After finishing 19th in Saturday’s wet race, Wittmann impressed in
qualifying, landing the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM on pole position. He then
converted this into win number seven in the 50th race of his DTM
career with a dominant display. This victory also represented BMW Team
RMG’s tenth win in its 60th race and was the 72nd time in the history
of the DTM that the top step of the podium had been occupied by a BMW driver.
Tom Blomqvist (GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA,
BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) finished
second, third and fourth to complete the sixth top-four lock-out for
BMW in the DTM. Thanks to this outstanding team result, BMW now leads
the Manufacturers’ Championship again with 436 points. BMW Team RMG
also regained the top spot in the team competition with 178 points.
Maxime Martin (BE) was extremely unlucky. He was in first place
in qualifying when he lost control of the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM in a fast
left-hander and skidded into the tyre wall. His mechanics at BMW Team
RBM were able to repair the car in time for the start of the race, but
Martin was forced to start from the very back of the field. Despite
also being handed a drive-through penalty, he eventually managed to
fight his way into 17th place.
Timo Glock (DE) also left empty-handed. He looked certain to
finish in the points in the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM until he was hit
by a rival car and barged into the gravel bed. He consequently had to
retire from the race. António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM) and
Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) came home 19th and 23rd.
Reactions to the sixth race weekend of the 2016 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That is an
incredible result for us today, particularly given the way the race
turned out for us yesterday. Marco really produced a top performance
and made his intentions very clear in qualifying. His race was equally
impressive. However, Tom Blomqvist, Bruno Spengler, Augusto Farfus and
Timo Glock also had great races behind him. It is a shame that the
opposition performed a number of unfair manoeuvres. That cannot be
allowed in the DTM. Compliments also to Maxime Martin for his
fightback from the rear of the field, which saw him battle through to
17th place despite a drive-through penalty. We are obviously very
happy to have regained the lead in all three championships. This
result is something to celebrate.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “We
are delighted with this result. After yesterday’s disappointment, we
knew that we had to do everything right in the dry conditions today.
We achieved that with Marco Wittmann, and responded to Saturday’s race
in exactly the right way. Compliments to Marco on his outstanding
drive. I feel very sorry for Timo Glock. There was no need for him to
be taken out of the race.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM):
“Congratulations to BMW on this top-four lock-out. I would like to
thank BMW, my team and my drivers for a fine race. Tom Blomqvist
produced a very consistent display and deserved his place on the
podium. Unfortunately, the incident in qualifying prevented Maxime
Martin from being able to show his full potential. Because of this, we
are happy with the points haul, but not entirely happy, because we
could have achieved so much more.
Ernest Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK): “That
result is good for the entire team. The season has been a tough one
for us so far. However, we always believed in ourselves. Bruno
Spengler and Augusto Farfus showed what they are capable of today, and
we provided both of them with a car with which they could compete at
the front of the field. The weekend showed once again what a thin line
there is between joy and misfortune in motor racing. We had no chance
in the rain yesterday, then finished third and fourth in dry
conditions today. Long may that continue.”
Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer):
“Congratulations to BMW on a fantastic result. Unfortunately, we were
very unlucky in Sunday’s race. António dropped back through the field
following a collision that was no fault of his own. This prevented him
from scoring any points. It was generally very difficult for Martin to
make any progress from the back of the grid. Generally speaking, we
did not get the optimum out of our package in Moscow. We must now
perform a careful analysis to determine exactly why that was, as this
has been a disappointing weekend for us.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 1st place, Sat.: 19th
place): “After a tough day yesterday, today’s race was much
more to my liking again. I was able to secure pole position and then
lead from start to finish. The fact that BMW also completed a top-four
lock-out is simply awesome. I would like to dedicate this success to
my race engineer, who is 35 years old today. I don’t think I could
give him a much better birthday present than a DTM victory.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 2nd place, Sat.: 22nd
place): “After the disappointment of yesterday, this was a
fantastic result – not just for me, but above all for the team. I am
delighted with my third podium finish of the season.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 3rd place, Sat.: 15th
place): “It is nice to be back on the podium. We have had a
tough time as a team. We had not been good enough, particularly in
qualifying. We improved that today – and then produced a superb race.
I am particularly pleased for my mechanics that we were finally
rewarded for all our hard work with a third place. All in all, it was
a great day for BMW occupying the top four positions.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 4th place, Sat.: 14th
place): “I think we showed what teamwork means today.
Things did not run smoothly for us on Saturday, but we learned from it
and got as much out of it as possible. I had great race pace and
pulled off some good overtaking manoeuvres. And our strategy came up
trumps too. I stayed out quite a long time and stopped late. Fourth
place in the end shows that this was exactly the right decision. The
team had a good overview of what was going on in the race. That was a
great example of perfect racing.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 17th place, Sat.: 6th
place): “It was not my day today. First I had to start from
24th on the grid, then I received a drive-through penalty. Despite
everything, I could possibly still have been looking at a top-ten
finish without that penalty. I could have lived with that, but it
wasn’t to be. I will now focus fully on the next two races at the
Nürburgring. I have fond memories of that place.
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 19th place,
Sat.: 20th place): “After the difficult race on Saturday,
BMW provided us with a very good package. I was able to qualify tenth
and was running in the points. However, I was then hit by Jamie Green
and dropped right back through the field. I did continue, despite my
car being damaged, but my race was basically over after that incident.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 23rd place, Sat.:
21st place): “There is not a lot to say about my own result
this weekend. I would like to congratulate BMW on this outstanding
success and a great comeback after the difficult wet race on Saturday.
The entire team showed great team spirit again. I am very proud to be
a part of the BMW family.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: DNF place, Sat.: 11th place):
“Personally, luck was not on my side here. We made a bit of a
mistake with the set-up in qualifying, which meant we did not start as
far forward as we possibly could have. The speed was actually really
good in the race. However, Maxi Götz drove into me on the opening lap,
which allowed the guys in front of me to pull clear and I dropped
outside the DRS window. There was plenty going on after that, and I
spent most of the time in a lot of traffic. At some point I was hit by
Paul di Resta. It obviously hurts not to take any points from Moscow,
but it was a fantastic result for BMW and BMW Team RMG.
Congratulations to Marco and the other guys.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
- Marco Wittmann (130 points), 2. Robert Wickens (118), 3. Jamie
Green (104), 4. Edoardo Mortara (100), 5. Paul di Resta (92), 6. Tom
Blomqvist (71), 7. Maxime Martin (71), 8. Mattias Ekström (70), 9.
Nico Müller (68), 10. Gary Paffett (67), 11. Timo Glock (48), 12.
Lucas Auer (44), 13. Augusto Farfus (44), 14. Bruno Spengler (43),
15. Christian Vietoris (42), 16. Miguel Molina (26), 17. Maximilian
Götz (16), 18. António Félix da Costa (16), 19. Adrien Tambay (14),
20. Martin Tomczyk (13), 21. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 22. Daniel
Juncadella (4), 23. Timo Scheider (3), 24. Esteban Ocon (2), 25.
Felix Rosenqvist (1).
Team Championship.
- BMW Team RMG (178 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
(170), 3. BMW Team RBM (142), 4. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest
Mercedes-AMG (122), 5. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (118), 6.
Mercedes-AMG (108), 7. Audi Sport Team Abt (94), 8. BMW Team MTEK
(87), 9. BWT Mercedes-AMG (86), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S
WORLDMercedes-AMG (70), 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (29), 12. Audi Sport
Team Phoenix (8).
Manufacturers’ Championship.
- BMW (436 points), 2. Audi (390), 3. Mercedes-Benz (386).
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), 15th-
17th July – Zandvoort (NL), 19
th
– 21
st
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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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