BMW extends lead in Manufacturers’ Championship

Hockenheim, Germany – Maxime Martin (BE) claimed his third podium of the year in the 17th and penultimate race of the 2015 DTM season at the Hockenheimring (DE) on Saturday. The BMW Team RMG driver came home third at the wheel of the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM to score important points for BMW in the race to win the Manufacturers’ Championship. Victory went to Audi driver Timo Scheider (DE).

Martin’s team-mate Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM) was the second-best BMW driver in sixth place, while he was followed over the finish line in seventh by Tom Blomqvist (GB, BMW M4 DTM), and these valuable points helped BMW to increase its tally to 583 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship. After 17 of 18 races, BMW now leads second-placed Audi by 56 points.

António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) ended the race in 11th and 16th respectively, while Timo Glock (DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) failed to finish.

Eighth place was enough for Pascal Wehrlein (DE, Mercedes) to secure the title in the Drivers’ Championship, making him the successor to last year’s champion Wittmann.

Reactions to the 17th race of the 2015 DTM season:

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “That was an extremely eventful race. There were an incredible number of incidents. I am sure that was entertaining for the spectators. At the pit wall, however, you would prefer a quieter race. Maxime Martin got off to a superb start, but was not quite able to match the leader’s pace. Despite this, he did finish a fine third. Marco Wittmann had a great race and was able to climb from 16th to finish sixth. Tom Blomqvist also scored good points, while a damaged front splitter caused António Félix da Costa to drop back through the field late on, when he was on course for a points finish. We still have a big goal for tomorrow: to defend the lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Like today, we will do everything in our power to achieve that goal. Congratulations to Pascal Wehrlein on winning the Drivers’ Championship.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, 3rd): “I am really pleased to make it onto the podium here at the finale. You obviously want to win the race when you start from pole position. However, the Audis were just a little bit too fast for me today. In the end I am happy to have scored the points for BMW Team RMG and BMW in the Manufacturers’ Championship.”

Facts and Figures:

Circuit/length/duration:
Hockenheim, 4.574 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Overcast, 10 degrees Celsius

BMW Motorsport results:

#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 3rd place
#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 6th place
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM – 7th place
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 11th place
#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – 16th place
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – DNF
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – DNF
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM – DNF

Useful information:

Maxime Martin claimed his third podium of the season and the fourth of his career. This was the 15th podium in the DTM for BMW Team RMG.

Marco Wittmann finished in the points for the 12th time this season – more often than any other BMW driver.

Pascal Wehrlein was crowned the youngest champion in the history of the DTM.

The safety car took to the track after several crashes in the first few laps.

Augusto Farfus was involved in one of the collisions, through no fault of his own, and had to retire in the damaged Shell BMW M4 DTM.

Bruno Spengler was given a drive-through penalty after a collision with Adrien Tambay (FR, Audi) shortly before the halfway point, and consequently dropped out of the points.

Spengler and Timo Glock retired shortly before the end of the race.

The second qualifying session begins at 11.40 on Sunday. Before that, the 15-minute warm-up is scheduled for 9.05.

More information:

Website: bmw-motorsport.com
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YouTube: youtube.com/bmwmotorsport
Twitter: twitter.com/bmwmotorsport
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