Safety car, a red flag and action all the way: Glock and Eng finish on the podium for BMW at the Lausitzring.

Lausitzring. Two drivers on the podium, five drivers in the top-10: BMW recorded a strong result at the Lausitzring in the third DTM race. Timo Glock (GER) drove the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM to second place, followed by Philipp Eng (AUT) in third position in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. For Eng it was his first-ever DTM podium finish. Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM), Marco Wittmann (GER, BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BRA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) also made it into the points, finishing in fifth, seventh and tenth positions. Joel Eriksson (SWE, BMW M4 DTM) crossed the finishing line in 12^th place.

A collision just after the start of the race brought out the safety car, then René Rast (GER) rolled spectacularly shortly after the IndyCar-style restart. Luckily, the reigning DTM champion was able to walk away from the accident. Victory went to Mercedes driver Edoardo Mortara (ITA).

Reactions to Saturday’s race at the Lausitzring:

Rudolf Dittrich (General Manager BMW Motorsport Vehicle Development):
“Firstly, congratulations and thanks are in order to the DTM technical workgroup. Today, we should focus on the fact that all the drivers were able to get out of their cars unhurt after all these accidents. Congratulations to Mercedes and Edoardo Mortara on the win. Timo Glock and Philipp Eng produced some thrilling racing behind him. That was great to watch for the spectators. Timo was able to extend his lead in the drivers’ standings, and Philipp put in a very strong performance in his third DTM race. Overall, that was a very good result for BMW, with five cars in the points.”

Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG):
“It is always nice to be rewarded for all the hard work the team has put in. We were determined to put on a stronger performance here at the Lausitzring than in past years. We reached that target. Timo is on the podium, Marco recorded a positive result. We still have a bit of work to do with Augusto’s car. We will be back on the attack tomorrow. The whole team is really motivated.”

Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG – qualifying result: 6^th place, race result: 7^th place, points: 8):
“It was a very chaotic race. I really hope that all the drivers involved in the accidents are doing okay. It looked really serious when René Rast flipped over. By the finish, it was all about stopping on the right lap as the field was so tightly-packed. Edoardo Mortara showed that perfect timing allowed you to make a big leap forward here.”

Augusto Farfus (#15 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG – qualifying result: 16^th place, race result: 10^th place, points: 2):
“It was all about making it to the end of this race. We have yet to find the grip we need here. That made it difficult to find the right balance of the car during the race. But we did manage to score a point and the car is in good shape. We will be back on the attack tomorrow.”

Timo Glock (#16 DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying result: 5^th place, race result: 2^nd place, points: 62):
“Above all, we have to be happy that all the drivers involved in accidents today are doing okay. All those incidents made it into a very short sprint race but our strategy paid off in the end. The tyres took a bit too long to come in. I think we could even have been a bit more aggressive in terms of strategy. But of course I am really happy to have reached the podium and I am also delighted for Philipp, who drove a great race. He has been doing great all weekend and was really fast. Getting two cars to the podium is a great result for BMW.”

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM):
“Today, we saw how safe the DTM cars are. There were some serious accidents but the drivers are okay. It was a thrilling race for us too and we got two cars into the top 10. Philipp Eng reached the podium for the first time. At the end, Edoardo Mortara and Timo Glock were able to pass him with DRS. Bruno crossed the line in fifth place, and that's fine too. We will work hard with Joel to make him more competitive for tomorrow.”

Philipp Eng (#25 SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying result: 2^nd place, race result: 3^rd place, points: 17):
“I am extremely happy with this third place in just my third DTM race. It could hardly have gone better. I had no DRS at the end, but Edoardo Mortara was very clever. Then Timo was able to pass me too. That doesn’t dampen my spirits though. We put on a real team performance today. A big thank you to our engineers – we’ve done great work since Hockenheim.”

Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying result: 3^rd place, race result: 5^th place, points: 23):
“Personally, I’m not totally happy. I was running in second place for long stretches of the race, but ultimately I had to be content with finishing fifth. I don’t think it was ideal that we stopped so early. But on the positive side, we did score some points again. Overall, it is a very positive day for BMW. I would have loved to have reached the podium, but now we will start working on the strategy for tomorrow.”

Joel Eriksson (#47 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying result: 11^th place, race result: 12^th place, points: 13):
“That was a really tough race for me. Things didn’t go so well in qualifying. A lot of things then happened in the race and the IndyCar restart was not ideal for me. I didn’t progress, but moved back through the field. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time on a few occasions. I have to forget this race and work hard to prepare for tomorrow.”