BMW satisfied with the return to the podium

BMW Motorsport had a good day at the Moscow Raceway, host of the sixth round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season. Marco Wittmann was on pole for Race1, and the Bavarian manufacturer scored a double podium finish, being the second highest scoring team overall today.

The day started with Bruno Spengler taking advantage of the most optimum moment on the drying track to be fastest in the second practice session. Later, Marco Wittmann would get the pole position, with a small margin over Mercedes Pascal Wehrlein.

The reigning champion didn’t make any mistakes and started perfectly, opening a little gap over Wehrlein. There were two safety car periods after which Wittmann managed to stay ahead. But, on the second relaunch, Pascal Wehrlein was faster than the number 1 M4 DTM and determined to get passed.

The Mercedes driver achieved his goal with just four minutes to the end of the race, with Wittmann finishing in second place: “I had a good start and was initially able to defend my lead well. Unfortunately, I was not able to get outside the DRS window. When Pascal Wehrlein started to attack me, it was soon apparent that I would not have a chance against him. Even with the use of DRS once he had passed me, I was not able to go with him. Therefore, I am obviously happy with second place, even though I would obviously have preferred to have won from pole.”

Bruno Spengler started from seventh, but was able to work his way up. On the last corner of the race, the Canadian overtook Audi’s Jamie Green to finish in third place. Spengler was very happy with the result and is already looking forward to tomorrow: “I am very happy with the way the race panned out. I was able to close right in on Jamie Green, brake late and pass him on the final lap. It is obviously fantastic to pull off a manoeuvre like that in the final corner. That was great fun. This success, and the double podium, will give the mechanics and the entire BMW team an extra boost, particularly following the difficult races at the Red Bull Ring.”

Tom Blomqvist was eighth, scoring points for the second time this season. Although that is a satisfying result for him, the Briton feels he could have done better: “I am obviously pleased to finish in the points. However, I started from fifth on the grid and finished eighth. With this in mind, the result is a bit disappointing.”

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt had a pragmatic reading of the race, being satisfied with the result and the points scored: “That was an exciting race with a great and fair battle at the head of the field. We are happy to have two cars on the podium and are looking forward to what we hope will be an equally exciting race tomorrow.”

BMW is third in the Manufacturers’ standings with 285 points, 94 behind Mercedes AMG. After today’s result, Marco Wittmann is the best placed driver for the Bavarian manufacturer in fifth place, with 69 points.

The DTM cars will be back on track tomorrow morning for the warm up, starting at 9:10 CEST (GMT + 2).