Maxime Martin finishes in the points for BMW in the Moscow rain.

Moscow (RU), 20th August 2016. Russian motorsport fans were treated
to a first in race 11 of the 2016 DTM season at the “Moscow Raceway”
(RU): the eight BMW drivers and their competition contested a wet race
for the first time this year. Heavy rainfall had made the track so wet
that the race had to be started behind the safety car for safety
reasons. Maxime Martin (BE) finished sixth in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM,
making him the best-placed BMW driver in these extremely tough conditions.

The other seven BMW drivers missed out on the points. Timo Glock (DE)
came home 11th in the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM. He was followed by
Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) and Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank
M4 DTM) in 14th and 15th. Marco Wittmann (DE) crossed the finish line
19th in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM and is now second in the Drivers’
Championship behind Mercedes driver Robert Wickens (CA), who won the race.

António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM), Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M
Performance Parts M4 DTM) and Tom Blomqvist (GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM)
finished 20th, 21st and 22nd.

Reactions to the 11th race of the 2016 DTM season.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “As
expected, that was a tough race for us. It was clear after qualifying
that it would not be easy to fight our way through the field in the
race. Then the rain became even heavier and our drivers struggled to
get the tyres up to the optimal temperature. Maxime Martin managed
that best of all, which is why he thoroughly deserved to finish sixth.
Unfortunately, the race as a whole was relatively uneventful.
Hopefully the weather will improve for tomorrow and we can put on a
better show for the spectators. Congratulations to Robert Wickens and
Mercedes on their win.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RBM, 6th place): “That was a
tough race in difficult conditions. There was an awful lot of standing
water at some points on the track. I am happy with sixth, as it means
I scored some valuable points. We were aware before the race that we
would not be the strongest in the rain. Despite this, it is good to
pick up some points.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 11th place): “That is
obviously not the result I was hoping for. The goal was to finish in
the points. However, I simply had too little grip at the start and was
just sliding around all over the place. That allowed a few people to
pass me. We just didn’t have a good pace in the race.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team MTEK, 14th place): “The
conditions out on the track were difficult for all the drivers. We did
not expect it to rain so heavily, and so took a risk with the set-up
of the car. That did not pay off. However, we should have a good pace
in the dry. Therefore, I really hope that it does not start to rain
again tomorrow.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 15th place): “We opted
for a set-up that did not pay dividends at the start of the race, when
there was a lot of water on the track. It did improve towards the end.
However, I lost too much time in the first phase of the race to be
able to achieve anything later on. Tomorrow is a new day, and we will
push hard again.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 19th place): “There was
not a lot I could do out there. The spray meant that I could not see
much for the first ten laps. I had no opportunity to attack, as the
pace was simply not there. All in all, that was a disappointing race.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, 20th place):
“That was extremely tough today. Our tyre pressure was
actually okay at the start. They then deteriorated a little behind the
safety car, which meant that we struggled with grip. That continued to
be the case for the entire race.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 21st place): “I
think we all struggled today. Only Maxime Martin made it into the top
ten for BMW. That is definitely not what we had in mind. We can only
hope that it stays dry tomorrow, otherwise it will be very difficult again.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, 22nd place): “Not a lot
actually happened for me in that race. Unfortunately, I started at the
back of the field – and that is more or less where I stayed. The car
was actually better than the result would indicate, but I just
couldn’t make any progress in the race. It was very difficult out
there. Fortunately, we have a second chance tomorrow.”

 

DTM standings.

Drivers’ Championship.

  1. Robert Wickens (108 points), 2. Marco Wittmann (105), 3. Jamie
    Green (104), 4. Edoardo Mortara (92), 5. Paul di Resta (92), 6.
    Maxime Martin (71), 7. Mattias Ekström (68), 8. Gary Paffett (67),
    9. Nico Müller (62), 10. Tom Blomqvist (53), 11. Timo Glock (48),
    12. Lucas Auer (43), 13. Christian Vietoris (42), 14. Augusto Farfus
    (32), 15. Bruno Spengler (28), 16. Miguel Molina (26), 17.
    Maximilian Götz (16), 18. António Félix da Costa (16), 19. Martin
    Tomczyk (13), 20. Adrien Tambay (10), 21. Mike Rockenfeller (5), 22.
    Daniel Juncadella (4), 23. Timo Scheider (3), 24. Esteban Ocon (2),
    25. Felix Rosenqvist (1).

Team Championship.

  1. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (160 points), 2. BMW Team RMG
    (153), 3. BMW Team RBM (124), 4. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (114), 5.
    SILBERPFEIL Energy/UBFS invest Mercedes-AMG (112), 6. Mercedes-AMG
    (108), 7. Audi Sport Team Abt (88), 8. BWT Mercedes-AMG (85), 9.
    EURONICS/FREEMEN’S WORLDMercedes-AMG (70), 10. BMW Team MTEK (60),
    10. 11. BMW Team Schnitzer (29), 12. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (8).

Manufacturers’ Championship.

  1. Mercedes-Benz (375 Punkte), 2. Audi (370), 3. BMW (366).

 

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

 

 

 

2016 race calendar.

6th -8th May – Hockenheim (DE), 20th -22nd May – Spielberg (AT), 3rd
-5th June – Lausitzring (DE), 24th -26th June – Norisring (DE), 15th
-17th July – Zandvoort (NL), 19
th
-21
st
August – Moscow (RU), 9th -11th September –
Nürburgring (DE), 23rd -25th September – Budapest (HU), 14th -16th
October – Hockenheim (DE).

 

More information.

You can find the latest BMW Motorsport media information, the
DTM Press Kit, and copyright-free images for editorial purposes online
at www.press.bmwgroup.com/global.

 

BMW Motorsport on the web.

Website:
www.bmw-motorsport.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/bmwmotorsport

Instagram:
www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsport

YouTube:
www.youtube.com/bmwmotorsport

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/bmwmotorsport

Google+:
www.plus.google.com/+bmwmotorsport

 

About the DTM.

The DTM is the most popular touring car series in the world.
The series pits the three premium automobile manufacturers BMW, Audi
and Mercedes-Benz against each other in a sporting contest. BMW
fielded its first works teams from 1984 to 1992, during which time it
claimed 49 race victories and won the Drivers’ Championship on three
occasions (1984, 1987 and 1989). The manufacturer returned to the DTM
in 2012, since when it has won seven of a possible twelve titles. 18
races, spread over nine weekends, are scheduled for 2016. ARD
broadcasts all the races live. Tickets for all the DTM races are
available here: https://tickets.bmw-motorsport.com/index.html