Wittmann victorious ahead of Blomqvist
Six BMW M4 DTMs in the points
The 250th race in BMW’s DTM history was a successful one: Marco Wittmann (DE) celebrated a lights to flag victory from pole position in his Red Bull BMW M4 DTM and brought home BMW’s 70th win in the DTM. Tom Blomqvist (GB) in second place in his Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM clinched the one-two result in Saturday’s race at the Red Bull Ring.
While Wittmann and Blomqvist celebrated their successes on the podium, four other BMW drivers were pleased with their points. Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) finished fourth ahead of Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) and Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) in fifth and sixth. Augusto Farfus (BR) in the Shell BMW M4 DTM also picked up two points for ninth.
Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) crossed the line in 13th, while António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM) lost a lot of time after a drive-through penalty and finished the race in 22nd.
Reactions to the third race of the 2016 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “Thank you very much for this fantastic belated birthday present. It was an outstanding team performance by BMW, I am proud of the guys. After we put in a very good performance in qualifying, we were also able to achieve a superb result in the race. I am very proud of Marco and Tom, who brought the one-two result home, despite Edoardo Mortara keeping up the pressure right down to the final lap. And our guys behind them also drove a fantastic race. That was by no means as easy as it might have looked.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 1st place): “The Red Bull Ring seems to suit me very well. It really does treat me well. With the pole position and the good start, I laid the foundation for the win. Nevertheless, it was not easy to maintain the lead since my rivals were able to use the DRS. I’m very happy that it was enough to get the win – particularly for the team. They earned this success.”
Facts and Figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Spielberg, 4.326 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Sunny, 22 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#11 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 1st place
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 2nd place
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team RMG, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 4th place
#100 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – 5th place
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RBM, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 6th place
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team MTEK, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 9th place
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – 13th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M4 DTM – 22nd place
Useful information:
BMW celebrated its 70th win in the 250th race of its DTM history.
It was Marco Wittmann’s sixth win of his DTM career and first since his victory in Zandvoort (NL) in 2015.
Wittmann and Blomqvist clinched the 18th one-two result for BMW in the DTM.
Six of the eight BMW M4 DTMs made it into the top ten.
António Félix da Costa was awarded a drive-through penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag.
Wittmann’s pole position was the 51st for BMW in its DTM history and the 21st since its return in 2012.
Wittmann started from pole position for the sixth time in his DTM career. It was his first in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM.
Two BMW M4 DTMs started from the front row of the grid for the first time since the second race in Oschersleben in 2015.
The second qualifying session begins at 12:50 on Sunday. Before that, the third practice session is scheduled for 10:20.
2016 race calendar.
6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20 th -22 nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd -5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24th -26th June – Norisring (DE), 15th -17th July – Zandvoort (NL), 19th -21st August – Moscow (RU), 9th -11th September – Nürburgring (DE), 23rd -25th September – Budapest (HU), 14th -16th October – Hockenheim (DE).
