Reactions of the BMW drivers to the DTM season-opener at the Hockenheimring.

BMW made a promising start to its first DTM season for 20 years. You can find the reactions of the six BMW drivers to the curtain-raiser in Hockenheim (DE) here.

Andy Priaulx (car number 15, BMW Team RBM, 6th place):

“Coming into the weekend if I had been told I would be sixth I would have been very happy, so that is how I feel now. I thoroughly enjoyed this race and love the whole DTM show. The first couple of laps felt like a sprint race, and then the result was about settling in and having some good stints. After my first stop I ended up in the middle of the field. That was fun. It has been a really tremendous weekend, and today my Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M3 DTM was just awesome. We have come to Hockenheim with no DTM experience, and we now know that we have an amazing package for the start of our campaign in the series.”

Joey Hand (car number 2, BMW Team RMG, 13th place):

“I would obviously have liked to finish further up the field, but I could not do any better than 13th. At times I felt a bit like a ping pong ball, and was hit hard on several occasions. My rear end was damaged and the car started to vibrate. However, the SAMSUNG BMW M3 DTM made it through. It may not have been the best race of my life, but I am incredibly proud to have appeared for BMW in the DTM and to be a part of this magnificent project. I am sure we will learn very quickly.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 16, BMW Team RBM, 15th place):

“Considering all the problems we had in qualifying, I think we managed to recover in a big way for the race. Unfortunately a miscommunication ahead of the pit stop affected the result and so circumstances meant I could not do any better. It is now time to move forward. I think we have found the road we should follow and I am very happy with the car I had in today’s race.”

Dirk Werner (car number 8, BMW Team Schnitzer, 17th place):

“I did not get off to the ideal start and dropped back a number of places. A few laps later someone drove into my car in the hairpin. That basically put an end to my race. The whole field overtook me. I was so far behind that I had no chance of getting a better result. It goes without saying that I was hoping for more from today, especially after such a great qualifying. I must now forget about that race and focus on the Lausitzring. Whatever happens, qualifying showed that we are on the right track. At the same time, there are still some areas, in which we must improve.”

Martin Tomczyk (car number 1, BMW Team RMG, DNF):

“I have never experienced anything like today in the DTM. At times I felt like a passenger in my own car. Attacks and shunts came from all sides. I think some drivers were probably a bit over-motivated today. To a certain degree, that is understandable at the first race of the year. Having said that, I hope things calm down next week at the Lausitzring. We have seen that we are competitive, and will continue to work hard.”

Bruno Spengler (car number 7, BMW Team Schnitzer, DNF):

“We were having a really good weekend until the crash. I had been able to overtake Adrien Tambay and was going well. Then came the collision. Ralf Schumacher braked too late and drove into Dirk Werner’s car. He took me out at the same time. It is such a shame, as we could have picked up a good result in this race.”