Spielberg (AT), 22nd May 2016. Two races, two wins – a perfect weekend for BMW at the Red Bull Ring (AT): Timo Glock (DE) celebrated the third win of his career in the popular touring car series in Sunday's DTM race in Spielberg. The day before, Marco Wittmann (DE) got the 70th win in BMW's 250th DTM race. This gave BMW Team RMG reason to celebrate two days in a row.
Glock started Sunday's race from third on the grid and took the lead in the opening phase. A lead he refused to surrender at the wheel of the DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM right down to the finish line. Five other BMW drivers made it into the points thanks to another united team performance. Augusto Farfus (BR) finished in fourth place in the Shell BMW M4 DTM. Right behind him, Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) and Tom Blomqvist (GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM) finished in fifth and sixth. On the day after his Saturday victory in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM, Wittmann finished seventh. Bruno Spengler (CA) finished in ninth place in the BMW Bank M4 DTM.
António Félix da Costa (PT) was unlucky: Starting from second on the grid, the BMW Team Schnitzer driver also had his sights set on a good position for a large part of the race, before Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi) hit the rear of his car in a duel, sending him into the gravel. He ended up finishing the race in 21st place. Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance M4 DTM) finished in 19th.
Reactions to the fourth race of the 2016 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was a very strong race by Timo. We had just the right strategy against the strong competition from Audi. It proved to be a very good decision to bring Timo in for an early pit stop. Mattias Ekström came on very strong again, but in the end it was enough. It was a perfect weekend for BMW Team RMG, getting the wins in both races. My congratulations on this outstanding achievement, and well done to all the other BMW drivers who finished in the points. They all did a fantastic job. Overall I am very happy with this weekend. As is so often the case, it was worth coming to Spielberg.”
Timo Glock (BMW Team RMG, 1st place): “This race was a dream. It couldn't have gone any better. I was able to pull away on the initial laps and then assert my lead after that. After the minor error in qualifying and the misfortune in Hockenheim, this was very satisfying, and BMW Team RMG had a perfect weekend with the wins for Marco and me. This makes me really happy. In general, it was a magnificent weekend for BMW.”
Facts and Figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Spielberg, 4.326 kilometres, 60 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Sunny, 25 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team RMG, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 1st place
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team MTEK, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 4th place
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RBM, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 5th place
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 6th place
#11 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 7th place
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – 9th place
#100 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – 19th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M4 DTM – 21st place
Useful information:
Timo Glock won a race for the third time in his DTM career. He celebrated his first two wins in Hockenheim (DE) in 2013 and in Oschersleben (DE) in 2015.
Glock was on the podium for the third time in his fifth race in Spielberg. He finished in third place in both 2013 and 2014.
BMW Team RMG is the first BMW team to have won two DTM races on a weekend since the reintroduction of the Saturday race in 2015.
The rear of António Félix da Costa's car was hit during Edoardo Mortara's (IT) overtaking manoeuvre, which sent him into the gravel. This saw him drop right down the field.
For the first time since the Saturday race in Oschersleben in 2015, seven of the eight BMW M4 DTMs started from the top ten.
Félix da Costa started from the front row of the grid for the second time in his DTM career.
Tomczyk was awarded a penalty for obstructing a rival in the qualifying race and was pushed back five starting positions. He started the race from 23rd on the grid.
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).
