A tough second half of the season saw Bruno Spengler fall down the championship ladder to 11th position.
Hockenheim, Germany – A successful 2014 DTM season for BMW Motorsport drew to an end in Hockenheim (DE). Marco Wittmann (DE), who was crowned the youngest German DTM champion of all time at the eighth race of the season, ended a superlative year with fifth place. Starting from 13th on the grid in the Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM, he fought back spectacularly to end the race as the best-placed BMW driver. He and BMW Team RMG, with team principal Stefan Reinhold (DE), were summoned onto the podium after the race, where they were honoured for winning the titles in the Drivers’ Championship and Team competition.
Martin Tomczyk (DE) once again showed his outstanding fighting spirit: the BMW Team Schnitzer driver climbed 13 places from 20th on the grid,
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eventually crossing the finish line in seventh in the BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM. The result at the season finale propelled Tomczyk into sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, making him the second best-placed BMW driver of the year. DTM rookie António Félix da Costa (PT) of BMW Team MTEK ended the race in tenth to pick up one point.
Augusto Farfus (BR) produced a strong drive from fourth on the grid, but dropped out of the points in an eventful final phase of the race. A late safety car period resulted in the field bunching together again. Farfus was then involved in a collision after the restart, and ultimately crossed the finish line 17th in the Castrol EDGE BMW M4 DTM. Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM) and Joey Hand (US, Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M4 DTM) came home 12th, 13th and 16th in the final race of the season. Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) failed to finish.
Audi finished first, second and third with Mattias Ekström (SE), Mike Rockenfeller (DE) and Jamie Green (GB) in Hockenheim, a result that proved enough to hand them the title in the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Dr. Herbert Diess, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development:
“The third year since our return to the DTM has once again been extremely successful, winning as we did the Drivers’ and Team titles. The 2014 season was again packed with fantastic motorsport and thrilling entertainment for the fans. We once again impressed within a very competitive environment. The teams and drivers – particularly BMW Team RMG and Marco Wittmann this year – deserve utmost respect for their performances. The DTM is, and will remain, the right platform for BMW, on which to demonstrate how competitive our models are in a premium environment against our core competitors.”
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“That was a tough way to end what has otherwise been a magnificent season. Given the situation we found ourselves in after yesterday’s qualifying, we are pleased to have finished in the points with three cars. Try as we might, there was nothing more in it for us today. Marco Wittmann and Martin Tomczyk produced great displays, and António Félix da Costa also picked up a point. This year is the first time since our comeback that we have not won the Manufacturers’ Championship. Despite this, we are obviously very happy with two of a possible three titles this season. We have now won six of the nine titles up for grabs since our return to the series in 2012, and have had the champion driver in our ranks on two occasions – that is a fantastic record. This evening we will celebrate the successful season together, before turning our attention to the preparations for next year tomorrow. I would like to thank all the fans, partners and sponsors again for their great support this season. And it goes without saying that a big thank you also goes to all the staff at BMW Motorsport and our teams, who have all played a part in this success. Congratulations to Mattias Ekström on his race win today, and to Audi on winning the Manufacturers’ title.”
“After what was a pretty miserable qualifying for us, we are pleased to have finished in the points again in Hockenheim with Martin Tomczyk. I am pleased that he was able to continue the upwards trend he has shown in recent races. As far as Bruno Spengler is concerned, the overall situation with BMW battling for the Manufacturers’ Championship meant we tried our luck a little with the strategy. We sent him out on option tyres and then brought him in very early to switch to primes. Unfortunately that did not pay dividends. Although we did not achieve our goal of winning the Manufacturers’ title, it has still been a magnificent year for BMW. Congratulations again to Marco Wittmann, Stefan Reinhold and his team. They did a fantastic job and deserved to win the titles in the Drivers’ and Team competitions. Our crew deserve particular praise: the guys working on Bruno’s car did the fastest BMW pit stop of all today. That is something the team can be proud of.”
Tyres: Option-Prime
“I made a great start and fought my way right up to sixth place on the option tyres. Then we stopped a little too early. I was not able to match the pace of the opposition on the harder compound and lost quite a lot of time. The whole season has not panned out as I had hoped. But that is racing for you. I must put that out of my mind now. This marks the end of a fantastic year for BMW. The BMW M4 DTM is an awesome car. I will go racing again next year extremely motivated.”
Tyres: Prime-Option
“That was one of the best races I have driven this season. I even end the year as the second-best BMW driver in the Drivers’ Championship. All that is missing was a better performance in qualifying, in order to put us in a better position going into the race. If we could have achieved that, I would have been right up there with the front-runners. Despite this, it was still a good end to the season for me. However, we will have to work hard during the winter to ensure that we grow in strength as a team and are able to put more BMWs in the top ten.”
Tyres: Prime-Option
“After the bad luck in qualifying I had to start from the back of the field – and that is tough. I tried to fight my way through the field and damaged the car in a lot of little battles. That meant I did not have the pace to go with the others. A fantastic season is over for BMW Motorsport. Personally, I have struggled a bit. Most of the time we had a good car, but also a lot of bad luck. I am particularly impressed by the team spirit the guys in BMW Team RBM have shown. We have stuck together, even when things have not been going to plan. That is what makes BMW Motorsport so special.”
Hockenheimring, 19th October 2014
Laps / Distance
42 laps, 4.574 km
2014 Pole Time
Miguel Molina (ES), 1:33.316 minutes
2014 Winner
Mattias Ekström (SE), Audi
2014 Fastest Lap
Marco Wittmann (DE), 1:33.643 minutes
2014 DTM standings
1. Marco Wittmann (156 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (106), 4. Mike Rockenfeller (72), 4. Christian Vietoris (69), 5. Edoardo Mortara (68), 6. Martin Tomczyk (49), 7. Maxime Martin (47), 8. Pascal Wehrlein (46), 9. Robert Wickens (45), 10. Timo Scheider (44), 11. Jamie Green (43), 12. Bruno Spengler (42), 13. Augusto Farfus (39), 14. Adrien Tambay (36), 15. Paul di Resta (36), 16. Timo Glock (33), 17. Miguel Molina (30), 18. Daniel Juncadella (22), 19. Nico Müller (10), 20. Joey Hand (8), 21. António Félix da Costa (5), 22. Gary Paffett (4)
1. BMW Team RMG (203 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (136), 3. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (116), 4. Original-Teile Mercedes AMG (105), 5. Audi Sport Team Abt (104), 6. BMW Team Schnitzer (91), 7. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (53), 8. EURONICS / FREE MAN'S WORLD Mercedes AMG (49), 9. BMW Team RBM (47), 10. gooix Mercedes AMG (46) , 11. BMW Team MTEK (38), 12. Petronas Mercedes AMG (22)
1. Audi (409 points), 2. BMW (379), Mercedes-Benz (222)
4th May – Hockenheim (DE), 18th May – Oschersleben (DE), 1st June – Budapest (HU), 29th June – Norisring (DE), 13th July – Moscow (RU), 3rd August – Spielberg (AT), 17th August – Nürburgring (DE), 14th September – Lausitzring (DE), 28th September – Zandvoort (NL), 19 th October – Hockenheim (DE)
Post-race penalties for Robert Wickens and Bruno Spengler
The result of the DTM race at Hockenheim was amended after the race. The stewards of the meeting gave Robert Wickens a 30 seconds’ time penalty as a substitute for a drive-through penalty. The Mercedes-Benz driver got the penalty for causing a collision with Augusto Farfus (BMW). As a result, Wickens drops back from eighth to 17th place. Due to this decision, the Canadian loses valuable points and drops back from ninth to twelfth place in the final drivers’ standings.
Bruno Spengler was also penalised by the stewards of the meeting after the race. After a collision with Daniel Juncadella, the Canadian deliberately had braked so hard that the Spaniard couldn’t avoid a collision. For this unsporting behaviour, Spengler has to do three hours of charitable work, to be carried out in consultation with the DMSB.