Reactions to the 1st race of the 2016 DTM season.

Hockenheim (DE), 7th May 2016. Bruno Spengler (CA), António Félix da Costa (PT) and Maxime Martin (BE) finished in the points in the opening race of the DTM season in Hockenheim (DE). They came home sixth, seventh and eighth at the end of a tough race with many collisions. Marco Wittmann (DE), Tom Blomqvist (GB) and Augusto Farfus (BR) fell back through the field following contact with rival cars. Timo Glock was forced to retire after crashing out through no fault of his own. Victory went to Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi).

Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the four Team Principals and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was a very tough race, with an eventful opening three laps. Compliments to my guys, who fought hard. Bruno Spengler, António Félix da Costa and Maxime Martin still managed to finish in the points despite having damaged cars. Given the circumstances, they did as well as possible. I feel very sorry for Marco Wittmann, whose car was damaged in a collision. He was very well positioned in the race and could possibly even have been looking at a place on the podium. Generally speaking, there were an awful lot of collisions, and our drivers suffered as a result. I hope tomorrow’s race is a bit calmer.”

Ernest Knoors (Team Principal BMW Team MTEK): “I saw a good race from both drivers, but would have liked to have seen Augusto without a damaged car. He had a superb start, but then came the crash with Ocon. After that it was obviously tough for him. Bruno showed what the car is capable of. To finish sixth from his starting position was an impressive performance. The team worked well, the engineers did a good job, and both drivers got the most out of the situation – you cannot ask for more than that.”

Charly Lamm (Team Principal BMW Team Schnitzer): “After qualifying towards the back of the grid, we could never have dreamed of scoring points here. It was a really great race from António, who fought hard, showed impressive race pace, and was consequently able to climb through the field. Martin had an excellent start, as usual, and was also on course for a points finish after starting from the back. Unfortunately, his car was damaged when it all got a bit tight with Ekström and Paffett in the hairpin. From that moment on, all he could do was get the car through to the finish. Under these circumstances, twelfth place is okay. Both produced outstanding performances in an eventful race. They waited for their opportunities and then took them.”

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team RBM): “A very eventful race. You didn’t know where to look at the start. My guys did very well. Unfortunately, Tom was unlucky. He had worked his way through the field well, but then was hit. Maxime’s race was awesome. Starting from where he did on the grid, to score four points and finish as the third best-placed BMW is a good result for us. The car is quite badly damaged and we have a lot of work to do. Maxime not only drove quickly, but also brought the car home despite all the damage. Tomorrow is a new day and we will try to improve.”

Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal BMW Team RMG): “Unfortunately that was not BMW Team RMG’s race. We had done a good job in qualifying. Timo did superbly in our first qualifying together, and Marco showed once again why he is a past champion. As such, we went into the race with high hopes. We wanted to progress through the field. Unfortunately, however, the way some of the drivers drove put paid to that.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 6th place): “I am very happy to have made up so many places and scored valuable points after starting from 13th on the grid. Unfortunately, the left rear of my car was damaged in a collision with Mike Rockenfeller, and I was unable to match the pace of the front-runners. We must now look at where we can improve tomorrow, as we would probably have been lacking a bit of speed even without the damage to the car.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 7th place): “After the difficult qualifying and a very poor first lap – I was forced off the track in turn two – the race went well. We had a very strong car. We were not only able to gain positions, but could pull clear and set our sights on the next car up the track after overtaking. We finished in the points, so I am very happy with the race.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 8th place): “It was a good race. Starting from P21 and to finish in eighth is great. We scored some points which is important. It is a small victory because when you start from that far behind you normally have no chance of scoring points. Now we have to focus on tomorrow and try to be more competitive then.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 12th place): “I had an awesome start and two great opening laps. I found myself right up in eighth place, just behind Bruno. I then got involved in the battle between Ekström and Paffett. It was a very, very good fight – but also very tough. There were car parts flying everywhere. Unfortunately, they included a very important part of my car. That affected the aerodynamics, and I was no longer able to match their pace. On the whole, the car was sensational today – and without the damage I would have finished somewhere around António and Bruno, if not even better. As such, I would say that it was a tough DTM race, unfortunately with the wrong outcome, but definitely with an upwards trend.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 13th place): “I have to admit that qualifying was pretty disappointing. In the first run it was difficult to find the lap but the second run was okay, only I ended up in traffic and could not do anything. The start of the race was good but then I got spun in the last corner. I lost ground and had a lot damage on the car. From then on I could not really do much. It was a shame, because then it was just about finishing the race.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 14th place): “In qualifying I did not get a perfect lap. Then in the race, after a clean start, I made up positions - until I was hit in turn six. That meant the race was over for me. My car was damaged and I could not do much. It is a shame as we saw that points would have been possible today.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 16th place): “The result is very disappointing. I had an excellent start and was very well-placed early on. I am sure that I could have been looking at a top-five result. Unfortunately, Christian Vietoris hit me during a three-way battle and damaged my car so badly that I no longer had any chance of matching the pace of the others.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, DNF): “It was a real shame, as I had a very good start but then I was hit hard in turn two. It all went haywire after that. When we pulled into the Motodrom, Juncadella spun behind me and hit me. That put us out of the race. It was a catastrophe, for the entire team, as Marco’s car was also badly damaged. It was not an ideal start, which is a shame, as we had a good car. We must now make sure we exploit our potential tomorrow.”

 

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

1. Edoardo Mortara (25 points), 2. Robert Wickens (18), 3. Nico Müller (15), 4. Paul di Resta (12), 5. Christian Vietoris (10), 6. Bruno Spengler (8), 7. António Félix da Costa (6), 8. Maxime Martin (4), 9. Mattias Ekström (2), 10. Miguel Molina (1), 11. Gary Paffett (0), 12. Martin Tomczyk (0), 13. Tom Blomqvist (0), 14. Augusto Farfus (0), 15. Jamie Green (0), 16. Marco Wittmann (0), 17. Lucas Auer (0), 18. Adrien Tambay (0), 18. Daniel Juncadella (0), 18. Timo Scheider (0), 18. Maximilian Götz (0), 18. Mike Rockenfeller (0), 18. Esteban Ocon (0), 18. Timo Glock (0).

 

Team Championship.

1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (27), 2. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (18), 3. Audi Sport Team Abt (16), 4. Mercedes-AMG (12), 5. BWT Mercedes-AMG (10), 6. BMW Team MTEK (8), 7. BMW Team Schnitzer (6), 8. BMW Team RBM (4), 9. BMW Team RMG (0), 9. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (0).

 

Manufacturers’ Championship.

1. Audi (43 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (40), 3. BMW (18).

 

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

 

Driver	WIT	GLO	SPE	FAR	BLO	MAR	DAC	TOM
Country	DE	DE	CA	BR	GB	BE	PT	DE
Number	11	16	7	18	31	36	13	100
Age	26	34	32	32	22	30	24	34
DTM debut	2013	2013	2005	2012	2015	2014	2014	2001
Team	RMG	RMG	MTEK	MTEK	RBM	RBM	Schnitzer	Schnitzer
Races	39	39	122	49	19	29	29	160
Wins	5	2	14	4	1	2	1	7
Podiums	9	4	44	11	1	4	3	28
Poles	5	1	17	5	-	2	1	8
Fastest laps	5	2	14	1	1	1	1	8
Points	317	129	715	301	59	145	91	476

 

 

2016 race calendar.

6 th -8 th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd -5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24th -26th June – Norisring (DE), 15th -17th 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
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bmwmotorsport
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsport
YouTube: www.youtube.com/bmwmotorsport
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bmwmotorsport
Google+: www.plus.google.com/+bmwmotorsport

 

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