Brands Hatch. BMW Motorsport has enjoyed an extremely
successful day as the DTM made its comeback at Brands Hatch (GBR).
Augusto Farfus (BRA) finished second in Saturday’s race to reach the
podium. Farfus also secured the 40th DTM podium finish
for BMW Team RMG. This was also the first podium for the BMW works
driver since the Sunday race at the 2016 season-opener at Hockenheim
(GER). Victory in the first Brands Hatch race went to Daniel
Juncadella (ESP, Mercedes).
The DTM last paid Brands Hatch a visit in 2013. Three BMW drivers
made it into the top-ten at this weekend’s comeback. In addition to
Farfus in second place, Philipp Eng (AUT, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) and
Marco Wittmann (GER, BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM) crossed the line
in fifth and ninth positions. Eng had finished the qualifying session
as best-placed BMW driver, in fourth place.
Timo Glock (GER, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) and Joel Eriksson (SWE,
BMW M4 DTM) had to settle for 13th and 14th
places. Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) completed the race in
17th position.
Reactions after Saturday`s DTM race at Brands Hatch.
Rudolf Dittrich (General Manager BMW Motorsport Vehicle
Development):
“It’s great to be back at the Brands Hatch
circuit after five years away, and now we are on the longer, more
challenging version of the track. The race was very entertaining for
everyone, drivers and spectators alike. I am particularly pleased with
Augusto Farfus securing second place and returning to the podium for
the first time since 2016. Congratulations are also in order for BMW
Team RMG on their 40th DTM podium. We managed to get three
BMW M4 DTMs into the top-ten. That is something to be pleased about.
However, we didn’t manage to record improved positions for all the
cars compared to the qualifying results. The weather may be different
tomorrow and then it will be a whole new ball game. Congratulations to
Daniel Juncadella and Mercedes on today’s win.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal BMW Team
RMG):
“It is fantastic that we and Augusto made it back
to the podium. We have been working towards that for the whole season.
You can see that we are able to be competitive with all three drivers,
however, we have to work on improving our consistency with all three.
We will try and do just that tomorrow, and for the rest of the season.
The championship remains wide open and anyone who knows us, knows that
we always want to be involved in that battle.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM, BMW Team
RMG – qualifying result: 9th place, race result:
9th place, points: 100):
“We stopped early, as planned. For some reason, we lost a lot of time
through the pit stop window and the slow zone. I can’t say right now
what caused it – we still have to analyse that. Unfortunately, we
weren’t able to do much more after that but our pace today wasn’t so
bad and that gives me confidence for tomorrow.”
Augusto Farfus (#15 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG –
qualifying result: 5th place, race result: 2nd
place, points: 40):
“It feels good to finally reach the podium again. It’s been a long
time coming but it’s finally happened. We had really good pace today.
We had a fast car from the start and the team did a great job. I
couldn’t quite keep up with Mercedes’ speed but we competed really
well. I am delighted, especially for my team.”
Timo Glock (#16 DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR –
qualifying result: 7th place, race result:
13th place, points: 101):
“From a strategic point of view, the slow zone was really unfortunate
for us, as I was really expecting a safety car. We had very good pace,
especially at the start of the race, but it tailed off as the race
continued. I had to deal with some severe understeer. I can’t explain
what caused that. We have to analyse that for tomorrow.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team RBM):
“Brands Hatch has a lot of high-speed turns and is a really exciting
circuit. We recorded a very good result with Philipp Eng. We have been
working hard since this morning. Philipp did very well in qualifying
and he is making progress with every session. P5 is really good.
Qualifying was a bit difficult for Joel Eriksson after he briefly went
off the track. We have to start all over again tomorrow. We will have
to take a closer look at the setup for Bruno Spengler’s car, as we
really need to make some progress here.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying
result: 18th place, race result: 17th place,
points: 43):
“We had a problem with the balance of the
car this morning. That did not improve during the race. I hope that we
can get better overnight and record an improved result tomorrow.”
Philipp Eng (#25 SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying
result: 4th place, race result: 5th place,
points: 77):
“The duel with Augusto made the first lap a lot of fun. After that,
it was a pretty uneventful race for me. Things got a bit tighter with
Paffett towards the end. I am really pleased with qualifying though.
There is still room for improvement with the racing pace and I hope
that we can do something there tomorrow.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying
result: 16th place, race result: 14th place,
points: 27):
“I am very pleased with the first stint, even though I had a very
poor start. We made up some more time through the slow zone. Then I
lost two places after my pit stop. All in all, we were just a bit off
the pace today. However, I am confident that we can improve tomorrow.”