant on the gas, can draw a pretzel almost as beautiful as the DTM Champion.
Drifting is not easy and it’s usually best done on wet asphalt, so BMW offers a series of training programs at their Academy under the guidance of experienced instructors, such as Claudia Hürtgen, and aboard the M235i Coupe or the new M3 and M4 sportscars. The BMW driver training program offers a comprehensive program for the most diverse driving requirements, ranging from efficiency training with the BMW i3 through to experience of different philosophies with the BMW M6 and BMW i8. In addition to training, BMW also offers in Maisach special events on snow and ice, and on race tracks.
Let’s have a look at the photo gallery below for some cool drifting photos. Also click play on the video to see Martin drawing the perfect pretzel.
