Reactions to the seventh race of the 2016 DTM season.

Norisring (DE), 25th June 2016. At Saturday's DTM race at the Norisring (DE), four BMW M4 DTM made it into the points, several staging strong comeback drives. Marco Wittmann (DE), Bruno Spengler (CA) and Maxime Martin (BE) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place. António Félix da Costa (PT) also picked up points for BMW, finishing ninth.

Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “The fans witnessed an extremely thrilling race – just like you are used to at the Norisring. It was a top result for us and the best that we were able to achieve. Naturally, we benefitted from an aggressive manoeuvre from the opposition. But with Bruno Spengler in fifth place, we only had one driver in a good starting position. The fact that we ended up with four cars in the top 10 is fantastic. Marco in particular delivered an excellent performance at his home event and pushed his way into fourth place after starting from 13th on the grid, but Bruno and Maxime both had great races right behind him. I am very pleased. Now we will undergo intensive preparations for tomorrow. It will be another fiercely contested race.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 4th place): “The best word I can think of to describe this result is ‘mega’. I had a good start from P13, then it is always incredibly close on the first turn here. I went for the inside line, and I think that was the right choice. I was able to make up positions and then benefitted from the hotheads in front of me – you need to keep a cool head at the front. In terms of pace, we were very, very fast. From 13th to fourth place – that doesn't happen every day.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 5th place): “Fifth place is okay, but I'm not totally happy. We were relatively good in qualifying. The team really did a good job and improved the car considerably overnight, but then our race speed just wasn't good enough. The positive thing is that we came away with points.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 6th place): “That really wasn't very easy today. It is never easy from 14th on the grid in the DTM, but to then end up in sixth place is fantastic. We picked up points again – and I'm happy about that.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 9th place): “I'm happy with the result. Qualifying was disappointing, we made life difficult for ourselves for the race. That said, we at least had a better car than the guys around us, so I was able to look after my brakes and economise with the DRS. In terms of strategy, that was the key today. The overtaking manoeuvres were fun, and I am totally happy with two points after starting from 21st on the grid.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 11th place): “We just couldn't find a good set-up for the race, but we still only narrowly missed out on the points. It's a real shame. We are making progress little by little, which is why it's good that there is another race tomorrow in which we can prove ourselves.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 12th place): “I got through this race very well. I kept up with António throughout the race from the start, and we worked our way up the field together. The car was good and we had the right racing speed, but you get stuck in traffic at the Norisring.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 14th place): “The start was okay. Then, unfortunately, I was a bit too far out in Schöller-S on the first lap, ended up in the dirt and lost the car. It was like driving on ice and I slipped into the wall. After that, the car no longer performed perfectly. On top of that, my DRS didn't work in the first half of the race. So naturally we never stood a chance and were unable to pick up any points.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 16th place): “The weather was good, the atmosphere was sensational – and my start was also okay. But then I got wedged in on the first turn and lost a few places. And then when you have a convoy of cars in front of you, it is very difficult to overtake here at the Norisring. It was also a difficult race overall for me.”

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

1. Edoardo Mortara (69 points), 2. Marco Wittmann (67), 3. Jamie Green (63), 4. Paul di Resta (58), 5. Robert Wickens (58), 6. Maxime Martin (47), 7. Mattias Ekström (46), 8. Timo Glock (38), 9. Tom Blomqvist (34), 10. Augusto Farfus (32), 11. Lucas Auer (31), 12. Nico Müller (27), 13. Christian Vietoris (27), 14. Miguel Molina (26), 15. Gary Paffett (22), 16. Bruno Spengler (22), 17. Martin Tomczyk (12), 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 (115 points), 2. BMW Team RMG (105), 3. BMW Team RBM (81), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (73), 5. Mercedes-AMG (62), 6. BWT Mercedes-AMG (58), 7. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (58), 8. BMW Team MTEK (54), 9. Audi Sport Team Abt (53), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (22), 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (20), 11. 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (6).      

Manufacturers’ Championship.

1. BMW (260 points), 2. Audi (247), 3. Mercedes-Benz (200).

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

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
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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