Second pole position of the 2012 DTM season for BMW and Spengler – Four BMW M3 DTMs in the top ten at the Nürburgring.

Nürburgring, 18th August 2012. BMW Motorsport started the second half of the season strongly with a fine qualifying performance at the Nürburgring (DE): Bruno Spengler (CA) of BMW Team Schnitzer claimed pole position for the second time this year. As the summer temperatures soared to above 30 degrees Celsius, the 28-year-old in the BMW Bank M3 DTM clocked a time of 1:24.284 minutes in the crucial “Top-4 Shoot-Out” – 0.221 seconds quicker than Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi). This is the 32nd pole position for BMW in the DTM, while BMW Team Schnitzer will now start from the front of the grid in this series for the tenth time on Sunday. Spengler was the fastest driver in a DTM qualifying session for the 13th time.

Three more BMW drivers qualified in the top eight. Martin Tomczyk (DE) was fifth fastest in the BMW M Performance Parts M3 DTM, while Augusto Farfus (BR) will start the race from sixth on the grid in his Castrol EDGE BMW M3 DTM. Spengler’s team-mate Dirk Werner (DE, E-POSTBRIEF BMW M3 DTM) qualified in eighth.

Joey Hand (US, SAMSUNG BMW M3 DTM) failed to make it into Q3 and starts from 14th on the grid, while Andy Priaulx (GB, Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M3 DTM) was 19th. The race on the 3.629-kilometre circuit at the Nürburgring begins at 14:03hrs local time on Sunday.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):

“The 32nd pole position for BMW, our second of the season, and four BMWs in the top eight: that is simply fantastic. Yesterday we celebrated the 40th birthday of BMW M – and today, Bruno Spengler’s pole position was the perfect gift. The Nürburgring and BMW Team Schnitzer simply suit each other perfectly. However, the pack will be shuffled again tomorrow. It will be a long race against extremely strong opposition.”

Charly Lamm (BMW Team Schnitzer, Team Principal):

“What Bruno Spengler produced today in Qualifying was really great. The balance of the car was perfect at exactly the right time. A fantastic team performance. Dirk Werner was also looking really good and continued his upwards trend with eighth on the grid. That is a dream start to the second half of the season for us. BMW Team Schnitzer enjoys a close relationship with the Nürburgring and we are also celebrating the 40th birthday of BMW M here. That makes this pole position even more special.”

Bruno Spengler (car number 7, BMW Team Schnitzer, 1st):

“I am really proud I was able to claim the second pole position for BMW here at the Nürburgring. It is nice to be able to give BMW M such a nice birthday present. Personally, I am a bit surprised about how Qualifying panned out. It didn’t look so good for us in the morning. The set-up was not perfect at that point. However, BMW Team Schnitzer did a super job to get us back on track. My BMW Bank M3 DTM was consistently good in all the qualifying sessions. I sensed that today was going to be special. However, we have only completed 50 per cent of our job. We must still take the next step on Sunday. We are in the perfect position to achieve that, however.”

Martin Tomczyk (car number 1, BMW Team RMG, 5th):

“Our cars are absolutely competitive here at the Nürburgring. Unfortunately not everything came together 100 per cent on my flying lap, as I left a few thousandths of a second on the track. It is interesting some of the drivers towards the top of the drivers’ standings did not do so well. That should make the race even more exciting. However, we are just concentrating on ourselves and want to score as many points as possible.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 16, BMW Team RBM, 6th):

“I think I was the best rookie again, so it is not bad. We made a little change in Q3 hoping to improve the balance, which didn’t work. It is a part of the learning process for us. I am pleased because it shows we are picking up and going in the right direction. After the second free practice and Q2 I was hoping for something better, but it is part of the game. Tomorrow I think a top five finish would be possible as I certainly think we have the speed.”

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

“Eighth place is a decent result. After scoring my first point at the Norisring, I am determined to regularly finish in the top ten in the second half of the season. That was a good start today. The summer break was long, but it doesn’t seem to have done us any harm. Congratulations to Bruno Spengler and the entire team. The guys have once again done a sensational job.”

Joey Hand (car number 2, BMW Team RMG, 14th):

“This is my first time here at the Nürburgring. Everything is new to me. I am not entirely happy with my 14th place in qualifying. I had hoped for more after this morning’s practice. I was sliding quite a bit on the track, and that cost us time. We still have the race to come, however. I am a fighter, and will do everything in my power tomorrow.”

Andy Priaulx (car number 15, BMW Team RBM, 19th):

“I didn’t feel the grip and I had a different balance. I was very surprised and I am trying to understand whether maybe we went in the wrong direction or the track changed. I am very annoyed and obviously disappointed as I had been competitive all weekend up to this and was expecting to go through.”

Facts and Figures – Nürburgring:

  DTM standings after 5 of 10 races.

Drivers’ standings.

1. Gary Paffett (95 points), 2. Jamie Green (69), 3. Bruno Spengler (58), 4. Martin Tomczyk (54), 5. Mattias Ekström (47), 6. Mike Rockenfeller (39), 7. Edoardo Mortara (31), 8. Christian Vietoris (24), 9. Augusto Farfus (16), 10. Timo Scheider (16), 12. Andy Priaulx (14), 16. Joey Hand (2), 18. Dirk Werner (1).

Team standings.

1. THOMAS SABO / Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG (119 points), 2. Mercedes AMG (76), 3. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (63), 4. BMW Team Schnitzer (59), 5. BMW Team RMG (56), 6. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (47), 7. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (39), 8. BMW Team RBM (30), 9. DHL Paket / stern Mercedes AMG (16).

Manufacturer standings.
1. Mercedes-Benz (211 points), 2. Audi (149), BMW (145).

2012 Calendar:
29th April – Hockenheim (DE), 6th May – Lausitzring (DE), 20th May – Brands Hatch (GB), 3rd June – Spielberg (AT), 1st July – Norisring (DE), 15th July – Munich (DE), 19th August – Nürburgring (DE), 26th August – Zandvoort (NL), 16th September – Oschersleben (DE), 30th September – Valencia (ES), 21st October – Hockenheim (DE).