BMW hails Marco Wittmann, 2014 DTM champion

Marco Wittmann is the new BMW golden boy. The young driver from Fürth (Germany) today became the 2014 DTM champion, having scored four wins and 128 points in eight races, accumulating a 69 point lead with two events remaining in the season, a very impressive effort from the 24-year-old, who has also become the youngest ever DTM champion.

Wittmann joined the Bavarian manufacturer as a development driver in 2012, and made his racing debut in the Deutsche Tourewagen Masters last season, ranking eighth in the Drivers’ standings at the end of the year and becoming the “2013 Rookie of the Year”.

The BMW Team RMG driver won the season opener at Hockenheim, and delivered a consistent and mature effort throughout the season, with further victories in Hungaroring, Spielberg and Nurburgring.

Through Wittmann’s efforts, BMW also continues its “tradition” of becoming champions every season they compete with a new car, with the M4 DTM having made its debut at Hockenheim back in May.

Today at Lausitzring, Wittmann finished in sixth position, followed by Augusto Farfus and Martin Tomczyk, both recovering from starting the race at the back of the field.

After remaining focussed during the last few races, and talking about taking a step at a time and refusing to even think about the title, Wittmann couldn’t contain the emotion today: “Unbelievable. This is an absolutely awesome feeling. The constantly changing conditions made it a really difficult race today. There were a lot of battles, and I just tried to stay out of bother. After yesterday I did not really believe that it would work out today. On the whole, however, we were able to drive a clean race.”

“I am so emotional now, it is crazy. The season has been incredible so far. I am so proud of BMW Team RMG and BMW Motorsport. Everyone has done a sensational job. The pit stop was superb again today. To already know that I am the champion is amazing. I think we will have a fantastic party today”, concluded a smiling Wittmann.

BMW Motorsport Director, Jens Marquardt, couldn’t find enough compliments to remark Wittmann’s achievement: “It is difficult to find words today to describe Marco Wittmann’s performance. That goes not only for today’s race, but also the entire season. In a race that was heated at times, he always kept a cool head and showed the perfect combination of aggression and control. Marco fully deserves to be crowned champion so early in the season. The BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG and he have formed the perfect unit right from the start of the season.”

Marquardt also spoke of the significant achievements made this season:”We have continued the tradition of winning the title in the first season with every new car we have fielded in the DTM. This is something we are very proud of. Marco is the youngest German champion of all time, and hardly anyone has ever wrapped up the title so early in a season, and all in just his second year in the DTM. It’s an absolutely mega achievement. Congratulations to Marco, but also to Stefan Reinhold’s BMW Team RMG, who have worked hard for this success. Today we will celebrate our success here at the Lausitzring. This is a good venue for us. After claiming our first win since returning to the series and the 50th ever for BMW here in 2012, we can now celebrate the first title for the BMW M4 DTM.”

Stefan Reinhold, Team Principal for BMW Team RMG: “This is a dream come true for us. It is amazing that we have already secured the Drivers’ title here at the Lausitzring. At the moment it is still hard to take it all in. After the first two years we tried to improve in all areas. We started to work very closely with the two drivers early in the winter”.

Despite winning the Drivers’ crown today, Reinhold stays focussed for the remainder of the season, with clear targets: “The pressure is now a little less for us after today. However, we still have a lot of goals: we want to win the Team competition and the Manufacturers’ Championship with BMW. Therefore, we must continue to go about our work in a focussed manner. We now head to Zandvoort, which is Marco’s favourite circuit, so I am already looking forward to the next race. We have some celebrating to do first though.”

BMW Team RMG leads the Teams’ classification with 167 points, ahead of Audi Sport Team Abt 75 points adrift. In the Manufacturers’ table, BMW has an 18 point lead over Audi, with two races left in the season.

The DTM competes again in two weeks’ time, at Zandvoort (Netherlands) on the 27th and 28th of September.