The sum total of her achievements amounted to 624.3 points in the Sports Trophy's coefficient system and earned her a cheque to the value of 35,000 euros.

The BMW Sports Trophy was called into being in the early 1960s. The pot of prize money for privateer BMW drivers competing in various classes around the world has now grown to a quarter of a million euros.

Second place (25,000 euros) also went to a German: Marc Hennerici (24, Mayen) collected a tally of 504.3 points as the Junior Champion in the Long-Distance Championship and in races in the Procar Series, the WTCC and the 24-hour marathon in the Eifel. Like Hürtgen, Hennerici was at the wheel of a BMW 120d, while also driving a BMW E46 320i in some competitions.

Picking up bronze was US-American Will Turner (38, Amesbury/USA) after winning the GrandAm Cup. With his triumph in this series and successes in the Speed World Challenge, he accumulated 470.6 Sports Trophy points and was rewarded with 20,000 euros.

The list of honoured privateer drivers swelled from the traditional 20 to 25 for the first time. "It reflects the expanded product range in our customer sports programme," commented BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "The BMW 120d and Z4 M Coupé models lined up on the racing grid for the first time. The attractiveness of our products drew more applications for the Sports Trophy in 2006 than ever before. Their performance along with the enthusiastic commitment of the drivers and teams secured triumphs around the globe."

Special trophies which did not come with any prize money were also won by Markus Moufang (43, Nidda Ober-Schmitten) as the winner of the "HJS Diesel Masters" and ski star Kristian Ghedina as the fastest man on snow and asphalt.

Vehicle Points Main successes / race series

1. Hürtgen, Claudia (GER) BMW 120d,   E46 320i 624.3 points Class win Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

2. Hennerici, Marc (GER) BMW 120d, E46 320i 504.3 points Junior Champion Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

3. Turner, Will (USA) BMW M3, 325i, 330i 488.6 points GrandAm Cup winner

4. Böhm, Alex (GER) BMW M3 475 points Class win Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

5. Schubert, Torsten (GER) BMW 120d, E46 320i 445.2 points Class win Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

6. Luther, Michael (GER) BMW M3 415 points Class win Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

7. Zils, Daniel (GER) BMW M3 355 points Class win Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

8. Magnussen, Jan (DEN) BMW E90 320si 350 points 2nd place Danish Touring Car Championship

9. Engstler, Franz (GER) BMW E46 320i 338.6 points 1st place Asian Touring Car Championship

10. Elgaard, Casper (DEN) BMW E90 320si 335 points 1st place Danish Touring Car Championship

11. Stuck, Johannes (AUT) BMW 120d     315 points Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring, 24h races

12. Ehleiter, Thomas (GER) BMW 325i 310 points Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

13. Rangoni, Luca (ITA) BMW E90 320si 290 points FIA World Touring Car Championship  

14. Göransson, Richard (SWE) BMW E90 320si 280 points 2nd place Swedish Touring Car Championship

15. Quester, Dieter    (AUT) BMW M3 E46, Z4 Coupé   278.6 points Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring, 24h races

16. Weidinger, Jörg (GER) BMW M3 E36 3.2 269.7 points 1st place FIA European Hill Climb Championship

17. Nielsen, John (DEN) BMW E90 320si 265 points Danish Touring Car Championship

17. Obermann, Willi (GER) BMW M3 GTR 265 points Long-Distance Championship Nürburgring

19. Salama, Donald (USA) BMW 330i 255 points GrandAm Cup

19. Labazov, Vladimir (RUS) BMW E46 320i 255 points 1st place Russian Touring Car Championship

21. Lundgaard, Henrik (DEN) BMW E90 320si 250 points Danish Touring Car Championship

22. Huisman, Duncan (NED) BMW E46 320i 240 points 3rd place Swedish Touring Car Championship

23. Ukhov, Michail (RUS) BMW E46 235 points Russian and European Touring Car Championship

23. Rudholm, Robin (SWE) BMW 320si 235 points 7th place Swedish Touring Car Championship

25. D'Aste, Stefano (ITA) E46 320i 215 points FIA World Touring Car Championship

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