Zandvoort (NL), 16th July 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE) finished
runner-up in Saturday’s race at “Circuit Park Zandvoort” (NL) to take
his place on the podium and defend his lead in the DTM Drivers’
Championship. António Felix da Costa (PT) and Maxime Martin (BE) also
came home in the points for BMW. Martin Tomczyk (DE) was handed a
drive-through penalty, which saw him drop well down the field. Augusto
Farfus’ race came to a premature end after a crash.
Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the eight
BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “A big
compliment to Marco Wittmann. He once again did an excellent job
today. Robert Wickens was unstoppable out front. Congratulations to
him on his win. Behind him, Marco withstood a lot of pressure to hold
on to his position. The same goes for António Félix da Costa, who
successfully defended sixth place, although the opposition behind him
was able to use DRS. Maxime Martin also did well and, like Marco,
finished in the points for the eighth time in the ninth race of the
season. All in all, we once again took full advantage of our
opportunities today. Looking ahead to Sunday, we will work hard to
improve a little.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 2nd place): “That was a
very good day for us, particularly when you consider that the
technical problem we had in practice on Friday meant we hardly did any
driving. Despite this, we scored valuable points and defended the lead
in the Drivers’ Championship.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 6th place):
“Right from the opening lap it was clear to me that it was
going to be tough today. I struggled with the car and could not get
the tyres to work. As a result, I had to go defensive in the race. The
action out on the track was very fair, and I was able to defend my
position well. Fortunately, I picked up plenty of points for finishing sixth.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 10th place): “It is
obviously always nice to pick up points. However, I am not happy with
the result. We struggled with the car in qualifying and in the race.
We will work to rectify that ahead of tomorrow.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 13th place): “I would
sum up my race as so-so. Unfortunately, I only managed to qualify down
in 16th place. To finish in the points from that position is almost
impossible in Zandvoort, as it is hardly possible to overtake here.
Having said that, my speed was actually good in the race. We must now
see what we can improve for tomorrow, in order to secure a better grid
position and make our pace even more consistent in the race.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 16th place): “I never
found my stride here in Zandvoort today and just didn’t feel right in
the car. Qualifying was disappointing, but at least I was able to
climb a few places in the race. We now have a lot of work ahead of us
through the night, to make sure we put on a better show tomorrow.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 19th place): “My
start was good. Adrien Tambay did not get away particularly well and
it all got a bit cramped. I cannot say for certain whether I really
touched Maxi Götz. We will have to take a look at that. In my opinion,
the penalty was definitely too severe. I could have had a good race,
but the decision meant it was as good as over for me before it really
got going.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 21st place): “Up until the
safety car phase, the car actually still felt okay. However, I then
suffered a technical issue. From that point on, the balance was wrong
and I had no chance of matching the pace of the others. We must now
determine exactly what caused the issue. Tomorrow is a new day.
Congratulations to Marco.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, DNF): “Today started
badly with qualifying and, unfortunately, it did not get any better in
the race. I really wanted to get past Nico Müller, pushed a bit too
hard and came off the track. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
- Marco Wittmann (93 points), 2. Robert Wickens (83), 3. Edoardo
Mortara (73), 4. Jamie Green (73), 5. Paul di Resta (70), 6. Maxime
Martin (63), 7. Nico Müller (52), 8. Tom Blomqvist (52), 9. Mattias
Ekström (52), 10. Christian Vietoris (42), 11. Lucas Auer (41), 12.
Timo Glock (40), 13. Gary Paffett (34), 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 (133 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
(125), 3. BMW Team RBM (115), 4. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest
Mercedes-AMG (87), 5. BWT Mercedes-AMG (83), 6. Audi Sport Team
Rosberg (83), 7. Audi Sport Team Abt (78), 8. Mercedes-AMG (74), 9.
BMW Team MTEK (60), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (36),
11. BMW Team Schnitzer (29), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (6).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
- BMW (337 points), 2. Audi (292), 3. Mercedes-Benz (280).
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