Reactions to the ninth race of the 2015 DTM season.

Spielberg (AT), 1st August 2015. Two BMW drivers – Augusto Farfus (BR) and Marco Wittmann (DE) finished in the points in race nine of the DTM season at the Red Bull Ring (AT). Farfus was sixth, while Wittmann came home ninth to score two points towards the Drivers’ Championship. The remaining BMW drivers finished outside the top ten. Martin Tomczyk (DE) retired with a damaged car.

Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the ninth race of the season in Spielberg.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was a tough race for us. It was clear to us that we would be starting from scratch again here after our outstanding results in Zandvoort. As a whole, we did not manage to get the most out of our package. Augusto Farfus confirmed the fine form he showed in qualifying and was the best-placed BMW driver. Unfortunately Martin Tomczyk was unlucky yet again and had to retire with a damaged car. After the block results witnessed in previous races, we saw all three manufacturers in the top six this time. That is a positive development.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team RBM, 6th place): “That is a good result, as I was able to hold onto my starting position for a long time. It is a shame that I lost a place on the final lap, but when I saw Mattias Ekström behind me I expected him to come and push me off, which is what he did. Generally speaking our car is just not as competitive as we want, so it is difficult. Nevertheless we did a good job. This was the maximum we could achieve today.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 9th place): “Those are two hard-fought points today. I actually had a good first lap, and was largely able to stay clear of all the battles going on. At one point I was actually as high as seventh. There are always going to be one or two collisions with the opposition. This apparently resulted in me having some problems with the brakes. This ultimately lost me some places, as the car was good in the fast corners but we were then too weak when braking. Generally speaking, our performance is not as good as in Zandvoort. Despite this, we made the most of the situation.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 13th place): “It was very tough out there, but I think today the biggest thing to blame is the driver, so myself. Firstly in qualifying with the second set of tyres, when trying to improve, I went off track and made a mistake. That cost us a lot of positions for the start of the race. So I was starting on the back foot there, and it made my life very hard. Then a very poor first lap, to be honest, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time for the first three corners and I lost a lot of track position. Then from then on the pace was not terrible, but I was just recovering from that poor first lap. So I need to look into it and do a little bit better tomorrow.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, 14th place): “When you start from 19th on the grid, you cannot expect a great deal. At least we finished, but 14th place is not the best we can do. We will fight back tomorrow.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 15th place): “As far as race performance is concerned, that was a difficult race. Unfortunately things did not go so well for the first time this season. We struggled a bit with the balance. My start was very good, but after that it was not easy for me to maintain my position. We will have to look into how we can improve for tomorrow.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 17th place): “I made a very good start to the race, was in the wrong position for turn one and lost places again. I fought back, but then found myself stuck in a bunch of cars, which made life pretty difficult. The racing is quite aggressive out on the track in the DTM. The opposition does not leave you a lot of space. You have to hold your own.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team MTEK, 19th place): “The car actually felt very good in qualifying, but the pace was not there and we were too slow. I did not get off to the best start in the race itself. I had a lot of wheelspin and was chasing the pack after that point. However, the balance of the car was not ideal. The car was particularly difficult to drive when braking. I tried to fight my way through the field, but was unable to do so. Therefore, I just drove my own race through to the finish. Anyway, I’m going to fight for a better result tomorrow.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, DNF): “The retirement obviously hurts. I was hit three times in the first three corners after the start. My splitter ultimately gave up the ghost as a result. That cost me my race. I was fighting a losing cause and eventually had no choice but to retire.”

DTM standings.

Drivers' Championship.

1. Pascal Wehrlein (94 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (86), 3. Edoardo Mortara (83), 4. Jamie Green (81), 5. Robert Wickens (57), 6. Christian Vietoris (52), 7. Bruno Spengler (52), 8. Marco Wittmann (51), 9. António Félix da Costa (43), 10. Augusto Farfus (43), 11. Gary Paffett (43), 12. Paul di Resta (38), 13. Maxime Martin (32), 14. Mike Rockenfeller (29), 15. Miguel Molina (27), 16. Timo Glock (25), 17. Martin Tomczyk (20), 18. Timo Scheider (16), 19. Daniel Juncadella (14), 20. Nico Müller (12), 21. Tom Blomqvist (6), 22. Adrien Tambay (3), 23. Lucas Auer (2).

Team Championship.

1. gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (146 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (113), 3. SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (95), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (93), 5. Audi Sport Team Abt (86), 6. BMW Team RMG (83), 7. BMW Team MTEK (77), 8. BMW Team Schnitzer (63), 9. BMW Team RBM (49), 10. EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (45), 11. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (45), 12. PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (14).

Manufacturers' Championship.

1. Audi (337 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (300), 3. BMW (247).

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

2015 race calendar.

1st-3rd May – Hockenheim (DE), 29th-31st May – Lausitzring (DE), 26th-28th June – Norisring (DE), 10th-12th July – Zandvoort (NL), 31st July-2nd August – Spielberg (AT), 28th-30th August – Moscow (RU), 11th-13th September – Oschersleben (DE), 25th-27th September – Nürburgring (DE), 16th-18th October – Hockenheim (DE).

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.

Website: bmw-motorsport.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bmwmotorsport
YouTube: youtube.com/bmwmotorsport
Twitter: twitter.com/bmwmotorsport
Google+: plus.google.com/+bmwmotorsport