Photo: BMW Press Club

Teams RMG and RBM to manage BMW cars in the 2017 DTM

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BMW Motorsport has reorganised its competition structure in the DTM, with the Bavarian manufacturer’s cars to be managed by just RMG and RBM in 2017.

Team RMG, managed by Stefan Reinhold, has been particularly successful, claiming a teams’ title in 2014 and two drivers’ crowns with Marco Wittmann in 2014 and 2016. Team RBM, with Bart Mampaey at the head, was BMW’s second best squad in 2016, with six podium finishes.

BMW Motorsport’s drivers for the 2017 DTM season will be announced at the manufacturer’s Season Review event in Munich to be held on the 9th of December.

Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport director, said: “I am convinced that this is the best team structure to help us prepare for our new tasks. We had to adjust our structures due to the changes in the DTM, and new possibilities and areas of operation opened up for us in our newly-reorganised motorsport programme. The new structure is tailored perfectly to this.”

Team Schnitzer, who was part of BMW’s DTM operation from their return in 2012 to 2016, winning the title with Bruno Spengler in 2012, will return to its roots in GT racing, a decision that seemed all but made before the end of the season, with their 2016 drivers Martin Tomczyk and António Félix Da Costa leaving the series into pastures new.

Team principal Charly Lamm said: “Everyone knows that BMW Team Schnitzer has a very close association with GT racing and a great passion for endurance races. We now embark on a new chapter in our long history with BMW. We are very much looking forward to the races with the BMW M6 GT3.”

Team MTEK, who participated in the DTM from 2013 to 2016, will start preparations for BMW’s entry in the FIA WEC’s GTE class in 2018. Team principal Ernest Knoors said: “We have learned a lot in the DTM and we are really looking forward to the new challenge that awaits us in the FIA WEC. The standard is extremely high there as well.”

“BMW Team Schnitzer made history in the DTM, winning the title at the first attempt after a 20-year break. Nobody had expected that. Team MTEK proved to be an excellent BMW representative in the DTM in recent years. I would like to thank Charly Lamm, Ernest Knoors and their crews for their dedication throughout the past DTM seasons” added Jens Marquardt.