BMW step on the podium for the first time this year

BMW Motorsport has had the toughest start of the season since their return to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters back in 2012. Today the Bavarian manufacturer, thanks to Bruno Spengler, was able to score the pole position and finish on the podium for the first time this season.

Spengler’s tenacity was put to good use this morning when the Canadian, in the last flying lap and with the chequered flag already out, set the fastest lap of the weekend right until that point, to score the pole position.

The race wasn’t easy due to the superb pace of the Mercedes. Still, after mounting fresh tyres, Spengler fought his way back to overtake Mattias Ekström on the penultimate lap of the race, and secure a podium finish in his BMW M4 DTM.

Bruno Spengler was upbeat about the team work that led to this result :“I’m really happy to have finished third, however, I am also a little disappointed as I would, of course, liked to have won the race. Both Mercedes were unbeatable today. I dropped down to fifth, but I fought back and the battle for third with Mattias Ekström was a lot of fun. He actually made a small mistake, which meant I could overtake him in the last few metres. Thank you to my team. We pitted at exactly the right time. Hitting the pit stop window correctly was difficult today. It’s also due to the great strategy that I managed to get onto the podium today.”

Maxime Martin was the other BMW driver in the points. The Belgian had a tough race, colliding with Jamie Green nearly at the end, but managed to finish in tenth position to score a point: “It was a really tough battle. I had quite large problems with the brakes throughout the race. It’s a shame that I was unable to show the same pace as the leaders, as Bruno did.”

BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt was happy that the team had made progress in the right direction, although he’s conscious that there is still a lot of work to be done: “The Norisring is quite a special track, where experienced drivers can really step up their game. This is precisely what Bruno Spengler did in qualifying, as his pole lap was absolutely perfect. In the race, Bruno showed real fighting spirit, attacking at the right time and, deservedly, achieved his first podium of the season for us. Maxime Martin also gave no quarter and made it into the points. In our current situation, these are precisely the qualities we must show to get back to where we want to be. After the first two difficult race weekends, this was a small step in the right direction. If things stay as they are, I am convinced that we can improve slowly but surely.”

Bruno Spengler is now the best placed BMW driver in the standings, in ninth place with 27 points.