Nürburgring.
In BMW Team RMG’s home race at the Nürburgring (GER), Marco
Wittmann (GER) finished third to reach the podium in the BMW Driving
Experience M4 DTM. After completing 40 laps, he was just 3.439
seconds behind the winner, René Rast (GER, Audi). Wittmann now has
137 points and is the best-placed BMW driver in the overall
standings, in fifth place. The BMW drivers once again gave a strong
team performance with five BMW M4 DTMs making it into the top ten,
scoring a total of 45 points.
Behind Wittmann, Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) secured fourth
place. Joel Eriksson (SWE, BMW M4 DTM), Augusto Farfus (BRA, Shell BMW
M4 DTM) and Philipp Eng (AUT, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) followed in sixth,
seventh and eighth positions. Timo Glock (GER) had to be content with
16th place after an early collision and subsequent
drive-through penalty. As was the case on Saturday, BMW Team RBM
claimed the fastest pit stop with Eriksson’s car.
BMW Motorsport, BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG were competing in their
100th DTM race since BMW’s comeback in 2012. Farfus and
Spengler have been involved in every one of those 100 races.
The race weekend in the Eifel also saw the debut of the BMW M
Motorsport Days. More than 300 domestic and international guests
experienced a wide-ranging and spectacular programme of events. The
highlights included a BMW M Driving Experience and taxi rides on the
Nordschleife in the BMW M5. Visitors also had the chance to take a
look at a very special exhibition car: the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupé.
The new BMW M Town campaign also made its first appearance as part of
the BMW M Motorsport Days. It also provided the first opportunity for
the public to see the new BMW X3 M and the new BMW X4 M.
Reactions to Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring:
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Marco Wittmann did well to move up through the field today – and he
was rewarded with a podium finish. Getting five cars into the top
eight is a great result for BMW. Of course, after Bruno Spengler
claimed second place on Saturday, we’d have liked to have topped the
podium. However, all in all, we can definitely be satisfied with the
race weekend here at the Nürburgring. I am very positive about the
fact that we reached the podium and scored plenty of points in the
100th race since our DTM comeback in 2012. Congratulations
are in order for René Rast, who put on a great performance this
weekend with the ‘clean sweep’. It was also an exciting weekend off
track: BMW M Motorsport Days allowed us to thrill visitors from all
over the world with BMW M. The appearance of our BMW M4 DTM on the
Nordschleife on Sunday morning was another highlight. Now we will move
on from the ‘Green Hell’ and start our meticulous planning as we look
forward with enthusiasm to the race at Spielberg.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG):
“Firstly, thanks to our Nürburgring. It is lovely to claim a podium
finish at our home race and the 100th race for BMW. A big
thank you to our entire team and to Marco Wittmann, of course. He
drove a great race today. We are battling our way to the front right
now and we will already start looking forward to the next race this
evening. We will be giving our all there again. Nonetheless, it was a
good weekend overall. Our friends and family were very happy.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM, BMW Team
RMG – qualifying result: 9th place, race result:
5th place, points: 137):
“Starting from ninth, our objective was to move up as far as
possible. I managed to do that. Of course, you want to top the podium
at your team’s home race but René Rast simply did a good job. We were
a bit out of touch in the early phases. The first section of the race
was extremely turbulent. I got into a few tricky positions and then
lost a place to Paul di Resta. I was then able to work my way
gradually back up. Of course, everyone benefited from the incident
between Timo Glock and Lucas Auer. Overall, I am completely satisfied
with third place. I drove a clean race and was close to the lead.”
Augusto Farfus (#15 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG –
qualifying result: 13th place, race result:
7th place, points: 48):
“I am happy with the result. I couldn’t do much more than that from
my starting position. We had a good racing pace and the car was
running well but we will have to improve in qualifying if we want to
place better in the race. Seventh position is OK but we will still
have work to do.”
Timo Glock (#16 DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR –
qualifying result: 4th place, race result:
16th place, points: 119):
“It is a shame, as I think the car provided us with a good base. The
start went well and then there was a fight with Gary Paffett on the
first lap. I seem to have been a bit too optimistic after that with
regard to the manoeuvre against Lucas Auer. I misjudged it. Sorry to
Lucas – and sorry to my guys as well.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM):
“Firstly, congratulations to René Rast on this perfect weekend. He
scored 56 points, which is really extraordinary. All things
considered, we had a good weekend. In the second race, we got three
cars into the points, finishing fourth, sixth and eighth. There was a
lot going on at the start. I think we asserted ourselves well. I would
like to thank BMW and the team for all the hard work. After Misano,
this represents another step forward. We hope this will continue at Spielberg.”
Philipp Eng (#25 SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying
result: 3rd place, race result: 8th place,
points: 92):
“I am definitely very pleased with our qualifying performance. We
were so close to pole position, twice. We really do have to improve in
the race. You always want to score more points when you start so far
up the grid. Hopefully I will manage that at my home race at Spielberg.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying
result: 8th place, race result: 4th place,
points: 75):
“That was a good chase. The start went well and we were on the pace
in the race. The car was not quite as good as yesterday. I had a few
more problems with the balance during the race so we will have to
analyse that, but I think that we made good progress by moving up from
eighth to fourth. I am very pleased and will take this positive result
with me to the next race.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying
result: 10th place, race result: 6th place,
points: 60):
“I think it was a really good race, our pace was great. The first
stint went really well and the guys did a great job at the pit stop:
we were the fastest. Everything went smoothly in the second stint too.
I tried to overtake Gary Paffett but it just wasn’t possible. But
moving up from tenth to sixth is a great result and we scored some
important points. Overall, it was a good weekend for BMW.”