BMW pleased with front row spot for Wittmann
Marco Wittmann is already the 2014 DTM Drivers’ champion, and BMW Team RMG has the Teams’ crown almost in the bag. Still, BMW wants another “full-strike”, and are fighting hard to win the Manufactures’ title.
As the most competitive car in recent races, the success ballast rule means that the M4 DTM is the heaviest car on the grid, which Jens Marquardt, Director of Motorsport, sees as the biggest hurdle for the Bavarian manufacturer. Despite all the issues, Marquardt couldn’t hide his enthusiasm about Marco Wittmann qualifying on the front row of the grid: “We have witnessed another very impressive qualifying from Marco Wittmann, who missed out on pole position by the blink of an eye. He did an absolutely fantastic job once again. After all, he still has a heavier car than the opposition. That makes his performance all the more impressive. Martin Tomczyk and Joey Hand also enjoyed a good qualifying.”
Wittmann may have enough points to take this year’s title, but vows to keep fighting and getting results for both BMW and Team RMG: “I can be really happy with second place. We still had a few problems here and there in free practice. However, we were able to solve these and now start from the front row. That is great, particularly when you consider that we are carrying extra weight compared to the other cars. Tomorrow’s race will definitely not be easy, but we do start from a good position.”
Martin Tomczyk was the following best qualified BMW on the grid. The former champion managed to get into Q3, but didn’t have unused tyres for the last shootout, which made him unable to improve from eighth position: “I am very happy with eighth place in qualifying today. I did not have a fresh set of tyres in the third qualifying session. As I had old tyres on the car, I was well aware that I could not hope for any more. After a number of difficult qualifyings recently, it was important for me to get back into Q3 again. That was my goal for today, and we did it. I did not really see it coming. That is also the reason for me not having a new set of tyres left in the final session of qualifying.”
Joey Hand was a disappointed man. The American clocked a time good enough to be fifth on the grid, but missed the cut at the end of Q2 by a very small margin. He set his goals for the race: “It is a real shame that I missed out on Q3 by just six hundredths of a second. However, I was still able to show that I feel very comfortable on this track. Having said that, it didn’t look great in practice. I now hope that my car will run that little bit better in the race, and that I can finish in the points.”
On the other side of the coin, Bruno Spengler was frustrated, after yet another midfield qualifying: “I am obviously not happy with the performance in qualifying. We did not manage to find the right balance for the car. That has been a bit of an on-going story throughout the entire season. We will have to keep looking for the causes. One thing is clear: the BMW M4 DTM has the potential to be on pole. Unfortunately my team and I are not finding the right set-up. The only thing that remains for me is to push really hard tomorrow and attack the field from behind in order to finish in the points.”
BMW Team RMG could secure the Teams’ title here in Zandvoort. Whilst Marco Wittmann starts second, Maxime Martin will do so from 17th place.
