Gary Paffett predicts interesting Schnitzer BMW battle
Gary Paffett believes Martin Tomczyk joining Bruno Spengler at Schnitzer BMW will be an interesting battle over the 2014 DTM season.
From 2005 – 2006, and 2007 – 2011, Spengler drove alongside Paffett at Mercedes, until he switched to BMW for its 2012 DTM comeback year.
Since joining BMW, Spengler has driven for the Schnitzer team and managed to win his first DTM title for the Charly Lamm led outfit in 2012.
Dirk Werner was Spengler’s team-mate at Schnitzer since 2012, but was moved to BMW’s GT programme in the U.S.-based United Sportscar Championship for 2014.
Martin Tomczyk, who also switched to BMW for the 2012 season after taking the 2011 DTM title with Audi, will take Werner’s Schnitzer seat after two difficult seasons at the RMG BMW team.
In the two seasons at RMG, Tomczyk finished eighth in 2012, and 19th in 2013.
“I think Bruno [Spengler] is a quicker driver than Martin [Tomczyk] and I think Bruno will beat him,” Paffett told TouringCarTimes. “However, I could be wrong.
“I think in races, if Bruno is out in front, he can go away and drive very well; that’s his strong point, he’s a good qualifier and can drive well at the front.
“The only down-side to Bruno, is that if he’s in the midfield, he can get caught up in incidents.
“In 2012 we were mainly running at the front so we didn’t really see that, but last year, when the performance in the middle of the year wasn’t great, he got caught up in some incidents, so that’s the downside.
“[However], Martin has weekends where he’s unbeatable and on incredible form.
“He’s also a tough racer and when he gets involved in a battle, he doesn’t generally lose out; he’s a tough racer and usually comes out on top.
Paffett also believes Marco Wittmann’s switch to the RMG team will prove whether Tomczyk’s problems over the last two seasons were down to the team.
“With Marco Wittmann moving to RMG and if it doesn’t work out, then it shows the team isn’t performing quite as well as it should.
“[Anyway], Martin would have wanted to change team, so he’s now in a good position because he’s got the same team and material as Bruno Spengler, but now he has to deliver.”
The 2014 DTM season will be Paffett’s 11th in the series and his 11th with Mercedes.
He left the DTM for the 2006 season to concentrate on his McLaren third driver duties, but returned to the series again for the 2007 season in a year-old Mercedes C-Class.
Like DTM returnee Paul di Resta who took the DTM title in 2010, Paffett took the title in 2005.
Both Paffett and di Resta are the only drivers confirmed at Mercedes for 2014 so far.
