Hockenheim (DE), 7th May 2016. Fans at the Hockenheimring (DE) were
treated to an action-packed opening race of 2016 by the 24 drivers in
this year’s DTM. Three BMW M4 DTMs finished in the points at the end
of a race littered with spectacular battles, overtaking manoeuvres and
collisions. Bruno Spengler (CA) came home sixth in the BMW Bank M4
DTM, making him the best-placed BMW driver. The Canadian fought back
brilliantly from 13th on the grid. He was followed over the finish
line by António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM) and Maxime Martin (BE,
SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) in seventh and eighth. They also made great
progress through the field, having started from 20th and 21st. Victory
went to Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi).
Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM), Tom Blomqvist
(GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM)
were 12th, 13th and 14th. Blomqvist and Farfus had dropped well back
after being involved in incidents during the eventful opening stages
of the race. Tomczyk had also worked his way through the field and was
running in the top ten until his car was damaged in a battle with Gary
Paffett (GB, Mercedes) and Mattias Ekström (DE, Audi).
Marco Wittmann (DE), at the wheel of the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM, was the
highest ranked BMW driver early on. However, his car was so badly
damaged in a collision that he was unable to match the pace of the
other cars and dropped back through the field. He eventually came home
16th. Timo Glock (DE) was hit by a rival car on lap three and
consequently skidded off into the gravel bed in the DEUTSCHE POST BMW
M4 DTM bringing his first race of the season to a premature end.
Reactions to the 1st race of the 2016 DTM season.
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.”
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 rear left 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.”
Facts and Figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Hockenheim, 4.574 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Sunny, 27 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4
DTM – 6th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M4 DTM – 7th place
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RBM, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 8th place
#100 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts
M4 DTM – 12th place
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 13th place
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team MTEK, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 14th place
#11 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 16th place
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team RMG, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – DNF
Useful information:
António Félix da Costa and Maxime Martin both made up
13 positions in the race.
Augusto Farfus was spun by an opponent at the hairpin on lap one and
consequently fell well down the field.
Tom Blomqvist dropped to the back of the field on lap two after
spinning in turn one.
Marco Wittmann’s car was damaged on lap one following a collision,
which was no fault of his own.
Six cars retired over the course of an eventful first few laps. These
included Timo Glock in the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM.
Martin Tomczyk climbed from 22nd on the grid to 14th place in the
opening laps. However, he then had problems with his car on lap twelve
and dropped back through the field.
The second qualifying session begins at 12.30 on Sunday. Before that,
the third practice session is scheduled for 10.00.
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.
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