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Home victory for BMW Team RMG: Maxime Martin wins in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM at the Nürburgring.
Sat Sep 26 16:11:24 CEST 2015 Press Release
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Maxime Martin (BE) celebrated his second DTM win at BMW Team RMG's home event at the Nürburgring (DE). After 25 laps at the wheel of his SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, he was the first to cross the finish line. After his 2014 victory at the “Moscow Raceway” (RU), this was the second time that he had claimed the top podium position. The win in the Eifel was also the tenth victory for the BMW M4 DTM since the car made its debut last season.
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Author.
Ingo Lehbrink
BMW Group
Nürburgring (DE), 26th September 2015. Maxime Martin (BE)
celebrated his second DTM win at BMW Team RMG's home event at the
Nürburgring (DE). After 25 laps at the wheel of his SAMSUNG BMW M4
DTM, he was the first to cross the finish line. After his 2014
victory at the “Moscow Raceway” (RU), this was the second time that
he had claimed the top podium position. The win in the Eifel was
also the tenth victory for the BMW M4 DTM since the car made its
debut last season. This makes it 69 wins in the DTM for BMW; five
different BMW drivers have crossed the finish line as winners in the
2015 season.
Martin, who started the race from second on the grid, got off
to a good start and took the lead after the first corner. An
accident involving the two Audi drivers, Jamie Green (GB) and
Miguel Molina (ES), in the opening phase initially led to the BMW
M4 Coupé Safety Car coming onto the track. However, there was so
much oil over the tarmac that the race organisers decided to red
flag the 15th race of the season for safety reasons. After the
restart behind the safety car, Martin was able to maintain his
lead and went on to celebrate an uncontested win.
The second BMW Team RMG driver, Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch
BMW M4 DTM), also made it into the top ten and finished the race
in seventh. António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) also
picked up valuable points; the BMW Team Schnitzer driver finished
ninth. Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) and Augusto
Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) finished in 13th and 18th.
Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) on the other hand was
unlucky. For a long time it looked like he would also be in with a
chance of a spot on the podium. However, soon after coming into
contact with Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi) in the duel for second
place, the BMW Team MTEK driver was forced to return his damaged
BMW Bank M4 DTM to the garage. Tom Blomqvist (GB)
also retired from the race early due to damage he had suffered before
the red flag.
Martin Tomczyk (DE) of BMW Team Schnitzer was unable to take
part in the race. His car started vibrating and initially it
wasn't possible to discover the cause. To continue trying to find
the reason, Tomczyk’s BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM was inspected
in detail after qualifying. This meant the German was unable to
compete in the afternoon.
Reactions to the 15th race of the 2015 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That
was an extremely strong race by Maxime Martin. He was clear,
commanding and dominant, and it was a great pleasure to watch him
during this race. It was also a mini anniversary victory for us:
The BMW M4 DTM got its tenth win. I’m also pleased for BMW Team
RMG. Just like last year, it got another home win here. Naturally
I would have hoped the race would have gone differently for Bruno
Spengler. In second place he was unable to keep up with the speed
of Maxime, the rivals chasing him were in his DRS window. He
battled well, but in the end was forced to retire early with
damage to his car and a flat tyre. Marco Wittmann and António
Félix da Costa both had a strong race. They were able to keep out
of everything and pick up valuable points with flawless
performances. We are looking ahead now. We were competitive here
today and want to reinforce that tomorrow.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, 1st place): “I am
very happy with my second DTM win. BMW Team RMG did a fantastic
job and gave me a perfect car. But it wasn't an easy race. I
didn't get off to the best start, but was able to assert myself in
the first turn and pull away from the pack. However, towards the
end of the race I was having problems with my tyres. I had to
fight because my rivals had caught up. But everything went well
today and I finally made it back onto the top of the podium after
the race in Moscow last year.”
Facts and Figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Nürburgring, 3.629 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Cloudy, 11 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 1st place
#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM –
7th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull
BMW M4 DTM – 9th place
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM –
13th place
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 18th place
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – DNF
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM – DNF
#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance
Parts M4 DTM – DNS
Useful information:
Jubilation for BMW Team RMG: Just like last year, when Marco
Wittmann got the win at the Nürburgring, Maxime Martin saw another
of the team from Niederzissen's drivers cross the finish line as
the winner in 2015.
Martin won his first race in Moscow in his rookie season in 2014.
BMW celebrated its 69th win in the DTM and the tenth victory
with the BMW M4 DTM.
After Tom Blomqvist, Timo Glock, António Félix da Costa and
Marco Wittmann, Martin is the fifth BMW driver to celebrate at the
top of the podium this year.
The second qualifying session begins at 10:55 local time on
Sunday. Before that, the 15-minute warm-up is scheduled for 9:00.