Hockenheim (DE), 7th May 2016. Bruno Spengler (CA), António Félix da
Costa (PT) and Maxime Martin (BE) finished in the points in the
opening race of the DTM season in Hockenheim (DE). They came home
sixth, seventh and eighth at the end of a tough race with many
collisions. Marco Wittmann (DE), Tom Blomqvist (GB) and Augusto Farfus
(BR) fell back through the field following contact with rival cars.
Timo Glock was forced to retire after crashing out through no fault of
his own. Victory went to Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi).
Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the four Team
Principals and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was a
very tough race, with an eventful opening three laps. Compliments to
my guys, who fought hard. Bruno Spengler, António Félix da Costa and
Maxime Martin still managed to finish in the points despite having
damaged cars. Given the circumstances, they did as well as possible. I
feel very sorry for Marco Wittmann, whose car was damaged in a
collision. He was very well positioned in the race and could possibly
even have been looking at a place on the podium. Generally speaking,
there were an awful lot of collisions, and our drivers suffered as a
result. I hope tomorrow’s race is a bit calmer.”
Ernest Knoors (Team Principal BMW Team MTEK): “I saw
a good race from both drivers, but would have liked to have seen
Augusto without a damaged car. He had a superb start, but then came
the crash with Ocon. After that it was obviously tough for him. Bruno
showed what the car is capable of. To finish sixth from his starting
position was an impressive performance. The team worked well, the
engineers did a good job, and both drivers got the most out of the
situation – you cannot ask for more than that.”
Charly Lamm (Team Principal BMW Team Schnitzer):
“After qualifying towards the back of the grid, we could never have
dreamed of scoring points here. It was a really great race from
António, who fought hard, showed impressive race pace, and was
consequently able to climb through the field. Martin had an excellent
start, as usual, and was also on course for a points finish after
starting from the back. Unfortunately, his car was damaged when it all
got a bit tight with Ekström and Paffett in the hairpin. From that
moment on, all he could do was get the car through to the finish.
Under these circumstances, twelfth place is okay. Both produced
outstanding performances in an eventful race. They waited for their
opportunities and then took them.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team RBM): “A very
eventful race. You didn’t know where to look at the start. My guys did
very well. Unfortunately, Tom was unlucky. He had worked his way
through the field well, but then was hit. Maxime’s race was awesome.
Starting from where he did on the grid, to score four points and
finish as the third best-placed BMW is a good result for us. The car
is quite badly damaged and we have a lot of work to do. Maxime not
only drove quickly, but also brought the car home despite all the
damage. Tomorrow is a new day and we will try to improve.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal BMW Team RMG):
“Unfortunately that was not BMW Team RMG’s race. We had done a good
job in qualifying. Timo did superbly in our first qualifying together,
and Marco showed once again why he is a past champion. As such, we
went into the race with high hopes. We wanted to progress through the
field. Unfortunately, however, the way some of the drivers drove put
paid to that.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 6th place): “I am very
happy to have made up so many places and scored valuable points after
starting from 13th on the grid. Unfortunately, the left rear of my car
was damaged in a collision with Mike Rockenfeller, and I was unable to
match the pace of the front-runners. We must now look at where we can
improve tomorrow, as we would probably have been lacking a bit of
speed even without the damage to the car.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 7th place):
“After the difficult qualifying and a very poor first lap – I
was forced off the track in turn two – the race went well. We had a
very strong car. We were not only able to gain positions, but could
pull clear and set our sights on the next car up the track after
overtaking. We finished in the points, so I am very happy with the race.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 8th place): “It was a
good race. Starting from P21 and to finish in eighth is great. We
scored some points which is important. It is a small victory because
when you start from that far behind you normally have no chance of
scoring points. Now we have to focus on tomorrow and try to be more
competitive then.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 12th place): “I
had an awesome start and two great opening laps. I found myself right
up in eighth place, just behind Bruno. I then got involved in the
battle between Ekström and Paffett. It was a very, very good fight –
but also very tough. There were car parts flying everywhere.
Unfortunately, they included a very important part of my car. That
affected the aerodynamics, and I was no longer able to match their
pace. On the whole, the car was sensational today – and without the
damage I would have finished somewhere around António and Bruno, if
not even better. As such, I would say that it was a tough DTM race,
unfortunately with the wrong outcome, but definitely with an upwards trend.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 13th place): “I have to
admit that qualifying was pretty disappointing. In the first run it
was difficult to find the lap but the second run was okay, only I
ended up in traffic and could not do anything. The start of the race
was good but then I got spun in the last corner. I lost ground and had
a lot damage on the car. From then on I could not really do much. It
was a shame, because then it was just about finishing the race.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 14th place): “In
qualifying I did not get a perfect lap. Then in the race, after a
clean start, I made up positions – until I was hit in turn six. That
meant the race was over for me. My car was damaged and I could not do
much. It is a shame as we saw that points would have been possible today.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 16th place): “The
result is very disappointing. I had an excellent start and was very
well-placed early on. I am sure that I could have been looking at a
top-five result. Unfortunately, Christian Vietoris hit me during a
three-way battle and damaged my car so badly that I no longer had any
chance of matching the pace of the others.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, DNF): “It was a real shame,
as I had a very good start but then I was hit hard in turn two. It all
went haywire after that. When we pulled into the Motodrom, Juncadella
spun behind me and hit me. That put us out of the race. It was a
catastrophe, for the entire team, as Marco’s car was also badly
damaged. It was not an ideal start, which is a shame, as we had a good
car. We must now make sure we exploit our potential tomorrow.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
- Edoardo Mortara (25 points), 2. Robert Wickens (18), 3. Nico
Müller (15), 4. Paul di Resta (12), 5. Christian Vietoris (10), 6.
Bruno Spengler (8), 7. António Félix da Costa (6), 8. Maxime Martin
(4), 9. Mattias Ekström (2), 10. Miguel Molina (1), 11. Gary Paffett
(0), 12. Martin Tomczyk (0), 13. Tom Blomqvist (0), 14. Augusto
Farfus (0), 15. Jamie Green (0), 16. Marco Wittmann (0), 17. Lucas
Auer (0), 18. Adrien Tambay (0), 18. Daniel Juncadella (0), 18. Timo
Scheider (0), 18. Maximilian Götz (0), 18. Mike Rockenfeller (0),
18. Esteban Ocon (0), 18. Timo Glock (0).
Team Championship.
- Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (27), 2. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS
invest Mercedes-AMG (18), 3. Audi Sport Team Abt (16), 4.
Mercedes-AMG (12), 5. BWT Mercedes-AMG (10), 6. BMW Team MTEK (8),
7. BMW Team Schnitzer (6), 8. BMW Team RBM (4), 9. BMW Team RMG (0),
9. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (0).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
- Audi (43 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (40), 3. BMW (18).
Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.
2016 race calendar.
6
th
-8
th
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), 23rd -25th September –
Budapest (HU), 14th -16th October – Hockenheim (DE).
More information.
You can find the latest BMW Motorsport media information, the
DTM Press Kit, and copyright-free images for editorial purposes online
at www.press.bmwgroup.com/global.
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