PressClub Global · Article.
Reactions to the third race weekend of the 2015 DTM season.
Sun Jun 28 19:05:00 CEST 2015 Press Release
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Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race at the Norisring.
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Ingo Lehbrink
BMW Group
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Author.
Ingo Lehbrink
BMW Group
Norisring (DE), 28th June 2015. First pole and first podium in
2015: for Bruno Spengler (CA) of BMW Team MTEK in particular, the
sixth round of the DTM season at the Norisring (DE) was a great
success. After several enthralling battles, BMW Team RMG driver
Maxime Martin (BE) took a point away from Nürnberg (DE) by finishing tenth.
In tricky weather conditions on Saturday, four BMW M4 DTM cars
had finished in the points. Spengler was the best-placed BMW
driver on that day, too, by finishing fifth.
Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt and the
eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race at the Norisring.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “After
Saturday’s rain roulette, this race was easier to predict. The
Norisring is quite a special track, where experienced drivers can
really step up their game. This is precisely what Bruno Spengler
did in qualifying, as his pole lap was absolutely perfect. In the
race, Bruno showed real fighting spirit, attacking at the right
time and, deservedly, achieved his first podium of the season for
us. Our 2012 DTM champion performed very strongly today. Maxime
Martin also gave no quarter and made it into the points. In our
current situation, these are precisely the qualities we must show
to get back to where we want to be. After the first two difficult
race weekends, this was a small step in the right direction. If
things stay as they are, I am convinced that we can improve slowly
but surely. Congratulations to Mercedes, who have been successful
in Nürnberg for years now.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun: 3rd place, Sat: 5th
place): “I’m really happy to have finished third,
however, I am also a little disappointed as I would, of course,
liked to have won the race. Both Mercedes were unbeatable today. I
dropped down to fifth, but I fought back and the battle for third
with Mattias Ekström was a lot of fun. He actually made a small
mistake, which meant I could overtake him in the last few metres.
Thank you to my team. We pitted at exactly the right time. Hitting
the pit stop window correctly was difficult today. It’s also due
to the great strategy that I managed to get onto the podium today.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, Sun: 10th place, Sat:
DNF): “Scoring this one point was a really tough battle.
I had quite large problems with the brakes throughout the race.
It’s a shame that I was unable to show the same pace as the
leaders, as Bruno did. Congratulations to him for making the
podium. We need to work hard so we can be more competitive on all
tracks.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun: 11th place, Sat:
6th place): “It was a modest performance today in
qualifying, but in the race I was able to make up ten good places.
Unfortunately, that’s all I could manage but we can build from
this race. We must see to it that we are better in qualifying at
Zandvoort. Then we can aim to score points again. This must be our target.”
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun: 12th
place, Sat: 12th place): “Our poor grid position put us
in a difficult position from the outset, but I had a very good
start and was able to make up a lot of places in the first laps. I
could have scored points today but, unfortunately, we had a
problem in the pit stop which set us back. That's a shame. All in
all, it was nice to see that BMW has taken a step in the right
direction here and that pace during the race was good.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun: 13th place, Sat: 9th
place): “Unfortunately, my home event was a little
sobering for me. The two points on Saturday were valuable, but
starting from 22nd on Sunday it was clear that it would be
difficult to score any more. I actually had good race pace but was
constantly tangled up in battles. We now need to work out why we
weren’t able to put in times as fast as Bruno Spengler’s.
Congratulations to him on his third place today. In two weeks’
time, in Zandvoort, we’ll be back.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun: 16th place, Sat:
DNF): “It was quite a hard race. I went really wide in
turn one and was at the back of the field from the outset. I was
also wrestling with my brakes, but I did finish the race, which is
a positive I can draw from the weekend.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team MTEK, Sun: DNF, Sat: 13th
place): “It was a difficult weekend for us. To cap it all
off, I was involved in yet another accident at the start on
Sunday. I was hit from behind and then collided with another car.
This is why my race was over prematurely. It’s a shame, because I
would have liked to have seen whether we could have performed
better in dry conditions. I never really felt comfortable inside
the car during the whole weekend. We need to work out why this
was, with a view to the next race.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team RBM, Sun: DNF, Sat: 8th
place): “I had a very short outing on Sunday. As I was
turning in at the end of the start-finish straight I was hit
massively in the side. My car was so heavily damaged that I had to
pull into the pits and retire. I’m very disappointed that my race
was over in just a few short seconds. My team and I were very
confident at the start, and we had the feeling that we could have
driven a good race. The retirement hurts even more, but when the
car is damaged there's not much else you can do. I’m hoping for
more luck in Zandvoort.”
DTM standings.
Drivers’ Championship.
1. Jamie Green (81 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (70), 3. Pascal
Wehrlein (67), 4. Edoardo Mortara (58), 5. Robert Wickens (57), 6.
Christian Vietoris (36), 7. Gary Paffett (36), 8. Miguel Molina
(27), 9. Bruno Spengler (27), 10. Paul di Resta (23), 11. Mike
Rockenfeller (21), 12. Martin Tomczyk (20), 13. Maxime Martin
(17), 14. Timo Scheider (16), 15. Marco Wittmann (14), 16. Daniel
Juncadella (14), 17. Nico Müller (10), 18. Timo Glock (5), 19.
Augusto Farfus (5), 20. Lucas Auer (2).
Team Championship.
1. gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (103 points), 2. Audi
Sport Team Abt Sportsline (97), 3. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (91
points), 4. SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (80), 5. Audi Sport
Team Abt (58), 6. EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (38), 7. Audi Sport
Team Phoenix (37), 8. BMW Team MTEK (32), 9. BMW Team RMG (31),
10. BMW Team Schnitzer (20), 11. PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (14), 12.
BMW Team RBM (5).
Manufacturers' Championship.
1. Audi (283 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (235), 3. BMW (88).
Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.
Driver |
WIT |
MAR |
TOM |
DAC |
FAR |
BLO |
SPE |
GLO |
Nationality |
DE |
BE |
DE |
PT |
BR |
UK |
CA |
DE |
Number |
1 |
36 |
77 |
13 |
18 |
31 |
7 |
16 |
Age |
25 |
29 |
33 |
23 |
31 |
21 |
31 |
33 |
DTM debut |
2013 |
2014 |
2001 |
2014 |
2012 |
2015 |
2005 |
2013 |
Team |
RMG |
RMG |
Schnitzer |
Schnitzer |
RBM |
RBM |
MTEK |
MTEK |
Races |
26 |
26 |
147 |
16 |
36 |
6 |
109 |
26 |
Wins |
4 |
1 |
7 |
- |
4 |
- |
14 |
1 |
Podiums |
6 |
1 |
28 |
- |
9 |
- |
39 |
3 |
Poles |
4 |
1 |
8 |
- |
3 |
- |
16 |
- |
Fastest laps |
5 |
- |
8 |
- |
1 |
- |
14 |
- |
Points |
219 |
64 |
469 |
5 |
229 |
- |
611 |
78 |
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).