Budapest (HU), 24th September 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE) defended his
lead in the DTM Drivers’ Championship with seventh place in Saturday’s
race at the Hungaroring (HU). The remaining BMW drivers finished
outside the top ten on what proved to be a tough race day.
Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the eight
BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “As we had
to expect after qualifying, that was hard work. With so many Audis out
in front, it is difficult to make your way to the very front of the
field. Marco made a great start and spotted the gap in turn one,
although Mattias Ekström did not make his life easy. He then defended
his seventh place with everything he had. Unfortunately, the race was
very static, which is a shame for the fans. We must improve in
qualifying tomorrow to end the race further in front.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 7th place): “Seventh
place was the most we could manage today. I had a very good start, but
a particularly awesome first corner. I mustered all my courage and
braked late. That allowed me to overtake two Audis in one go. We did
not stand a chance against the Audi dominance today, but six points
are very valuable. Let’s see how we get on tomorrow.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 12th place): “There is
not a lot I can say about today. It was not a good race. We did not
have any major problems, but we simply did not have the pace. We must
try to do better tomorrow and start from further up the grid. However,
it seems as though Audi is very strong here, so we will just have to
wait and see how tomorrow pans out.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 13th place): “My start
was okay. I had a few contacts on the first lap, was forced very wide
in turn two and was then pushed off the track in turn 12. Therefore,
it was a tough opening lap and I lost a few positions. The rest of the
race was not easy either. We did not have the pace we needed, and must
do better tomorrow.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 14th place): “It was
obviously difficult to do anything from 13th on the grid. Plus, my
opening lap was far from good and I lost two or three positions. The
positive thing is that the car gradually felt better over the course
of the day, even though that was not reflected in my 14th place. It is
difficult to break the Audi dominance here at the Hungaroring.
However, I am pleased that Marco managed to score more valuable points
in the title race.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 15th place): “We did
not perform as hoped in qualifying. The balance of my car was not
ideal. The race was a bit better. I had a very good start and was able
to gain a few places. Ultimately, however, there is not a lot you can
do from 21st on the grid. We have to do our homework and learn our
lessons, in order to do better than 15th tomorrow.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 17th place):
“We were relegated five places on the grid today, which is
why we only used one set of tyres in qualifying. Because of this, we
made certain compromises this morning, in order to have a better
Sunday tomorrow. It is always tough to start a race from so far down
the field, but it was fun. I had a few great battles out there and
brought the car home in one piece.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 20th place): “The
track does not really seem to suit our car, and we started from so far
down the field that a good result was simply not possible. However, I
have to say that the car did not feel that bad in the race. Therefore,
I am not feeling too negative. This is obviously not the result we
were aiming for, but the race did help us gain experience. We will now
try to put what we learned into practice, and put on a better display tomorrow.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 22nd place): “The
most important thing is that Marco managed to limit the damage in the
title battle in today’s race. He once again made the most of what was
a difficult situation for us. He could not have done any better than
seventh place. The race was far from ideal for me. On the whole, none
of us produced the kind of performance we expect from ourselves.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
1. Marco Wittmann (176 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (162), 3. Jamie
Green (137), 4. Robert Wickens (121), 5. Paul di Resta (100), 6. Tom
Blomqvist (93), 7. Nico Müller (88), 8. Mattias Ekström (82), 9.
Maxime Martin (76), 10. Gary Paffett (73), 11. Lucas Auer (68), 12.
Timo Glock (58), 13. Bruno Spengler (51), 14. Augusto Farfus (44), 15.
Christian Vietoris (42), 16. Miguel Molina (41), 17. Adrien Tambay
(22), 18. Maximilian Götz (17), 19. Mike Rockenfeller (17), 20.
António Félix da Costa (16), 21. Martin Tomczyk (13), 22. Daniel
Juncadella (6), 23. Felix Rosenqvist (5), 24. Timo Scheider (3), 25.
Esteban Ocon (2).
Team Championship.
1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (244 points), 2. BMW Team RMG
(234), 3. BMW Team RBM (169), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (159), 5.
Audi Sport Team Abt (129), 6. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest
Mercedes-AMG (127), 7. Mercedes-AMG (117), 8. BWT Mercedes-AMG (110),
9. BMW Team MTEK (95), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (80),
11. BMW Team Schnitzer (29), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (22).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
1.Audi (554 points), 2. BMW (527), 3. Mercedes-Benz (434).
Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.
2016 race calendar.
6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd
-5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24th -26th June – Norisring (DE), 15th
-17th July – Zandvoort (NL), 19th -21st August – Moscow (RU), 9th
-11th September – Nürburgring (DE), 23
rd
-25
th
September – Budapest (HU), 14th -16th October –
Hockenheim (DE).
BMW Motorsport on the web.
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www.bmw-motorsport.com
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About the DTM.
The DTM is the most popular touring car series in the world.
The series pits the three premium automobile manufacturers BMW, Audi
and Mercedes-Benz against each other in a sporting contest. BMW
fielded its first works teams from 1984 to 1992, during which time it
claimed 49 race victories and won the Drivers’ Championship on three
occasions (1984, 1987 and 1989). The manufacturer returned to the DTM
in 2012, since when it has won seven of a possible twelve titles. 18
races, spread over nine weekends, are scheduled for 2016. ARD
broadcasts all the races live. Tickets for all the DTM races are
available here: https://tickets.bmw-motorsport.com/index.html