Reactions to the fifth race of the 2016 DTM season.

Spielberg (AT), 4th June 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE) finished fourth in
Saturday’s race at the Lausitzring (DE) to score valuable points and
take the lead in the DTM Drivers’ Championship. BMW Team RMG defended
its lead in the Team competition. BMW also tops the Manufacturers’ standings.

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): “We can be
very satisfied with fourth place for Marco Wittmann. He used up his
DRS quota relatively early in the race, and then defended his position
doggedly against those behind him. That is the mark of a champion:
Marco showed nerves of steel. He now leads the Drivers’ Championship
Maxime Martin is the only driver in the field to have finished in the
points in every race this season. That is a very impressive
performance. António Félix da Costa fought his way through the field
with some fantastic and fair manoeuvres. In doing so, he showed what a
fine racer he is. I am very pleased for him. Given the fact that the
Lausitzring does not really suit the BMW M4 DTM, that was a good
result today.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 4th place): “My summary
is more than positive. We did not reckon on finishing fourth here, and
taking the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. We scored a lot of
points, which is important – particularly on a track, at which we are
not so strong. I had a good start, but unfortunately I could not find
a way through to the very front. Then Robert Wickens forced me off the
track. Towards the end of the race I did not have any DRS left and had
to go on the defensive. It was a tough race – on the whole, I am very happy.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 9th place): “That was
okay, although it was quite a difficult race. At least I came away
with two points. That is always nice, but our pace in the race was not
as good as in qualifying. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. The goal is
to extend our run of finishes in the points. The atmosphere here at
the Motorsport Festival is fantastic.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 11th place): “I fought
hard today. The start was relatively okay, but it is just very
difficult to make any progress through the field after the kind of
qualifying we had. My goal was to finish in the points. I almost made
it. The car was much better than in qualifying. I have to say a big
thank you to my team for that. I will try again tomorrow.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 12th place): “That was
difficult today. I got away very well at the start, and then found
myself behind Nico Müller. Unfortunately, there was no way past him.
Generally speaking, the car was not easy to drive. We will take a look
at that with tomorrow in mind. Congratulations to Marco. That was a
tough battle for him up front. It is nice that he was able to pick up
some points for the team. I obviously want to do the same thing tomorrow.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 15th place):
“I had fun today. I was able to make up a few positions,
particularly on the opening lap. Over the course of the race, it
became increasingly difficult to keep the rear axle under control.
Hopefully we will improve that for tomorrow. There were a few fair
battles, without any contact. My car does not have a single scratch.
That is very positive after a race like that.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 21st place): “It was a
frustrating race. We had a problem at the start, but, that aside, our
car was simply not fast enough today. We had difficulties in
qualifying. They then continued in the race. It is a shame, but
tomorrow is a new day.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 22nd place): “That was
not a good race for us. I was hemmed-in in the first corner. At first
I thought I had a puncture, but I was able to continue. Despite that,
I dropped back through the field. I could not have done anything more.
We did not get the car in the right performance window today. We can
forget about today. We will start again tomorrow.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, DNF): “It is a
shame. Esteban Ocon’s attempt to overtake was never going to work. He
had already tried it two laps beforehand. He had to realise then that
it was not possible. Nonetheless, it happened. He was given a penalty.
That does not do me much good, or him for that matter. The race came
to a premature end. We must now focus fully on tomorrow.”

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

  1. Marco Wittmann (47 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (44), 3. Paul di
    Resta (43), 4. Robert Wickens (43), 5. Maxime Martin (39), 6. Timo
    Glock (37), 7. Tom Blomqvist (34), 8. Jamie Green (33), 9. Augusto
    Farfus (32), 10. Mattias Ekström (28), 11. Miguel Molina (26), 12.
    Nico Müller (23), 13. Christian Vietoris (20), 14. Gary Paffett
    (12), 15. Martin Tomczyk (12), 16. Bruno Spengler (10), 17. Lucas
    Auer (6), 18. António Félix da Costa (6), 19. Mike Rockenfeller (5),
    20. Adrien Tambay (4), 21. Timo Scheider (1), 22. Maximilian Götz
    (0), 23. Daniel Juncadella (0), 24. Esteban Ocon (0).

Team Championship.

  1. BMW Team RMG (84 points), 2. BMW Team RBM (73), 3. Audi Sport Team
    Abt Sportsline (72), 4. Audi Sport Team Abt (49), 5. Mercedes-AMG
    (43), 6. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (43), 7. BMW
    Team MTEK (42), 8. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (37),  9. BWT
    Mercedes-AMG (26), 10. BMW Team Schnitzer (18), 11.
    EURONICS/FREEMEN’S WORLD Mercedes-AMG (12), 12. Audi Sport Team
    Phoenix (6).

Manufacturers’ Championship.

  1. BMW (217 points), 2. Audi (164), 3. Mercedes-Benz (127).

 

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

 

 

 

2016 race calendar.

6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3
rd
-5
th
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.

 

Website:
www.bmw-motorsport.com

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Twitter:
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Google+:
www.plus.google.com/+bmwmotorsport

 

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