Five BMW M4 DTMs in the top ten

Moscow, Russia – The BMW DTM drivers secured good starting positions in qualifying ahead of the 12th race of the season in Moscow (RU). BMW Team MTEK driver Bruno Spengler (CA) was third fastest at the wheel of the BMW Bank M4 DTM. His time of 1:28.580 minutes was just 0.040 seconds slower than that of Mike Rockenfeller (DE, Audi) who starts from pole position. As second-placed Mattias Ekström (SE, Audi) has been relegated three places on the grid as a result of his collision with Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) on Saturday, Spengler will line up next to Rockenfeller on the front row.

Last year’s winner Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) also benefitted from Ekström’s penalty: the BMW Team RMG driver set the fourth fastest time, meaning he starts the race from third on the grid. A further three BMW drivers qualified in the top ten, in the form of Tom Blomqvist (GB, BMW M4 DTM), Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) and Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM) in places eight, nine and ten.

Glock ended the session at the 3.931-kilometre “Moscow Raceway” in 14th place. António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) were 21st and 24th. The two BMW Team Schnitzer drivers will also start from one place further up the grid, however, following a grid penalty handed to one of their opponents.

Quote from the best-placed BMW driver:

“Qualifying was very good. I had an excellent car. I actually thought it would be tricky today, as our opponents were very strong in yesterday’s race. I am just 40 thousandths of a second behind Mike Rockenfeller. That shows how close it is here. It is a good result for us. As Mattias Ekström has been relegated, I will start the race from second place on the front row of the grid. That is always good, and I obviously hope to make the most of it.” – Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 3rd)

Facts and Figures
Circuit/length:
Moscow Raceway, 3.931 kilometres
Conditions:
Cloudy, 19 degrees Celsius
Pole time:
Mike Rockenfeller (DE, Audi), 1:28.540 minutes

BMW Motorsport results*:

#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM
1:28.580 minutes – 3rd

#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM
1:28.587 minutes – 4th

#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM
1:28.650 minutes – 8th

#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM
1:28.658 minutes – 9th

#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM
1:28.686 minutes – 10th

#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM
1:28.881 minutes – 14th

#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM
1:29.109 minutes – 21st

#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM
1:29.408 minutes – 24th

*The official starting grid may differ from the provisional qualifying results published in this release.

Useful information:

The gaps within the top ten were extremely close in the second qualifying session. Rockenfeller and Wittmann, in first and tenth places respectively, were separated by just 0.146 seconds.

Maxime Martin equalled his best qualifying result of the season with fourth place.

Bruno Spengler will start the race from second place, on the front row, as a result of the three-place grid penalty awarded to Mattias Ekström following his collision with Timo Glock in Saturday’s race. Maxime Martin starts from third.

Shortly after clocking what was the fastest time of the session at the time, Tom Blomqvist spun on his second lap. However, he was able to continue.

The 12th of this year’s 18 DTM races begins at 16:10 hrs local time.

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