Hockenheim (DE), 15th October 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE) finished
runner-up in the penultimate race of the DTM season to extend his lead
in the Drivers’ Championship to 17 points. This result means that
fifth place in Sunday’s season finale would be sufficient for him to
be crowned DTM champion for the second time. António Félix da Costa
(PT) started the penultimate race of his DTM career from pole position
and crossed the finish line fourth. He also clocked the fastest lap of
the race. Timo Glock (DE) and Tom Blomqvist (GB) also finished in the
points for BMW.
Here you can read what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the
eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the 17th race of the season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “As
expected, that was hard work here in Hockenheim today. Marco Wittmann
did a superb job and really earned his 18 points. We were unable to
maintain our pace towards the end of the race, and the Audis had also
saved some DRS. We saw some fair battles out there – that is exactly
how it should be. Tomorrow, it will be important to show the same pace
as we had in qualifying in the race itself. Whatever happens, we will
give it our absolute all. Marco’s lead has grown again, and we now
want to win the title with him tomorrow.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 2nd place): “That was a
good race for us. On the whole, we had good pace and second place
means we gained another three points on Edoardo Mortara. That was
important. You have to acknowledge that he also drove a good race.
Despite this, I am well-placed for tomorrow’s season finale. I will
continue to focus solely on doing my job in the cockpit.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 4th place):
“The first phase of the race was actually really good, but I
was then unable to hang onto my place in the top three. It was an
important day for BMW. I think we can all be satisfied with the fact
that Marco Wittmann extended his lead in the championship. My second
DTM pole position was obviously great. Next up tomorrow is the final
race of my career in this series. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 7th place): “The race did
not pan out ideally for us. I think I could certainly have finished
higher up, as my pace was actually good. We could have done better
than seventh. At least Marco Wittmann was able to extend his lead in
the title race. We must now wait and see what tomorrow has in store.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 9th place): “The
performance was not particularly good in the race. I had problems with
the car right from the start and my tyres deteriorated very quickly.
The balance was simply not 100 per cent right. I was running fourth,
but fell well back down the field towards the end. I could do nothing
to prevent that.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 11th place): “We lost
pace over the course of the race. I don’t know exactly why. We must
look into it. The tyres wore massively. Therefore, there was nothing
we could do. I tried to hold onto my position but it wasn’t possible.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 13th place): “The pace
in the race simply wasn’t good enough. I had to defend my position in
turn one and lost a number of places. However, there’s nothing you can
do about that. Marco Wittmann scored more points than Edoardo Mortara,
and that is certainly a good thing. However, it will not be easy in
the Manufacturers’ Championship tomorrow. Let’s wait and see.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 14th place): “That was
a day to forget for me personally. Unfortunately, we went completely
the wrong way with the set-up today. That is why we started from so
far down the field. The start and lap one were okay, and I climbed
into 12th place. However, the balance then deteriorated and I lost two
positions. We must work hard to ensure we perform better tomorrow.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 20th place):
“That wasn’t a particularly spectacular race for me. However,
the main focus was definitely not on me. We struggled as early as
qualifying, and that continued in the race. We were well outside the
points. My goal for tomorrow is obviously to finish in the top ten one
last time, and we obviously want to win titles for BMW.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
- Marco Wittmann (194 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (177), 3. Jamie
Green (141), 4. Robert Wickens (122), 5. Mattias Ekström (107), 6.
Tom Blomqvist (107), 7. Paul di Resta (101), 8. Nico Müller (88), 9.
Maxime Martin (82), 10. Timo Glock (74), 11. Gary Paffett (73), 12.
Lucas Auer (68), 13. Miguel Molina (66), 14. Bruno Spengler (51),
15. Augusto Farfus (44), 16. António Félix da Costa (43), 17.
Christian Vietoris (42), 18. Adrien Tambay (40), 19. Mike
Rockenfeller (31), 20. Maximilian Götz (17), 21. Martin Tomczyk
(15), 22. Timo Scheider (13), 23. René Rast (8), 24. Daniel
Juncadella (6), 25. Felix Rosenqvist (5), 25. Esteban Ocon (2).
Team Championship.
- Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (294 points), 2. BMW Team RMG
(268), 3. BMW Team RBM (189), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (181), 5.
Audi Sport Team Abt (154), 6. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest
Mercedes-AMG (128), 6. 7. Mercedes-AMG (118), 8. BWT Mercedes-AMG
(110), 9. BMW Team MTEK (95), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S
WORLDMercedes-AMG (80), 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (58), 12. Audi Sport
Team Phoenix (42).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
- Audi (671 points), 2. BMW (610), 3. Mercedes-Benz (436).
Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.
DTM Race Calendar 2016.
6.-8. May – Hockenheim (DE), 20.-22. May – Spielberg (AT), 3.-5. June
– Lausitzring (DE), 24.-26. June – Norisring (DE), 15.-17. July –
Zandvoort (NL), 19.-21. August – Moscow (RU), 9.-11. September –
Nürburgring (DE), 23.-25. September – Budapest (HU), 14.-16.
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.
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