Maxime Martin best BMW driver in seventh place
The 2015 DTM is up and running: BMW drivers Maxime Martin (BE), Timo Glock (DE), Marco Wittmann (DE) and Augusto Farfus (BR) ended the first of two races in Hockenheim (DE) in the top ten to score their first DTM points of the year.
Martin finished seventh in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, making him the best-placed BMW driver. Farfus worked his way from 23rd on the grid to complete the race in tenth place. Sandwiched between Martin and Farfus were Glock and DTM champion Wittmann in eighth and ninth. Victory went to Jamie Green (GB) in an Audi.
Reactions to the opening race of the 2015 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “After a tough qualifying, we made the most of our situation in the race. We had a decent race pace and finished with four cars in the top ten to pick up a few points at least. An exciting race saw fantastic fightbacks from Maxime Martin, Timo Glock, Marco Wittmann and Augusto Farfus. Augusto made up 13 positions after his misfortune in qualifying, while Timo climbed from 20th to eighth. The format produced exactly what it promised: an intense qualifying and an exciting race with plenty of overtaking manoeuvres and a lot of fans. Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race day, we must learn from today’s qualifying, in particular, and analyse what happened very carefully. In this regard, we must make better use of the existing potential, in order to be better positioned going into the race.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 7th): “The race was very intense from the first corner to the last. The safety car phases made for a lot of action, and the fans will undoubtedly have enjoyed a great show. Seventh place is a good result for us, and earns us some valuable points. It is also a nice feeling to be the best-placed BMW driver. However, our opponents were better than us today. We have to acknowledge that. We will work hard to change that for the coming races.”
Facts and figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Hockenheimring, 4.574 kilometres, 40 minutes plus one lap
Conditions:
Slightly overcast, 18 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 7th
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 8th
#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 9th
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 10th
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – 11th
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM –13th
#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – DNF
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM – DNF
Information:
Augusto Farfus made up 13 positions from 23rd on the grid. Timo Glock’s fightback from 20th to eighth was equally impressive.
Maxime Martin was the best-placed BMW driver for the first time since his victory in Moscow in 2014.
The BMW M4 Coupé DTM Safety Car was in action twice during the race following crashes.
Tom Blomqvist and Martin Tomczyk were forced to retire from the race following collisions.
The second qualifying session begins at 10:35 on Sunday. Before that, the 15-minute warm-up is scheduled for 09:00.
