BMW Motorsport and Wittmann poised to pounce: DTM leader starts from seventh at the Lausitzring.

Lausitzring (DE), 13th September 2014. Seventh place in the Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM meant that Marco Wittmann (DE) was once again the most successful BMW Motorsport driver in DTM qualifying at the Lausitzring. The BMW Team RMG driver clocked his fastest time of 1:18.143 minutes in the deciding third qualifying session. Pole position went to Pascal Wehrlein (DE, Mercedes).

Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) missed out on Q3 by a few thousandths of a second and will start Sunday’s race from ninth on the grid. The remaining BMW drivers had to settle for starting positions outside the top ten. Augusto Farfus (BR, Castrol EDGE BMW M4 DTM) was 15th fastest, followed by Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM), António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) in 16th, 17th, 19th and 21st. Joey Hand (US, Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M4 DTM) got stuck in a gravel trap after a mistake, causing Q1 to be suspended. He starts from the back of the field in 23rd.

The heavy fog, which meant it was impossible to fly the rescue helicopter for several hours, meant the DTM drivers had only 15 minutes of practice time in the afternoon, after which they went straight into qualifying. The eighth race of the year gets underway at 13:30 on Sunday.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):

“The weather conditions made that a very difficult qualifying. After a short free practice, we were immediately confronted with qualifying. Unfortunately only one of our cars made it through to the third part of qualifying. That does not reflect what we are really capable of. You can depend on Marco Wittmann. He has every chance tomorrow from seventh on the grid. The weather could be the great unknown again on Sunday, which means a lot can happen in the race. Timing was key today – and it goes without saying that additional weight was noticeable. Congratulations to Pascal Wehrlein and Mercedes on pole position. A huge compliment goes to the fans: they stuck it out, although we were only able to offer then a 15-minute practice before qualifying. If tomorrow we show the pace we did in free practice today, then a lot is still possible in the race.”

Marco Wittmann (car number 23, BMW Team RMG, 7th):

“Today was a lottery to see who had the best set-up from the word go. Nobody had time to fine-tune their set-up in the short practice, which is why everyone pretty much started from scratch in qualifying. We were not particularly well positioned. They were difficult conditions. I made it through to Q3, and that was important. Tomorrow I will look to get a good start and drive a good race. Then we will see where we end up at the finish.”

Timo Glock (car number 17, BMW Team MTEK, 9th):

“We would easily have made the 46 thousandths of a second we missed out by. Unfortunately I was on a quick lap when Vitaly Petrov spun. At that point I was far faster than I had been, but had to abort the lap. We went for an aggressive tyre pressure in order to get the time on the first lap. That would have worked too, but unfortunately I had to stop my flying lap. That was just unlucky today.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 3, BMW Team RBM, 15th):

“Qualifying was a lottery. As soon as the track dried out a little we struggled. When we tested here three weeks ago we only drove in the wet. That did not help us that much today. However, it was the same for everyone.”

Maxime Martin (car number 24, BMW Team RMG, 16th):

“It was a tough day. We had a few problems with the car. The result is not what we had hoped for, but it is not so easy with the performance weight. We will now turn our attention completely to tomorrow’s race.”

Bruno Spengler (car number 9, BMW Team Schnitzer, 17th):

“Unfortunately we did not go into qualifying with a good basis. The weather conditions meant we did not have the usual two hours of practice to prepare for the sessions. The 15 minutes were too few to adapt to the difficult conditions on the track. In my case, the balance of the car was not good. I had to battle just to get any half-decent lap time. I am obviously disappointed. It will be difficult to finish in the points from 17th on the grid. I am hoping for crazy conditions.”

António Félix da Costa (car number 18, BMW Team MTEK, 19th):

“Today was anything but easy. This is the first time I have driven here. We did test at the Lausitzring, but it is always more difficult when the conditions are as unsettled as they were today. To be honest, I did not feel particularly comfortable with the balance of the car. I did not have the feeling that the car and I were working as one. Despite this, I am looking forward to the race and will try to have some fun tomorrow.”

Martin Tomczyk (car number 10, BMW Team Schnitzer, 21st):

“My problems began in free practice, when a technical problem prevented me from driving. It is obviously not ideal to then have to go straight into qualifying without a free practice. Because of this, we start from a difficult position tomorrow.”

Joey Hand (car number, BMW Team RBM, 23rd):

“I just had understeer and came off the track. I then slipped on the wet grass and ended up stuck in the gravel. That was that. It was my mistake – I just pushed too hard on the first lap. It definitely had nothing to do with the short free practice. I have driven an entire 24-hour race after just one practice lap in the past.”

Facts and figures from the Lausitzring:

DTM standings after 7 of 10 races.

Drivers’ Championship.

1. Marco Wittmann (120 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (56), 3. Edoardo Mortara (56), 4. Mike Rockenfeller (53), 5. Bruno Spengler (42), 6. Christian Vietoris (41), 7. Maxime Martin (39), 8. Adrien Tambay (36), 9. Augusto Farfus (33), 10. Timo Glock (33), 11. Jamie Green (28), 12. Robert Wickens (27), 13. Miguel Molina (26), 14. Paul di Resta (24), 15. Martin Tomczyk (24), 16. Timo Scheider (19), 17. Pascal Wehrlein (15), 18. Daniel Juncadella (10), 19. Nico Müller (10), 20. Joey Hand (7), 21. António Félix da Costa (4), 22. Gary Paffett (4).

Team Championship.

1. BMW Team RMG (159 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt (92), 3. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (82), 4. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (72), 5. BMW Team Schnitzer (66), 6. Original-Teile Mercedes AMG (65), 7. BMW Team RBM (40), 8. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (38), 9. BMW Team MTEK (37), 10. EURONICS / FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG (31) , 11. gooix Mercedes AMG (15), 12. Petronas Mercedes AMG (10).

Manufacturers’ Championship.

1. BMW (302 points), 2. Audi (284), Mercedes-Benz (121).

2014 calendar.

4th May – Hockenheim (DE), 18th May – Oschersleben (DE), 1st June – Budapest (HU), 29th June – Norisring (DE), 13th July – Moscow (RU), 3rd August – Spielberg (AT), 17th August – Nürburgring (DE), 14th September – Lausitzring (DE), 28th September – Zandvoort (NL), 19th October – Hockenheim (DE).

About the DTM.

The German Touring Car Masters – DTM for short – is the most popular touring car series in the world. Last season, over 700,000 spectators flocked to renowned racetracks in Germany and around Europe to watch the ten races live. 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). In 2012, the manufacturer returned to the DTM with the BMW M3 DTM, three teams and six drivers. BMW promptly won five races and topped the driver, team and manufacturer standings at the end of the season. In 2013, BMW Motorsport managed to defend the Manufacturer’s title with four teams and eight drivers. The 2014 DTM calendar once again consists of ten races. The schedule includes four trips abroad, to Budapest (HU), Spielberg (AT), Moscow (RU) and Zandvoort (NL). The season traditionally ends in Hockenheim (DE) on 19th October. TV station ARD is broadcasting each qualifying and every race live. Tickets for all the DTM races are available here: http://www.bmw-motorsport.com/en/fan-area/dtm-tickets.html