Réactions après la quatrième course de la saison 2016 de DTM qui a eu lieu ce week-end à Norising.

Norisring (DE), 26th June 2016. BMW Motorsport had a successful weekend at the Norisring (DE) in front of a total of 123,500 spectators. Tom Blomqvist (GB) and Maxime Martin (BE) made it onto the podium in second and third place in Sunday's race. Marco Wittmann (DE) picked up plenty of points for finishing fourth and sixth at his home event, which saw him regain the lead in the drivers' championship. Bruno Spengler (CA) also picked up points in both races. A total of six BMW M4 DTM finished in the top 10 on Sunday.

 

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): “The fans in the grandstands were treated to the spectacular show they have come to expect. We did not expect to come away with such a good result: obviously anyone starting from pole wants to win. But if anyone had told me before the weekend that Tom Blomqvist and Maxime Martin would finish second and third at the Norisring, I would have taken that immediately. Compliments to both of them, as well as Bart Mampaey and his entire team. We are very happy to have six cars in the top ten here. It is a shame for António Félix da Costa that his impressive performance did not get the result it deserved, and for Augusto Farfus that his race came to a premature end on the opening lap. We want to back this performance up when the DTM returns from its three-week break in Zandvoort. Congratulations to Nico Müller on his win.”

 

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM): “If someone had told me that we would have both drivers on the podium ahead of this weekend, I probably wouldn't have believed them. The Norisring is one of our favourite tracks, but we haven't always been competitive here. Having now achieved such a result with our team is incredible. Congratulations to Nico Müller. He was faster than we were today. Nevertheless, we can be proud of our performance. Maxime Martin picked up points in both races again; Tom Blomqvist started from pole and initially pulled ahead. So overall I am very, very pleased.”

 

Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “This weekend was perfect team-building for us. We made rigorous preparations for the Norisring with our engineers and mechanics. We know that we need to pick up points even on difficult weekends. Our result clearly exceeded our expectations. The drivers did a fantastic job and pulled their weight. Big thanks also go to BMW. We are extremely happy right now. I'm particularly delighted that we were able to give Marco Wittmann another successful home event here in Nürnberg.”

 

Ernest Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK): “Bruno Spengler got the maximum out of the races at the Norisring for us. He delivered a good performance – and it was a good weekend for BMW overall. Unfortunately, when things don't go well for Augusto Farfus at the moment, they really don't go well. It is frustrating to be knocked out on the first lap and be unable to continue the race. We need to give him a car that enables him to qualify further up the field. We need to be further up the field with both cars in Zandvoort.”

 

Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer): “We just can't get this one good lap in qualifying. Despite difficult starting situations, both drivers did well on Saturday. At least António Félix da Costa was able to pick up points. Then Sunday was mixed. Qualifying went better for António in particular, but then there were several incidents. After several hard attacking manoeuvres, António's car was so badly damaged that he had to retire. The ray of hope was Martin Tomczyk: He drove an aggressive race and was rewarded for this with a point. Congratulations to BMW Team RBM. It was fantastic to see the Belgians on the podium in Bavaria.”

 

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 2nd place, Sat.: 16th place): “All in all, I am very happy with the result. I made it onto the podium and scored 18 valuable points. We had not really reckoned on that going into the weekend. We even came very close to winning, but unfortunately I lost time towards the end of my first stint and in the pit stop. On the whole, however, my team did an incredibly good job. I would like to thank them all.”

 

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 3rd place, Sat.: 6th place): “I'm really happy. As a team, we did a fantastic job. I knew I had a good chance to take some points, with the strong grid position, and I felt really good in the race. The car had great pace, and I have to thank the team for that; they were fantastic as usual. To take a podium here is brilliant. Tom did a great job, and to have six BMW in the top 10 is obviously very nice. Congratulations as well to Nico Müller, the first win in DTM is always special.”

 

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 6th place, Sat.: 4th place): “My start wasn't very good, but the incident involving Mattias Ekström meant that I made it through the initial phase in tenth place anyway. After that the pace was really good, but you couldn't really attack. It would have been too risky. We opted for a slightly longer first stint. This turned out to be the right move. After that I fought well, was able to overtake Edoardo Mortara and then got stuck behind Lucas Auer and Paul di Resta for a long time. It would have been too risky to get involved in this situation too. We didn't really expect that I would be leading the drivers' championship at the end of the weekend.”

 

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 7th place, Sat.: 5th place): “Picking up points from 14th on the grid is okay. We couldn't have done any better. Qualifying was the problem once again. I battled with the balance of my car throughout the weekend. The positive is that I was still able to pick up points twice. Unfortunately, we weren't able to finish any further up the field. Overall, it was a really great Norisring performance for BMW. Special thanks go to our pit crew at BMW Team MTEK. The guys did a fantastic job. Now we are focussing on Zandvoort.”

 

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 9th place, Sat.: 21st place): “It ended up being a very good day after all. We didn't have the right pace in qualifying, and it was difficult with the first set of tyres in the race. Then the team made a good call and brought me in at the right time. After that the car was really great and I was at least able to ration the DRS a bit. The safety car phase helped me a bit. I had a great, fair duel with Timo Scheider. Racing like that is fun. We gave it our all – and at least came away with a few points. From 20th on the grid to ninth: that is a good result.”

 

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 10th place, Sat.: 12th place): “Naturally I am pleased with the catch-up race I was able to deliver. But I only ended up with one point, which is why I am not really happy with myself. Still, congratulations to BMW on a weekend at the Norisring that was fantastic overall.”

 

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: DNF, Sat.: 9th place): “My start was good, I was able to move up a few places. We weren't necessarily the fastest today, but we were consistent; we would have been able to pick up points. Sadly, though, it was a turbulent race. Then I was hit and spun. The car was finished and we had to retire. We will return stronger in Zandvoort.”

 

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: DNF, Sat.: 11th place): “We didn't manage to find the optimum set-up for the car at all this weekend. When you have to start from far down the field it is very difficult on a street circuit in particular. I was on the outside in the first turn in Sunday's race. Then another driver moved over and I ran out of space between me and the wall. After the contact my car was too badly damaged, so I had to retire.”

 

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

1. Marco Wittmann (75 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (73), 3. Paul di Resta (70), 4. Jamie Green (63), 5. Maxime Martin (62), 6. Robert Wickens (58), 7. Nico Müller (52), 8. Tom Blomqvist (52), 9. Mattias Ekström (46), 10. Lucas Auer (41), 11. Timo Glock (40), 12. Augusto Farfus (32), 13. Bruno Spengler (28), 14. Christian Vietoris (27), 15. Miguel Molina (26), 16. Gary Paffett (22), 17. Martin Tomczyk (13), 18. Adrien Tambay (10), 19. António Félix da Costa (8), 20. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 21. Maximilian Götz (4), 22. Timo Scheider (1), 23. Daniel Juncadella (0), 24. Esteban Ocon (0).

Team Championship.

1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (119 points), 2. BMW Team RMG (115), 3. BMW Team RBM (114), 4. Audi Sport Team Abt (78), 5. Mercedes-AMG (74), 6. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (73), 7. BWT Mercedes-AMG (68), 8. BMW Team MTEK (60), 9. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (58), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (22), 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (21), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (6).

Manufacturers’ Championship.

1. BMW (310 points), 2. Audi (276), 3. Mercedes-Benz (222).

 

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	46	46	129	56	26	36	36	167
Wins	6	3	14	4	1	2	1	7
Podiums	10	6	44	12	3	5	3	28
Poles	6	1	17	5	1	2	1	8
Fastest laps	5	2	14	1	2	1	1	8
Points	392	169	735	333	111	203	93	489

 

 

2016 race calendar.

6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd -5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24 th -26 th 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