Reactions to the seventh race of the 2016 DTM season.

Norisring (DE), 25th June 2016. At Saturday’s DTM race at the
Norisring (DE), four BMW M4 DTM made it into the points, several
staging strong comeback drives. Marco Wittmann (DE), Bruno Spengler
(CA) and Maxime Martin (BE) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place.
António Félix da Costa (PT) also picked up points for BMW, finishing ninth.

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): “The fans
witnessed an extremely thrilling race – just like you are used to at
the Norisring. It was a top result for us and the best that we were
able to achieve. Naturally, we benefitted from an aggressive manoeuvre
from the opposition. But with Bruno Spengler in fifth place, we only
had one driver in a good starting position. The fact that we ended up
with four cars in the top 10 is fantastic. Marco in particular
delivered an excellent performance at his home event and pushed his
way into fourth place after starting from 13th on the grid, but Bruno
and Maxime both had great races right behind him. I am very pleased.
Now we will undergo intensive preparations for tomorrow. It will be
another fiercely contested race.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 4th place): “The best
word I can think of to describe this result is ‘mega’. I had a good
start from P13, then it is always incredibly close on the first turn
here. I went for the inside line, and I think that was the right
choice. I was able to make up positions and then benefitted from the
hotheads in front of me – you need to keep a cool head at the front.
In terms of pace, we were very, very fast. From 13th to fourth place –
that doesn’t happen every day.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 5th place): “Fifth
place is okay, but I’m not totally happy. We were relatively good in
qualifying. The team really did a good job and improved the car
considerably overnight, but then our race speed just wasn’t good
enough. The positive thing is that we came away with points.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 6th place): “That really
wasn’t very easy today. It is never easy from 14th on the grid in the
DTM, but to then end up in sixth place is fantastic. We picked up
points again – and I’m happy about that.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 9th place):
“I’m happy with the result. Qualifying was disappointing, we
made life difficult for ourselves for the race. That said, we at least
had a better car than the guys around us, so I was able to look after
my brakes and economise with the DRS. In terms of strategy, that was
the key today. The overtaking manoeuvres were fun, and I am totally
happy with two points after starting from 21st on the grid.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 11th place): “We just
couldn’t find a good set-up for the race, but we still only narrowly
missed out on the points. It’s a real shame. We are making progress
little by little, which is why it’s good that there is another race
tomorrow in which we can prove ourselves.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 12th place): “I
got through this race very well. I kept up with António throughout the
race from the start, and we worked our way up the field together. The
car was good and we had the right racing speed, but you get stuck in
traffic at the Norisring.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 14th place): “The start was
okay. Then, unfortunately, I was a bit too far out in Schöller-S on
the first lap, ended up in the dirt and lost the car. It was like
driving on ice and I slipped into the wall. After that, the car no
longer performed perfectly. On top of that, my DRS didn’t work in the
first half of the race. So naturally we never stood a chance and were
unable to pick up any points.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 16th place): “The
weather was good, the atmosphere was sensational – and my start was
also okay. But then I got wedged in on the first turn and lost a few
places. And then when you have a convoy of cars in front of you, it is
very difficult to overtake here at the Norisring. It was also a
difficult race overall for me.”

 

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

  1. Edoardo Mortara (69 points), 2. Marco Wittmann (67), 3. Jamie
    Green (63), 4. Paul di Resta (58), 5. Robert Wickens (58), 6. Maxime
    Martin (47), 7. Mattias Ekström (46), 8. Timo Glock (38), 9. Tom
    Blomqvist (34), 10. Augusto Farfus (32), 11. Lucas Auer (31), 12.
    Nico Müller (27), 13. Christian Vietoris (27), 14. Miguel Molina
    (26), 15. Gary Paffett (22), 16. Bruno Spengler (22), 17. Martin
    Tomczyk (12), 18. Adrien Tambay (10), 19. António Félix da Costa
    (8), 20. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 21. Maximilian Götz (4), 22. Timo
    Scheider (1), 23. Daniel Juncadella (0), 24. Esteban Ocon (0).

Team Championship.

  1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (115 points), 2. BMW Team RMG
    (105), 3. BMW Team RBM (81), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (73), 5.
    Mercedes-AMG (62), 6. BWT Mercedes-AMG (58), 7. SILBERPFEIL
    Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (58), 8. BMW Team MTEK (54), 9. Audi
    Sport Team Abt (53), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (22),
    11. BMW Team Schnitzer (20), 11. 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (6).      

Manufacturers’ Championship.

  1. BMW (260 points), 2. Audi (247), 3. Mercedes-Benz (200).

 

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

 

 

 

2016 race calendar.

6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd
-5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24
th
-26
th
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

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/bmwmotorsport

Instagram:
www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsport

YouTube:
www.youtube.com/bmwmotorsport

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/bmwmotorsport

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