Four BMW DTM works drivers finish Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring in the top ten.

Nürburgring. In the tenth race of the DTM season, four BMW DTM works drivers made it into the top ten on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit (GER). However, they were unable to build on Saturday’s performance, when Marco Wittmann (GER, Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM) reached the podium. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) was the best-placed BMW driver, finishing in sixth place. Jonathan Aberdein (RSA, CATL BMW M4 DTM), Wittmann and Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) crossed the finish line in positions eight, nine and ten.
 
The qualifying session had already shown that it would be difficult to achieve another podium finish on the longer variant of the Nürburgring track. During the race, van der Linde used an early pit stop to move up to sixth position. Lucas Auer (AUT, BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Timo Glock (GER, iQOO BMW M4 DTM) finished in eleventh and 14th positions. Robert Kubica (POL), from the BMW customer team ART Grand Prix, secured ninth place on the grid in qualifying and finished the race in twelfth. Victory went to Robin Frijns (NED, Audi).
 
Next weekend, the eleventh and twelfth races of the season will take place on the shorter Nürburgring sprint track.
 
Reactions to the tenth DTM race of the 2020 season at the Nürburgring.
 
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):
“That was a tough race after a difficult qualifying session. We had to work really hard after starting from those grid positions. We had to try a few things out with the strategy. Sheldon van der Linde did that really well and got close to the Audis, but there is a difference between getting there and actually being able to overtake. When you are chasing, the tyres deteriorate really quickly. Jonathan Aberdein also gave a strong race performance behind Sheldon. It's a shame that he dropped down another place in the duel with Jamie Green at the end. Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng also finished in the points but unfortunately they didn’t have good grid positions. We don't want to be battling for fifth to tenth places, we want to be fighting for a podium, and to do that we really have to close the gap in qualifying. All the BMW drivers were close together but the gap to Audi was larger than it was on Saturday. We have to understand the reason for that. It is the grid position that determines how you get going in the race. The race pace is pretty good, but the lap speed is not. We will have to take a look at that. Congratulations to Robin Frijns on the win.”
 
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 10^th, Race: 9^th, Drivers’ standings: 8^th, 61 points):
“It is a bit disappointing, as we had problems with the clutch throughout the weekend. We didn't replace it between yesterday and today, which led to identical problems at the start. In general, it is difficult to regain three positions if you lose them right at the start. In the end, we were able to battle back pretty well but we could have done more if we’d started better, as our pace was generally OK.”
 
Timo Glock (#16 iQOO BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 12^th, Race: 14^th, Driver’s standings: 7^th, 68 points):
“In general, that was a tough race for us. I don’t know exactly what caused that. Just like yesterday, I got stuck behind Philipp Eng for a few laps and then overtook him. He then managed to get back past me a bit later. I don't know why the tyres deteriorated so badly. We will have to take a look at the reasons for that and what we can do to improve.”
 
Lucas Auer (#22 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 13^th, Race: 11^th, Drivers’ standings: 10^th, 36 points):
“That was not a good weekend for us. I attempted to cover a potential safety car period. Tyre management was good but that strategy just doesn't work without a safety car appearing. In general, there is a lot we can improve on and that’s why I think next week should be OK.”
 
Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 11^th, Race: 10^th, Drivers’ standings: 11^th, 31 points):
“Today’s race was a bit more difficult than yesterday’s. In general, we had more understeer with the car. The pace was not so good but our implementation was OK.”
 
Jonathan Aberdein (#27 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 8^th, Race: 8^th, Drivers’ standings: 12^th, 24 points):
“From my point of view, the race was actually OK. I started from eighth place and held on to that position. My strategy worked well but we were just lacking a bit of pace.”
 
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 7^th, Race: 6^th, Drivers’ standings: 6^th, 72 points):
“Personally speaking, I am very pleased. I think that today was a perfect race from a tactical point of view, and my pace. My start was not so good as I lost two positions but I got those back right away at the end of the lap. I am happy with the points that I scored for finishing sixth today, as the best BMW driver. Thanks to my team. Nonetheless, it hurts to see three Audis on the podium. We must make sure that we close the gap as I want to get back to the podium soon.”