By: BMW Motorsport
August 23 2016
After finishing 19th in Saturday’s wet race, Wittmann impressed in qualifying, landing the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM on pole position. He then converted this into win number seven in the 50th race of his DTM career with a dominant display. This victory also represented BMW Team RMG’s tenth win in its 60th race and was the 72nd time in the history of the DTM that the top step of the podium had been occupied by a BMW driver.
Tom Blomqvist (GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) finished second, third and fourth to complete the sixth top-four lock-out for BMW in the DTM. Thanks to this outstanding team result, BMW now leads the Manufacturers’ Championship again with 436 points. BMW Team RMG also regained the top spot in the team competition with 178 points.
Maxime Martin (BE) was extremely unlucky. He was in first place in qualifying when he lost control of the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM in a fast left-hander and skidded into the tyre wall. His mechanics at BMW Team RBM were able to repair the car in time for the start of the race, but Martin was forced to start from the very back of the field. Despite also being handed a drive-through penalty, he eventually managed to fight his way into 17th place.
Timo Glock (DE) also left empty-handed. He looked certain to finish in the points in the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM until he was hit by a rival car and barged into the gravel bed. He consequently had to retire from the race. António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) came home 19th and 23rd.
Reactions to the sixth race weekend of the 2016 DTM season:
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That is an incredible result for us today, particularly given the way the race turned out for us yesterday. Marco really produced a top performance and made his intentions very clear in qualifying. His race was equally impressive. However, Tom Blomqvist, Bruno Spengler, Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock also had great races behind him. It is a shame that the opposition performed a number of unfair manoeuvres. That cannot be allowed in the DTM. Compliments also to Maxime Martin for his fightback from the rear of the field, which saw him battle through to 17th place despite a drive-through penalty. We are obviously very happy to have regained the lead in all three championships. This result is something to celebrate.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “We are delighted with this result. After yesterday’s disappointment, we knew that we had to do everything right in the dry conditions today. We achieved that with Marco Wittmann, and responded to Saturday’s race in exactly the right way. Compliments to Marco on his outstanding drive. I feel very sorry for Timo Glock. There was no need for him to be taken out of the race.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM): “Congratulations to BMW on this top-four lock-out. I would like to thank BMW, my team and my drivers for a fine race. Tom Blomqvist produced a very consistent display and deserved his place on the podium. Unfortunately, the incident in qualifying prevented Maxime Martin from being able to show his full potential. Because of this, we are happy with the points haul, but not entirely happy, because we could have achieved so much more.
Ernest Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK): “That result is good for the entire team. The season has been a tough one for us so far. However, we always believed in ourselves. Bruno Spengler and Augusto Farfus showed what they are capable of today, and we provided both of them with a car with which they could compete at the front of the field. The weekend showed once again what a thin line there is between joy and misfortune in motor racing. We had no chance in the rain yesterday, then finished third and fourth in dry conditions today. Long may that continue.”
Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer): “Congratulations to BMW on a fantastic result. Unfortunately, we were very unlucky in Sunday’s race. António dropped back through the field following a collision that was no fault of his own. This prevented him from scoring any points. It was generally very difficult for Martin to make any progress from the back of the grid. Generally speaking, we did not get the optimum out of our package in Moscow. We must now perform a careful analysis to determine exactly why that was, as this has been a disappointing weekend for us.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 1st place, Sat.: 19th place): “After a tough day yesterday, today’s race was much more to my liking again. I was able to secure pole position and then lead from start to finish. The fact that BMW also completed a top-four lock-out is simply awesome. I would like to dedicate this success to my race engineer, who is 35 years old today. I don’t think I could give him a much better birthday present than a DTM victory.”
Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 2nd place, Sat.: 22nd place): “After the disappointment of yesterday, this was a fantastic result – not just for me, but above all for the team. I am delighted with my third podium finish of the season.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 3rd place, Sat.: 15th place): “It is nice to be back on the podium. We have had a tough time as a team. We had not been good enough, particularly in qualifying. We improved that today – and then produced a superb race. I am particularly pleased for my mechanics that we were finally rewarded for all our hard work with a third place. All in all, it was a great day for BMW occupying the top four positions.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 4th place, Sat.: 14th place): “I think we showed what teamwork means today. Things did not run smoothly for us on Saturday, but we learned from it and got as much out of it as possible. I had great race pace and pulled off some good overtaking manoeuvres. And our strategy came up trumps too. I stayed out quite a long time and stopped late. Fourth place in the end shows that this was exactly the right decision. The team had a good overview of what was going on in the race. That was a great example of perfect racing.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 17th place, Sat.: 6th place): “It was not my day today. First I had to start from 24th on the grid, then I received a drive-through penalty. Despite everything, I could possibly still have been looking at a top-ten finish without that penalty. I could have lived with that, but it wasn’t to be. I will now focus fully on the next two races at the Nürburgring. I have fond memories of that place.
António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 19th place, Sat.: 20th place): “After the difficult race on Saturday, BMW provided us with a very good package. I was able to qualify tenth and was running in the points. However, I was then hit by Jamie Green and dropped right back through the field. I did continue, despite my car being damaged, but my race was basically over after that incident.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 23rd place, Sat.: 21st place): “There is not a lot to say about my own result this weekend. I would like to congratulate BMW on this outstanding success and a great comeback after the difficult wet race on Saturday. The entire team showed great team spirit again. I am very proud to be a part of the BMW family.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: DNF place, Sat.: 11th place): “Personally, luck was not on my side here. We made a bit of a mistake with the set-up in qualifying, which meant we did not start as far forward as we possibly could have. The speed was actually really good in the race. However, Maxi Götz drove into me on the opening lap, which allowed the guys in front of me to pull clear and I dropped outside the DRS window. There was plenty going on after that, and I spent most of the time in a lot of traffic. At some point I was hit by Paul di Resta. It obviously hurts not to take any points from Moscow, but it was a fantastic result for BMW and BMW Team RMG. Congratulations to Marco and the other guys.”
Drivers’ Championship:
Marco Wittmann (130 points), 2. Robert Wickens (118), 3. Jamie Green (104), 4. Edoardo Mortara (100), 5. Paul di Resta (92), 6. Tom Blomqvist (71), 7. Maxime Martin (71), 8. Mattias Ekström (70), 9. Nico Müller (68), 10. Gary Paffett (67), 11. Timo Glock (48), 12. Lucas Auer (44), 13. Augusto Farfus (44), 14. Bruno Spengler (43), 15. Christian Vietoris (42), 16. Miguel Molina (26), 17. Maximilian Götz (16), 18. António Félix da Costa (16), 19. Adrien Tambay (14), 20. Martin Tomczyk (13), 21. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 22. Daniel Juncadella (4), 23. Timo Scheider (3), 24. Esteban Ocon (2), 25. Felix Rosenqvist (1).
Canadians In BOLD