BMW Team RBM

• Team Principal: Bart Mampaey
• Headquarters: Mechelen (Belgium)
• Founded: 1994
• Driver: Andy Priaulx

Few motorsport teams have enjoyed such rapid rise to the top as RBM, which is responsible for the two BMW 320si WTCCs in the 2010 World Touring Car Championship. Under the auspices of boss Bart Mampaey, the team from the Belgian city of Mechelen with driver Andy Priaulx not only managed to win the European World Touring Car Championship title in 2004; they also proved to be the measure of all things in the World Touring Car Championship season 2005 to 2007, when the last race of the season in Macau each time left the RBM pit resounding with jubilation.

But success doesn't come easy - it is the result of a lot of meticulous work both on and off the track. "You can't afford to sit back in motorsport," says Mampaey, explaining his philosophy. "You have to keep your eyes firmly on the future. There are so many different areas where you can improve things. Everybody on the team knows that and we are all pulling together."

For RBM efficiency is one of the main conditions of their daily work, with Mampaey making consistent efforts to improve the performance of the BMW 320si WTCC by utilising time and resources perfectly. The team also benefits from the infrastructure of the Mampaey family's own BMW dealerships, which operate under the name of JUMA. Synergies between the team and the dealerships in administration and logistics, for example, leave RBM free to concentrate on the more essential aspects of their work: getting the car out on to the race track.

The acronym JUMA stands for Julian Mampaey, father of the current RBM team boss, whose passion for motorsport has passed into the next generation. In the 70s and 80s the JUMA team built up a reputation, but unlike RBM, which is measuring up against the tough competition of today's WTCC, Julian Mampaey concentrated his effort on one single race: the 24 Hour Race at Spa-Francorchamps. The JUMA team's results for the long distance classic certainly need no apologies: from 1977 to 1984 they achieved three overall victories and five second places - all with BMW cars.

Nine years after JUMA's last race, Bart Mampaey followed in his father's footsteps. Initially his RBM team fielded cars in the Belgian BMW Compact Cup, but the Mampaey family was soon to celebrate a successful return to Spa-Francorchamps with Group N one-two in the 24 Hours Race in 1997. One year later an overall victory followed - the last for the BMW brand to date on the Ardennes rollercoaster circuit.

By this stage it was clear that Mampaey could take a team to victory. But still he decided to carry on gaining experience and widening his horizons. He went to the USA to find out more about the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and was involved in long-distance classics like Daytona, among other things. "It was good for me to experience different ways of working," Mampaey recalls.

On his return to Belgium the race strategist set his mind to a new challenge: RBM sent a BMW 320i into the European Touring Car Championship for Belgium, with Fredrik Ekblom (SE) at the wheel. One year later the team sported the colours of Great Britain for the first time, taking Andy Priaulx under contract as driver. "Andy and the team just fit together so well," Mampaey says. After starting out in 2003, the RBM team quickly caused a sensation, when Priaulx secured the title in Dubai in the 2004 ETCC. Subsequent world championship title wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007 were to prove that the team's success in 2004 was more than just a flash in the pan.

"We still have a lot of mechanics and team members on board who were there right at the beginning," said Mampaey, who appreciates their loyalty. But he also values the idea of trying out new ways to set up the cars, and it is this mixture of teamwork, innovative power and unflagging commitment that has made RBM one of the top teams in the WTCC.

The 2010 season sees BMW Team RBM sending two cars into action over a complete season for the first time. New to the team is BMW works driver Augusto Farfus, who travelled to last year's finale still with a chance of winning the World Championship title. Together with Priaulx, the Brazilian forms the most successful WTCC driving duo to date.