Lausitzring. The best-placed BMW driver in race 13 of the DTM
season at the Lausitzring (GER) was Marco Wittmann (GER, Schaeffler
BMW M4 DTM) in fourth place. Despite narrowly missing out on a place
on the podium, he did make up ground in the Drivers’ Championship,
as championship leader René Rast (GER, Audi) failed to finish. The
12 points scored for fourth place also took Wittmann past the
1,000-point mark for his DTM career. He now has 1,006 points to his
name. Wittmann was joined in the points positions by Philipp Eng
(AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) in fifth, Joel Eriksson (SWE, CATL BMW M4 DTM)
in eighth, and Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) in ninth.
Timo Glock (GER) failed to finish, due to a technical
issue on the JiVS BMW M4 DTM. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) came home
16th, after a faulty door had to be replaced on the Shell
BMW M4 DTM. The DTM will hold its 500th race on Sunday.
Reactions to the 13th DTM race of the 2019 season
at Brands Hatch.
Rudolf Dittrich (General Manager BMW Motorsport Vehicle Development):
“After a good qualifying and a superb start, Marco Wittmann took
an impressive fourth place and made up ground in the Drivers’
Championship. Philipp Eng, Joel Eriksson and Bruno Spengler also had
good races, with a few spectacular battles, and made it into the top
ten. It is a shame that Timo Glock had to retire with a technical
issue, which meant he missed out on a possible points finish. In the
case of Sheldon van der Linde, a faulty door had to be replaced. Thank
you to the big crowds here at the Lausitzring, who created a great
atmosphere. Congratulations to Nico Müller on the win – and, of
course, to Bruno Spengler on his 36th birthday this weekend.”
Stefan Reinhold (BMW Team RMG Team Principal):
“It was a difficult qualifying today. We were able to improve on
our grid positions a little bit. We then tried to make optimal use of
the tyres. However, there was simply nothing more we could have done
today. The whole team did a great job. We are now focussing on tomorrow.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid:
5th, Race: 4th, Drivers’ standings:
3rd, 159 points):
“The result is a little disappointing. We are really trying to
get everything out of the package, but, unfortunately, it is simply
not enough at the moment. Sure, we cut the gap at the top a little,
thanks to René Rast’s retirement. However, to really be in contention
in the title race we have to finish ahead of our rivals.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid:
12th, Race: 9th, Drivers’ standings:
8th, 79 points):
“We at least managed to climb into the points from
12th place. We tried to just use one set of tyres in
qualifying. That paid dividends in the race. We must now make sure we
are a shade faster tomorrow and pick up a few more points. Ninth place
is okay, but obviously not entirely satisfactory.”
Timo Glock (#16 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid:
9th, Race: DNF, Drivers’ standings: 13th, 33 points):
“That was a bit of a shame today. I had very good pace but was
stuck behind Joel Eriksson and could not get past him. Unfortunately,
we also lost a little bit of time during the pit stop. When I returned
to the track I suddenly had no drive. Then it was all over.”
Bart Mampaey (BMW Team RBM Team Principal):
“After qualifying and the practice sessions, we took a step in
the right direction. I think we did a good job of that with Philipp
Eng and Joel Eriksson. In Philipp’s case, we lost a little bit of time
at the pit stop. However, we coped well with that and Philipp was then
able to overtake Pietro Fittipaldi out on the track, which earned us
fifth place. We are very happy with that. Joel also made up some
places. We were unlucky with Sheldon van der Linde. We must now find
out exactly what happened to his car.”
Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid:
8th, Race: 5th, Drivers’ standings:
4th, 139 points):
“I would obviously have liked to have scored more points, but I
think Audi was simply faster today. Marco Wittmann and I seem to have
got the most out of today. On the whole, however, the car feels superb.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid:
10th, Race: 8th, Drivers’ standings:
10th, 47 points):
“The result is not so bad. In the end, we should be happy with
the points after starting the race in tenth place. For me, the fact
that we had a clean race without any technical issues is a big
positive. The start was actually pretty good, but I was pushed into
the wall. Despite that, I still managed to gain a few positions.
Although I tried to use DRS cleverly, I unfortunately lost out to
Pietro Fittipaldi.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM,
Grid: 14th, Race: 16th, Drivers’ standings:
12th, 36 points):
“Qualifying was not good today. However, we bounced back quickly
and stopped late. It was going well on fresh tyres, but then the door
opened and we had to stop to change it. It was just unfortunate and I
hope luck will be back on our side soon.”
