BMW ready to celebrate their centenary in the DTM
BMW Motorsport faces its fifth season in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as reigning manufacturers’ champion. The Bavarian squad is determined to further their short and impressive record on the brand’s centenary.
It seems it was a long while ago that a well coordinated joint effort pulled BMW through the ranks in order to win their third manufacturers’ title in the series, after a season where the M4 DTM struggled for pace, grip and general balance. The page has now been turned, and BMW looks to 2016 with renewed hopes.
The Bavarian manufacturer got a relief in their base weight for the 2016 season, with the DTM Commission, formed by the DMSB, series promoter ITR and the manufacturers, agreeing to lower the base figure to 1,112.5 kilos, 7.5 less than each of BMW’s rivals, in order to compensate for the loss of performance due to the manufacturer not being able to improve on the development of the M4 DTM.
Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director, thinks the assault for the title will be on from the first on track session in Hockenheim:”In a year that marks the centenary of the BMW Group and the BMW brand, we are extremely focussed going into our fifth DTM season since returning to the series. We obviously have our sights set on improving our already-impressive record in the DTM. We want to take the first step in this direction in Hockenheim.”
The Bavarian outfit has enjoyed a productive pre-season, clocking the fastest overall lap time in Monteblanco and being on the regular top three in the ITR collective tests in Hockenheim.
BMW Motorsport is the only manufacturer in this year’s DTM whose all eight drivers are also race winners, and has made changes to the driver pairings, with Team Schnitzer presenting the only unchanged line up for the Bavarian manufacturer in 2016.
Augusto Farfus will be changing teams to MTEK from RBM for the first time since joining BMW four years ago. The Brazilian thinks this season will be competitive for him: “I am very motivated and think we can definitely take a step forwards this year. Having said that, the DTM season is a long one, and many aspects are unpredictable. However, we are well-prepared and the new team has given me an extra boost. I think we can expect good things.”
2012 champion Bruno Spengler eagerly awaits the season kick off at Hockenheim: “I look forward to the special atmosphere in Hockenheim every year. Even at the tests it was nice to be back driving through the Motodrom. The adrenalin levels will rise again in the race. As always, I will be nervous before the start of the first race. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have in the DTM. I still feel like I did in my first race every time we line up.”
The line ups for the Munich outfit are as follows:
Team RMG
#11 Marco Wittmann
#16 Timo Glock
Team MTEK
#7 Bruno Spengler
#18 Augusto Farfus
Team RBM
#31 Tom Blomqvist
#36 Maxime Martin
Team Schnitzer
#13 António Félix da Costa
#77 Martin Tomczyk
Hockenheim hosts the season premier this weekend, with on track action starting on Friday at 17:00 CET for the first free practice session.
