Maxime Martin takes pole position in Hockenheim – BMW starts from the front of the grid for the 50th time in the DTM.

Hockenheim (DE), 17th October 2015. Maxime Martin (BE) claimed pole position in qualifying for the 17th and penultimate race of the 2015 DTM season. The BMW Team RMG driver set the fastest time of 1:32.637 minutes in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. This was Martin’s first pole position of the season and the second of his DTM career, the first coming in Moscow (RU) in 2014. The latest pole sees BMW reach another milestone: this is the 50th time in the history of the DTM that a BMW driver will start from first place on the grid.

Martin was joined in the top ten by Tom Blomqvist (GB, BMW M4 DTM), who qualified eighth. António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) was 11th, while Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) was 14th fastest. Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM), Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) followed in 16th, 18th, 21st and 22nd.

The 17th of this year’s 18 DTM races gets underway at 13:30.

Quote from the best-placed BMW driver.

“After the way practice panned out, even I am rather surprised to be starting from pole position. We altered a few things on the car before qualifying, and the changes appear to have paid off. I had a perfect lap with no traffic on the track. The goal is now to repeat this result in the race. I am very happy for the moment.” – Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, 1st place)

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Facts and Figures.

Circuit/length:

Hockenheim, 4.574 kilometres

Conditions:

Overcast, 8 degrees Celsius

Pole time:

Maxime Martin (BE, BMW Team RMG), 1:32.637 minutes

BMW Motorsport results*:

#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM

1:32.637 minutes – 1st place

#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM

1:32.808 minutes – 8th place

#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM

1:32.847 minutes – 11th place

#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM

1:32.905 minutes – 14th place

#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM

1:33.041 minutes – 16th place

#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM

1:33.089 minutes – 18th place

#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM

1:33.382 minutes – 21st place

#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM

1:33.407 minutes – 22nd place

*The official starting grid may differ from the provisional qualifying results published in this release.

Useful information:

Maxime Martin secured his first pole position of the season. This was the second pole of the year for BMW Team RMG, who also started from the front of the grid in Saturday’s race in Moscow (RU). Back then, Marco Wittmann was the fastest man in qualifying.

BMW Motorsport has now claimed 50 pole positions in the DTM, and seven this season.

Tom Blomqvist qualified in the top ten for the ninth time this season. Only Marco Wittmann (ten times) has achieved this feat more often.

More information:

You can find the latest BMW Motorsport media information, DTM press kit, and copyright-free images for editorial purposes online at www.press.bmwgroup-sport.com.

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