Marco Wittmann finished fourth in Sunday’s race at Hungaroring

Wittmann was the only BMW driver to finish in the top ten on Saturday, but four of his brand team-mates also scored points on Sunday. Two days after announcing his departure from the DTM at the end of the season, António Félix da Costa (PT) finished in fifth position. Tom Blomqvist (GB) claimed sixth place ahead of Timo Glock (DE). Maxime Martin (BE) scored two points with a ninth-place finish.

Here you can read what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the four team principals and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the eighth race weekend.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “We had to work hard for that today. After a start like that, we should be pleased with five BMW drivers in the top ten. It could easily have gone wrong today. Marco dealt very well with that situation at the start and then made it home in fourth. I am very proud of him and his performance. Marco’s car was damaged a little bit, which meant he couldn’t maintain the same speed as the leaders. Overall, our performance today wasn’t bad. Today, we made up a bit for yesterday and we can look back at Budapest with a bit more satisfaction. Marco has moved in the right direction again in the drivers’ standings. We have to continue this trend in Hockenheim and approach the two final races with total concentration. The situation is still really tight in the DTM.”

Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “That was a very emotional weekend for us. The second race was pretty nerve-racking. We never gave up and never stopped fighting, regardless of how strong the competition was. My team always gave 100 percent and produced some great pit stops. We were rewarded for that. Timo did a great job and collected some valuable points for the manufacturers’ championship by finishing seventh. Marco is currently the best driver in the field. It’s Hockenheim up next. It’s going to be a dramatic finale.”

Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer): “Sunday was a bright spot and means that the weekend was positive overall for us. António was relegated a few places on the grid on Saturday, which meant he really couldn’t do much in the race. Qualifying was good today and the race strategy was perfect too. Thanks are due to our engineers as well. We collected some valuable points. Martin was going well too. He was in touching distance of the points, but he lost some time in the pack. He battled hard and did enough to deserve a point.”

Bert Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM): “Yesterday was difficult for us due to the weight situation and we could not really compete with Audi. Things went a bit better today. We got both cars to good positions in qualifying – and we were then able to defend these places in the race. We are satisfied with the overall result today.”

Ernst Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK): “We had a difficult weekend. That was the case for BMW in general, and specifically for our team as well. We found some good tactics for Augusto in the second race. He started really well, but then his car got damaged by something that broke the radiator. His race was over. We achieved all we could with Bruno. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to finish in the points. We will start again in Hockenheim.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 4th place, Sat.: 7th place): “I had a very good start, whereas Edo didn’t. His wheels were spinning. I had all the momentum. I went over to his side of the track. I think he wanted to block Eki first and he pushed me over onto the grass – although I was already alongside him. There was contact, and I had to drive across the grass. There was contact again when I came back. In my opinion, it was caused by Edo’s mistake at the start. And obviously I won’t just back down. The 12 points are important to help us progress. We couldn’t have improved on finishing in seventh and fourth this weekend. The competition from Audi was extremely strong. So these points are even more important.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 5th place, Sat.: 16th place): “Our strategy worked well today. We were determined to improve on yesterday’s performance and have a better Sunday. And that is just what we did. Our qualifying was average, but our tactics for the race were really good. Thanks to BMW Team Schnitzer. We reacted well to Saturday today and achieved a really good result overall with five BMWs in the top ten.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 6th place, Sat.: 22nd place): “The race result was okay – but it was anything but easy. After the confusion at the start, I just wanted to stay out of trouble. I managed to do that. Making an early pit stop was also the right decision. Overall, we can be pleased with the result. It was a good afternoon for BMW.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 7th place, Sat.: 13th place): “My start, the first lap, and my race speed were all very good. I was pretty fast on fresh tyres after the pit stop and I was able to close up on my BMW team-mates. I am really happy with the race and the result. It is fantastic to finish in the points after starting from 15th. Marco is now ideally placed for the finale in Hockenheim.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 9th place, Sat.: 12th place): “Starting from sixth place and finishing in P9 is a bit disappointing. However, it was a good race overall for BMW. Compared to yesterday, we made major improvements. We now have to prepare as well as we can for Hockenheim and be stronger there.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: 11th place, Sat.: 23rd place): “Another hard day, another tough battle – but 11th place and no points once again. Nonetheless, it was a good race. The performance of the BMW improved markedly compared to yesterday. Marco was really lucky at the start and, by the end, we had taken important steps towards to the title. That was our goal.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 14th place, Sat.: 14th place): “Our problem was qualifying, on Saturday and on Sunday. We didn’t manage to fix the problem and get a fast car in qualifying. So we didn’t have a chance in the race. Marco holding on to fourth place really helps the battle for the title. We now have to get a good result in Hockenheim to get the decisive points for the manufacturers’ championship.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: retired, Sat.: 19th place): “I had a normal start but then I saw some debris flying around. Something hit the radiator and then we sprang a leak. We just didn’t have the luck, once again. It always seems to go the same way: We start well on Fridays, but we don’t always manage to make the right changes for Saturday. On Sunday, we are going in the right direction again. The race set-up today was good again, but the right performance comes just a bit too late. Now we are off to Hockenheim. Things went well for me there at the start of the year. I hope that I can round the season off with a successful performance.”

DTM standings.

 

Drivers’ Championship.

1. Marco Wittmann (188 points), 2. Edoardo Mortara (162), 3. Jamie Green (137), 4. Robert Wickens (121), 5. Mattias Ekström (107), 6. Tom Blomqvist (101), 7. Paul di Resta (100), 8. Nico Müller (88), 9. Maxime Martin (78), 10. Gary Paffett (73), 11. Lucas Auer (68), 12. Timo Glock (64), 13. Bruno Spengler (51), 14. Augusto Farfus (44), 15. Christian Vietoris (42), 16. Miguel Molina (41), 17. Adrien Tambay (40), 18. António Félix da Costa (26), 19. Daniel Juncadella (21), 20. Mike Rockenfeller (18), 21. Maximilian Götz (17), 22. Martin Tomczyk (13), 23. Timo Scheider (9), 24. Felix Rosenqvist (5), 25. Esteban Ocon (2).

 

Team Championship.

1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (269 points), 2. BMW Team RMG (252), 3. BMW Team RBM (179), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (177), 5. SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (142), 6. Audi Sport Team Abt (129), 7. Mercedes-AMG (117), 8. BWT Mercedes-AMG (110), 9. BMW Team MTEK (95), 10. EURONICS/FREEMEN`S WORLDMercedes-AMG (80), 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (39), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (27).

 

Manufacturers’ Championship.

1. Audi (602 points), 2. BMW (565), 3. Mercedes-Benz (449).

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

 

Driver	WIT	GLO	SPE	FAR	BLO	MAR	DAC	TOM
Country	DE	DE	CA	BR	GB	BE	PT	DE
Number	11	16	7	18	31	36	13	100
Age	26	34	33	33	22	30	25	34
DTM debut:	2013	2013	2005	2012	2015	2014	2014	2001
Team	RMG	RMG	MTEK	MTEK	RBM	RBM	Schnitzer	Schnitzer
Races	54	54	137	64	34	44	44	175
Wins	8	3	14	4	1	2	1	7
Podiums	14	5	45	12	5	6	3	28
Poles	8	1	17	5	1	2	1	8
Fastest laps	5	2	14	1	2	1	1	8
Points	505	193	758	345	160	219	111	489

 

 

DTM Race Calendar 2016.

6.-8. May – Hockenheim (DE), 20.-22. May – Spielberg (AT), 3.-5. June – Lausitzring (DE), 24.-26. June – Norisring (DE), 15.-17. July – Zandvoort (NL), 19.-21. August – Moscow (RU), 9.-11. September – Nürburgring (DE), 23.-25. September – Budapest (HU), 14.-16. October – Hockenheim (DE).

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