Zandvoort. BMW added to its points tally again in an
action-packed twelfth DTM race of the season in Zandvoort (NED).
Maxime Martin (BEL) and Timo Glock (GER) showed their fighting
spirit by finishing sixth and seventh, despite being at the back of
the field at the start of the race. Augusto Farfus (BRA) claimed the
sixth pole position of his DTM career in qualifying. He came home
eighth in the race, while Bruno Spengler (CAN) was tenth.
Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann (GER) initially crossed the
finish line in first place, just ahead of Mike Rockenfeller (GER,
Audi). However, it was not possible to extract the minimum amount of
remaining fuel from his car’s tank during the technical inspection.
Wittmann was consequently disqualified. Tom Blomqvist (GBR) finished 13th.
The qualifying session:
It is almost two years since Augusto Farfus last started a DTM race
from pole position. The BMW Team RMG driver has now returned to the
front of the grid. He clocked the fastest lap time of 1:27.475 in his
Shell BMW M4 DTM, 0.141 seconds faster than Marco Wittmann, who also
started from the front row in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM. This was the
sixth pole position of Farfus’ DTM career. Maxime Martin started from
third place in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. Timo Glock (DEUTSCHE POST BMW
M4 DTM) set the fifth fastest time, but was held up by Edoardo Mortara
(ITA, Mercedes) on his final flying lap. As a consequence of the
ensuing dispute between the two drivers, Glock was later disqualified
and had to start the race from the back of the grid. Bruno Spengler
(BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Tom Blomqvist (BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM)
qualified ninth and 14th, but were promoted two places due
to the penalties awarded to Glock and Gary Paffett (GBR, Mercedes).
The race:
Tom Blomqvist had to start from the pit lane after spinning on the
formation lap. A short while later, he was given a drive-through
penalty for crossing the track limits and consequently dropped well
back. Marco Wittmann made the better start of the two BMWs on the
front row, passing Augusto Farfus to take the lead. Maxime Martin did
not initially get off the line, but was then able to get going but was
then at the back of the field. Bruno Spengler made a false start, for
which he was given a five-second penalty. At the head of the field,
Wittmann was able to pull a few seconds clear of Mike Rockenfeller
(GER, Audi), and maintained his lead after making his mandatory pit
stop on lap 14. The two-time champion had to fend off Rockenfeller for
the final 15 minutes of the race, but held his nerve to cross the
finish line in first place. Martin and Timo Glock fought back strongly
after making early pit stops, and eventually finish seventh and
eighth. Farfus also picked up points for ninth place. Spengler and
Blomqvist came home eleventh and 13th. All the other BMW
drivers, however, are promoted a position following the subsequent
disqualification of Wittmann.
The reactions:
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt: “On the
whole, we have scored a lot of points in Zandvoort. The one-two-three
on Saturday, with Timo Glock, Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin on the
podium, was one of the absolute highlights of the season.
Unfortunately, Marco Wittmann’s disqualification on Sunday prevented
us from adding a second victory. That is obviously a great shame. We
will look into how it could have happened. Maxime Martin and Timo
Glock fought very hard in the race, and Augusto Farfus and Bruno
Spengler also picked up points. Hard-fought overtaking manoeuvres,
plenty of action and a lot of points: despite the disappointment of
missing out on victory on Sunday, Zandvoort was definitely worth the
trip again for us this year.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG): “It
has been an intense weekend for us, full of emotion. First, we
celebrated Marco’s victory, then came the disappointment of the
disqualification. Unfortunately, when analysing the race, we
discovered that we had made a mistake in operating the tank system,
which resulted in there being too little fuel in the tank at the end
of the race. That is frustrating, but we win and lose together. The
pole position was good for Augusto. Timo also showed his emotion – but
emotions are what win us races here in this team, so we will continue
to show them. Despite today, we are confident looking ahead to the
rest of the season.”
Marco Wittmann (#11, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – Grid position:
2nd place, race result: Disqualified – 68 races, 8 wins,
18 podiums, 8 pole positions, 614 points, 2 drivers’ titles):
“I am obviously very disappointed, but as a driver there is
nothing you can do about it. We have to accept it and ensure that
nothing like this happens again. It was still a mega weekend for me.
Our pace was very good. We will push again at the Nürburgring.”
Augusto Farfus (#15, Shell BMW M4 DTM – Grid position:
1st place, race result: 8th place – 78 races,
4 wins, 12 podiums, 6 pole positions, 368 points): “We
pitted after the opening lap, but unfortunately it did not pay off.
However, that is racing. Despite that, I can take some positives from
Zandvoort. We had the fastest car and secured pole position. That is
good. However, we did not manage to take our chance and finish on the podium.”
Timo Glock (#16, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – Grid position:
18th place (penalty), race result: 7th place –
68 races, 4 wins, 8 podiums, 3 pole positions, 317 points):
“I had a good first lap and immediately overtook one or two
cars. I then came into the pits early, after which I had good pace. I
was quicker than Maxime, but could not get past him. However, we must
be content with having at least finished in the top ten.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM): “We have
a few things to look at after this race. Maxime did not get away at
the start. We must now analyse the data to find out what happened.
That affected his entire race. However, he still managed to fight back
and finish seventh. That was as much as we could have hoped for. Bruno
made a false start, and we must take a close look at what happened to
Tom. He spun on the warm-up lap, but we don’t know why yet.”
Bruno Spengler (#7, BMW Bank BMW M4 DTM – Grid position:
7th place, race result: 10th place – 151 races, 15 wins,
48 podiums, 18 pole positions, 820 points, 1 drivers’ title):
“On the whole, it was a good weekend for BMW. It is a shame
that we did not manage to set the car up perfectly for qualifying.
After that, there was nothing we could do in the race. We are now
focussing on the Nürburgring.”
Tom Blomqvist (#31, BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM – Grid
position: 12th place, race result: 13th place – 48 races,
1 win, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions, 193 points):
“Unfortunately, I lost control of the car during the
formation lap and hit something. That caused the driver’s door to come
loose, so I had to come into the pit lane and start from there. On top
of that, I was given a drive-through penalty. It was simply a race to forget.”
Maxime Martin (#36, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – Grid position:
3rd place, race result: 6th place – 58 races,
3 wins, 10 podiums, 3 pole positions, 333 points): “It was
a tough race. I stalled the car at the start. I don’t know why it
happened, as everything was how it always is. It is obviously
difficult to come through from last place. We still managed to pick up
some points, which made it okay.”
The standings:
Drivers: 1. Mattias Ekström (128 points), 2. René
Rast (114), 3. Mike Rockenfeller (110), 4. Timo Glock (104), 5. Maxime
Martin (102), 6. Lucas Auer (99), 7. Jamie Green (99), 8. Marco
Wittmann (93), 9. Gary Paffett (75), 10. Bruno Spengler (62), 11. Paul
di Resta (59), 12. Robert Wickens (58), 13. Nico Müller (49), 14.
Edoardo Mortara (41), 15. Maro Engel (29), 16. Augusto Farfus (23),
17. Tom Blomqvist (21), 18. Loic Duval (18).
Teams: 1. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (213 points), 2.
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (177), 3. BMW Team RBM (164), 4.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT (140), 5. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Mercedes
me (133), 6. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (128), 7. BMW Team RMR (125), 8.
BMW Team RMG (116), 9. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy (88).
Manufacturers: 1. Audi (518 points), 2. BMW (405), 3.
Mercedes (361).
The service:
BMW Motorsport will offer an innovative Chatbot service for
journalists for the first time in the 2017 DTM season. This allows
users to receive the latest information directly to their smartphone
via WhatsApp Messenger. The information available includes driver
statistics, statements and photos. You can register for the BMW
Motorsport Chatbot at the following link: http://bit.ly/BMW_Motorsport_Media_Broadcast_EN