Zandvoort (NL), 17th July 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE) finished second
and fourth in front of 38,000 spectators at the fifth race weekend of
the DTM season at “Circuit Park Zandvoort” to defend his lead in the
Drivers’ Championship. His BMW Team RMG team-mate Timo Glock (DE) and
Tom Blomqvist (GB) also picked up points in Sunday’s race, coming home
sixth and tenth respectively. Wittmann, António Félix da Costa (PT)
and Maxime Martin (BE) finished in the top ten in race one on Saturday.
Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the four team
principals and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race weekend.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “Sunday’s
race was as tough for us as we expected it to be. However, our drivers
kept cool heads and fought hard to the very end. They were rewarded
for their efforts with fourth, sixth and tenth. We are pleased with
these points. I think we made the most of our opportunities this
weekend. This is particularly true of Marco Wittmann. He has defended
his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. I am very pleased for him. We
have all earned a short break now, then we will travel fully focussed
to the next race in Moscow.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “We
had another very good weekend, on which we scored a lot of points. I
would like to say a big thank you to our drivers and the team. Marco
Wittmann is in the same kind of form as he was in 2014 – maybe even
better. He overcomes difficult situations perfectly. Timo Glock is
also extremely professional and is showing consistent and fine form.
He is a great fit for us. Unfortunately, we did not analyse the
problem with his car correctly at the first attempt on Saturday,
otherwise he could have scored points in both races.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM): “All in
all, it was a disappointing weekend for us. We did pick up a point in
each race, but that is too little. Maxime’s car was damaged in
qualifying, and then it wasn’t okay in the race either. That prevented
him from being able to attack. Tom had a decent qualifying, but a
problem during the pit stop saw him drop back through the field. A
hose had become looped around his mirror. I am glad that nothing more
serious happened.”
Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer): “We
actually had a good race with both drivers today. However, unlike
yesterday, we were not rewarded with points, due to a number of
incidents. Neither of our drivers could attack on the second set of
tyres. We had more joy on Saturday, and produced a good race with António.”
Ernest Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK):
“Unfortunately, we had absolutely no luck this weekend – in fact, we
were really unlucky. The guys worked hard to prepare the cars again
each time. That was a lot of work, particularly with all the damage to
Augusto’s car. The team did everything it could, but it was simply not
our weekend.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 4th place, Sat.: 2nd
place): “I feel very positive about Sunday’s race, and the
weekend in general. I think, in finishing second and fourth, we did as
well as we possibly could have. We were obviously a little fortunate
that our rivals had tyre issues on Sunday, but we are still very happy
to take the points. I am still leading the Drivers’ Championship, but
it remains extremely close and exciting.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 6th place, Sat.: 21st place):
“Today we saw the real pace of our car here, after we had a
technical issue yesterday. We were quick. I was able to go with Marco,
particularly in the first stint. We lost some time during the pit
stop, and then Nico Müller was able to overtake me. Despite this,
sixth place is okay today.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 10th place, Sat.: 16th
place): “Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to
the entire team, as we took a big step forward compared to yesterday.
That gave me the opportunity to challenge for points today.
Unfortunately, there was an incident during the pit stop, which cost
us time. I then re-joined the race in traffic. That is a shame, as we
could have done better.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 11th place, Sat.:
19th place): “My start was fantastic again, as were the
opening laps. I gained a lot of positions and everything was running
well until shortly after the pit stop. The car was superb, but then
the tyres gave up on us and I simply didn’t have a chance. I fought
like a lion at the end. There was simply nothing more I could have done.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 13th place, Sat.: DNF):
“Zandvoort is actually one of my favourite circuits. However,
for various reasons, I was unable to put on the show we were hoping
for this time. The good thing is that I had one of the fastest cars in
Sunday’s race. However, we must definitely work on improving our pace
in qualifying.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 14th place, Sat.: 13th
place): “We were very unlucky today. When I braked into the
first corner of the race, the door opened – all on its own, for no
apparent reason. As a result, I had to pull straight into the pits and
so completed one pit stop more than everyone else. Despite that, I
still fought back to finish 14th. The car was very good all race long,
and we can learn something from that for the coming races. We could
have picked up some points today. It was just unfortunate that the
door opened.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 17th place,
Sat.: 6th place): “The first half of the race was actually
quite okay. The start was good, and I made a bit of progress through
the field. Unfortunately, I then made contact with Esteban Ocon. The
car was damaged after that, and there was not a lot more that I could do.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: DNF, Sat.: 10th place):
“I had a few contacts in the first part of the race, after
which the car was damaged. That is why I came into the pits later on.
Because of this, I come away with just the one point from Saturday. We
will now analyse everything very carefully and hopefully come back
stronger in Moscow.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
- Marco Wittmann (105 points), 2. Jamie Green (98), 3. Edoardo
Mortara (88), 4. Robert Wickens (83), 5. Paul di Resta (74), 6.
Maxime Martin (63), 7. Nico Müller (62), 8. Mattias Ekström (58), 9.
Tom Blomqvist (53), 10. Gary Paffett (52), 11. Timo Glock (48), 12.
Lucas Auer (43), 13. Christian Vietoris (42), 14. Augusto Farfus
(32), 15. Bruno Spengler (28), 16. Miguel Molina (26), 17. António
Félix da Costa (16), 18. Martin Tomczyk (13), 19. Adrien Tambay
(10), 20. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 21. Maximilian Götz (4), 22. Daniel
Juncadella (4), 23. Esteban Ocon (2), 24. Timo Scheider (1).
Team Championship.
- BMW Team RMG (153 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (146
), 3. BMW Team RBM (116), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (108), 5. Audi
Sport Team Abt (88), 6. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG
(87), 7. BWT Mercedes-AMG (85), 8. Mercedes-AMG (78), 9. BMW Team
MTEK (60), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (54), 11. BMW
Team Schnitzer (29), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (6).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
- BMW (358 Punkte), 2. Audi (348), 3. Mercedes-Benz (304).
Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.
2016 race calendar.
6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd
-5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24th -26th June – Norisring (DE), 15
th
-17
th
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
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www.facebook.com/bmwmotorsport
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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