In Sunday’s race in the DTM at the Norisring (GER), BMW got their fourth win of the season. Bruno Spengler (CAN), at the wheel of the BMW Bank M4 DTM crossed the finish line as winner for BMW Team RMG after 70 laps. A total of three BMW drivers finished in the points in the eighth race of the year.
Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) of BMW Team RBM saw the chequered flag in fifth place. Timo Glock (GER, JiVS BMW M4 DTM), who started the race from 17th on the grid after suffering a technical problem in qualifying, showed real fighting spirit and worked his way up into ninth place during the course of the race. Joel Eriksson (SWE) had to make do with 13th place in the CATL BMW M4 DTM.
Local hero Marco Wittmann (GER, Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) both retired due to technical problems. Both of them were also on track to finish in the points for much of the race.
It was Spengler‘s 16th DTM victory – and his fifth win at the Norisring. This makes him the sole DTM record winner at this track. He celebrated his 50th podium. BMW have now racked up a total of 85 DTM wins. A BMW driver has stood on top of the podium four times in 2019, and therefore in half of the races to date.
The best-placed BMW driver in the overall standings is still Eng with 101 points in third place. Behind him are Spengler (76) and Wittmann (72) in fourth and fifth place. BMW is in second place in the manufacturers’ standings with 338 points, behind Audi (457).
Reactions to the eighth DTM race of the 2019 season at the Norisring.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):
“In terms of atmosphere, the Norisring proved once again this weekend just why the DTM has such a special relationship with the track. The fans in Nuremberg simply love motorsport, which is why we always really enjoy this event. After Joel Eriksson finished on the podium on Saturday, we went the extra mile today and won the race with Bruno Spengler. The fantastic start and the first turn were the key to his success. This enabled him to establish himself at the front and bring home the race win with great superiority. His car was consistently among the fastest in the field. Kudos to Bruno and the whole team. He knows what it takes at the Norisring and with five wins is now the sole record holder here. Philipp Eng picked up good points, and I’m really happy for Timo Glock that he managed to move up the field after the problems in qualifying. Unfortunately, further down the field we lost cars to technical difficulties. We will analyse this in detail. It was a tough race and a tough weekend overall. But we rounded it off with a win – and that’s the most important thing.”
Bart Mampaey (BMW Team RBM Team Principal):
“First of all, congratulations to Bruno. He is a real Norisring expert and deserved the win today. I’d like to thank my team. We picked up points with Philipp Eng, which is good for the drivers’ standings. We opted for a different strategy for Joel Eriksson. It worked yesterday, but it wasn’t so good today. Sheldon van der Linde showed good progress again on Sunday and was much stronger in qualifying today than yesterday. Unfortunately, the technical problem ended his race early.”
Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 4th, Race: 5th, Drivers’ standings: 3rd, 101 points):
“It was an exciting race today. The tyre management in particular was a challenge which meant I wasn’t able to target the podium in the end. But I still made up some points on the leaders in the drivers’ standings. In the DTM it’s important to pick up points even on weaker weekends. We did that. Congratulations to Bruno Spengler. With five wins here, he is now the king of the Norisring.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 12th, Race: 13th, Drivers’ standings: 10th, 43 points):
“It was pretty wild out there. We went for a different strategy once again, which unfortunately didn’t pay off. I think we were just unlucky today. The pace was okay in principle. I’ll go back on the attack in Assen.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 6th, Race: retired, Drivers’ standings: 11th, 25 points):
“Compared with yesterday we took a huge leap forward with the car. The pace today was really good. I was able to preserve the tyres, I pitted relatively late. So under normal circumstances I would have been able to get a good result. But it wasn’t meant to be.”
Stefan Reinhold (BMW Team RMG Team Principal):
“After the difficult day yesterday we looked at everything again in detail and made a few changes to the cars. We competed with the confidence that enables us to deliver a good performance during a normal race. We did that again today. I’m really pleased for Bruno Spengler, since he is new to our team this year. Now he is where he should have been earlier this season. And his crew deserved it too. Thanks to my whole team. We had a difficult start to the weekend. But it’s worth fighting.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 8th, Race: 16th, Drivers’ standings: 5th, 72 points):
“Naturally it was a disappointing race result for me. Retiring from fifth place so close to the end is really frustrating. Something went wrong with the car at the end, I had no power left. I didn’t picture my home race going this way. But overall it was another great event. The flair, the many fans supporting me, my fan club, my family – it is unique. Bruno Spengler did a great job, congratulations on the win.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 5th, Race: 1st, Drivers’ standings: 4th, 76 points):
“What an amazing day. I am over the moon. We had another full house here at the Norisring. With this atmosphere you get goose bumps on the starting grid. It is a fantastic feeling winning here. Finally we had a normal race without the safety car. Our pace was really good – and it was great fun here. I was able to push from the first down to the final lap. Huge thanks go to the whole BMW Team RMG. The guys made huge improvements to the car between the two races. They really deserved this win.”
Timo Glock (#16 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 17th, Race: 9th, Drivers’ standings: 12th, 23 points):
“After the technical defect in qualifying I had to start from the back of the grid. Then we tried to make the best of it – which we did well. So, we were able to pick up some points. After another car bashed into my car a tyre was damaged and we had to pit earlier than planned. But you can’t do anything about that. The speed was okay. Congratulations to Bruno, he deserved the win after having had so much bad luck with the safety car in previous races this year. I’m pleased for him, the team and BMW.”
