Nürburgring, Germany – Maxime Martin (BE) celebrated his second DTM win at BMW Team RMG's home event at the Nürburgring (DE). After 25 laps at the wheel of his SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, he was the first to cross the finish line. After his 2014 victory at the “Moscow Raceway” (RU), this was the second time that he had claimed the top podium position. The win in the Eifel was also the tenth victory for the BMW M4 DTM since the car made its debut last season. This makes it 69 wins in the DTM for BMW; five different BMW drivers have crossed the finish line as winners in the 2015 season.

Martin, who started the race from second on the grid, got off to a good start and took the lead after the first corner. An accident involving the two Audi drivers, Jamie Green (GB) and Miguel Molina (ES), in the opening phase initially led to the BMW M4 Coupé Safety Car coming onto the track. However, there was so much oil over the tarmac that the race organisers decided to red flag the 15th race of the season for safety reasons. After the restart behind the safety car, Martin was able to maintain his lead and went on to celebrate an uncontested win.

The second BMW Team RMG driver, Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), also made it into the top ten and finished the race in seventh. António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) also picked up valuable points; the BMW Team Schnitzer driver finished ninth. Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) finished in 13th and 18th.

Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) on the other hand was unlucky. For a long time it looked like he would also be in with a chance of a spot on the podium. However, soon after coming into contact with Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi) in the duel for second place, the BMW Team MTEK driver was forced to return his damaged BMW Bank M4 DTM to the garage. Tom Blomqvist (GB) also retired from the race early due to damage he had suffered before the red flag.

Martin Tomczyk (DE) of BMW Team Schnitzer was unable to take part in the race. His car started vibrating and initially it wasn't possible to discover the cause. To continue trying to find the reason, Tomczyk’s BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM was inspected in detail after qualifying. This meant the German was unable to compete in the afternoon.

Reactions to the 15th race of the 2015 DTM season:

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was an extremely strong race by Maxime Martin. He was clear, commanding and dominant, and it was a great pleasure to watch him during this race. It was also a mini anniversary victory for us: The BMW M4 DTM got its tenth win. I’m also pleased for BMW Team RMG. Just like last year, it got another home win here. Naturally I would have hoped the race would have gone differently for Bruno Spengler. In second place he was unable to keep up with the speed of Maxime, the rivals chasing him were in his DRS window. He battled well, but in the end was forced to retire early with damage to his car and a flat tyre. Marco Wittmann and António Félix da Costa both had a strong race. They were able to keep out of everything and pick up valuable points with flawless performances. We are looking ahead now. We were competitive here today and want to reinforce that tomorrow.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, 1st place): “I am very happy with my second DTM win. BMW Team RMG did a fantastic job and gave me a perfect car. But it wasn't an easy race. I didn't get off to the best start, but was able to assert myself in the first turn and pull away from the pack. However, towards the end of the race I was having problems with my tyres. I had to fight because my rivals had caught up. But everything went well today and I finally made it back onto the top of the podium after the race in Moscow last year.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, DNF): “Naturally I am extremely disappointed that the incident with Edoardo Mortara cost me the race. I was already in the corner, so was unable to let him just go through. If I hadn't been in this position, he wouldn't have made the corner. My car was so badly damaged by the collision that it was impossible to continue. There were other incidents later on, but they didn't have much of an effect. Overall our performance wasn't good enough. We'll definitely have to do better tomorrow. Today's race was total chaos.”

Facts and Figures:
Circuit/length/duration:
Nürburgring, 3.629 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Cloudy, 11 degrees Celsius

BMW Motorsport results:
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 1st place
#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 7th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 9th place
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 13th place
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 18th place
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – DNF
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM – DNF
#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – DNS

Useful information:

Jubilation for BMW Team RMG: Just like last year, when Marco Wittmann got the win at the Nürburgring, Maxime Martin saw another of the team from Niederzissen's drivers cross the finish line as the winner in 2015.

Martin won his first race in Moscow in his rookie season in 2014.

BMW celebrated its 69th win in the DTM and the tenth victory with the BMW M4 DTM.

After Tom Blomqvist, Timo Glock, António Félix da Costa and Marco Wittmann, Martin is the fifth BMW driver to celebrate at the top of the podium this year.

The second qualifying session begins at 10:55 local time on Sunday. Before that, the 15-minute warm-up is scheduled for 9:00.

DTM Standings

Drivers’ Championship:

1. Pascal Wehrlein (155 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (128), 3. Mattias Ekström (127 points), 4. Jamie Green (107), 5. Marco Wittmann (104), 6. Bruno Spengler (104), 7. Gary Paffett (87), 8. António Félix da Costa (73), 9. Augusto Farfus (73), 10. Maxime Martin (71), 11. Mike Rockenfeller (67), 12. Robert Wickens (61), 13. Timo Glock (56), 14. Christian Vietoris (56), 15. Paul di Resta (48), 16. Tom Blomqvist (41), 17. Miguel Molina (29), 18. Nico Müller (26), 19. Daniel Juncadella (25), 20. Martin Tomczyk (24), 21. Lucas Auer (18), 22. Timo Scheider (16), 23. Maximilian Götz (16), 24. Adrien Tambay (3).

Team Championship:

1. gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (211 points), 2. BMW Team RMG (175), 3. BMW Team MTEK (160), 4. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (156), 5. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (133), 6. Audi Sport Team Abt (131), 7. BMW Team RBM (114), 8. SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (109), 9. EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (105), 10. BMW Team Schnitzer (97), 11. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (83), 12. PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (41).

Manufacturers’ Championship:

1. BMW (521 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (466), 3. Audi (441).

Canadians In BOLD