Photo: DTM Media

Marco Wittmann looking to compensate for lost victory at the next round

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BMW Motorsport driver Marco Wittmann heads to the Nürburgring looking to score his first victory of the season, after a technical infringement saw him excluded from his win post-race at the last race at Zandvoort.

The reigning champion has had a difficult season so far, with only three podium finishes in 12 races. Wittmann crossed the finish line in first in Sunday’s race at Zandvoort, jumping up to second place in the drives’ standings, but was excluded after the stewards couldn’t extract enough fuel for scrutineering from his M4 DTM.

Wittmann has won twice at the Eifel, back in 2014 and 2016, the years of his two titles. The BMW driver expects good results this weekend, currently lying in eighth place in the standings.

“I have always been very successful at the Nürburgring,” he said. “I really like the circuit and have always been fast there so I am hoping for two good qualifying and race results this weekend. I need to make up a few points after being disqualified in Zandvoort.”

Timo Glock is BMW’s best-placed driver in the drivers’ championship in fourth place, 24 points behind the leader, Audi’s Mattias Ekström. The German driver, who partners Wittmann at Team RMG, is hoping for a good overall result for the squad led by Stefan Reinhold: “I am excited about the race at the Nürburgring. It is the home circuit for our team. I hope that we have another good weekend there and can score some points, just like we did in the last races. I would be delighted if we were successful there.”

BMW is in second place in the manufacturers’ table, 113 points behind Audi Sport. The six M4 DTMs will start the weekend as the lightest cars on track, with a base weight of 1,107.5kg.

Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport director, feels the competition is too close to be able to make any predictions for the weekend: “The races at the Nürburgring mark the start of the final third of a consistently exciting season. We can safely assume that it will be a close-run thing in the Eifel region too. Last season showed that it is difficult to make any sort of prediction. The weather adds an element of unpredictability that can shake things up.”