BMW celebrates their biggest result in the DTM
BMW Motorsport got back into the winning track today at Circuit Park Zandvoort. The Bavarian manufacturer dominated both the qualifying session and race, with seven M4 DTMs coping the first seven positions.
Marco Wittmann led the BMW contingent in a strong performance, winning for the first time since last season. The Team RMG driver started from the front row, but jumped ahead of Augusto Farfus at the start, leading the race until the end. The reigning champion was obviously delighted to be back on the top of the podium: “I am incredibly happy. That is not only a great success for me, but for the team and everyone at BMW Motorsport. I think this result will give us a massive boost for the rest of the season. We all needed exactly that kind of result after the problems we had at the start of the season.”
Team Schnitzer’s António Félix Da Costa was second, on a great result for the Portuguese, his best result in the DTM to date: “It has been a tough journey so far. We worked so hard for that. However, I am also very happy to give something back to BMW Motorsport. They have always believed in me and given me this opportunity. I am a really happy man today.”
Maxime Martin completed the podium, with Augusto Farfus, Bruno Spengler, Timo Glock and Tom Blomqvist following in the classification. Martin Tomczyk didn’t finish due to a mechanical failure.
BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt celebrated a dream result, but remained realistic about the manufacturer’s position in regard to their competitors: “That is obviously an absolute dream result. After a superb qualifying, we were able to take full advantage of the good starting position. Marco Wittmann got off to a great start and had a great race. The same goes for António Félix da Costa, with the best DTM race of his career, and Tom Blomqvist, who scored his first DTM points. However, all the drivers did a great job today. However, we know not to get too carried away with this result. We cannot solve all the problems overnight. Zandvoort suits us, and the weight situation certainly helped. This season has shown how quickly things can change in the DTM. However, it does suggest that all our hard work is taking us in the right direction. And it feels great to see the spirit within our team. We will need that over the coming months.”
BMW scored 69 points, which allows them to cut the disadvantage to their competitors in the manufacturers’ table, though they remain in third position, 132 points behind Audi and 79 behind Mercedes.
