Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng reach the top ten at the 500th race in the history of the DTM. 25.08.2019: The BMW teams endured a tough DTM anniversary race at the Lausitzring (GER). In the 500th DTM race, Marco Wittmann (GER) in the Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM was the best-placed BMW driver, finishing in sixth place. Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) was excluded f

The BMW teams endured a tough DTM anniversary race at the Lausitzring (GER). In the 500th DTM race, Marco Wittmann (GER) in the Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM was the best-placed BMW driver, finishing in sixth place. Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) was excluded from qualifying after a rule infringement and had to start the race from the pit lane. He put in a strong chasing performance to finish in tenth position.

 

Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM), Joel Eriksson (SWE, CATL BMW M4 DTM) and Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) crossed the finishing line in 11th, 13th and 14th places. Timo Glock (GER, JiVS BMW M4 DTM) retired from the race. Victory went to René Rast (GER, Audi). The result also confirmed Audi as winners of the manufacturers’ championship.

 


Reactions to the 14th DTM race of the 2019 season at the Lausitzring.

 

Rudolf Dittrich (General Manager BMW Motorsport Vehicle Development):



“Firstly, congratulations to the DTM for reaching the landmark of 500 races. The great crowd here at the Lausitzring was worthy of such an event. Unfortunately, it was a tough anniversary race for us. After a so-so qualifying session, we weren't able to produce a significant improvement in hot conditions during the race. Overtaking proved to be very difficult in such a tight field.



Despite this, Marco Wittmann once again put in a very strong, battling performance. And Philipp Eng produced a great chasing performance after starting from the pit lane. Congratulations to René Rast on the win, and to Audi on victory in the manufacturers’ championship. Now we will concentrate on securing some top results at the Nürburgring and in the season finale in Hockenheim. We have shown we are capable of this, with six wins in the season so far.”

 

Stefan Reinhold (BMW Team RMG Team Principal):

“The conditions we experienced at the weekend made it difficult to convert our qualifying position into a race result. It only works if everyone does their job 100 percent. That means the drivers and the team. And that is what we tried to do. We will have to analyse what caused the problems for Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler. I can’t say much more about that right now.”

 

Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 6th, Race: 6th, Drivers’ standings: 3rd, 167 points):

“That was the best we could do today. It is frustrating to have to say that from sixth place, but that is how it is. The championship situation is clear, as our competitors keep scoring points. I was a bit too aggressive at the start today and that wheelspin cost me a few places. However, we managed to battle back up to sixth place by the end.”

 

Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 14th, Race: 14th, Drivers’ standings: 8th, 79 points):

“We had a problem with the car’s balance during qualifying this morning. We hoped that this would improve during the race. But the car kept pulling to the right a bit. We don't know what caused this yet. However, this increased the level of tyre wear and that reduced our speed. We then tried to use a second pit stop to see if we could fix something. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”

 

Timo Glock (#16 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 9th, Race: DNF, Drivers’ standings: 13th, 33 points):

“I don't know what I am doing wrong at the start just now, but I had some serious wheelspin. After the pit stop, the car pulled to the right on braking and it was behaving strangely. We came in again but the second set of tyres made no difference, so we had to retire.”

 

Bart Mampaey (BMW Team RBM Team Principal):

“The first thing we saw today was that we have not improved in qualifying. That is key in the DTM. We put Philipp Eng on an alternative strategy in the race and it seemed to be paying off. Then he got involved in a battle, which probably put a bit too much strain on the tyres. We finished the race in tenth place, although we had started from 18th position. It is good to score a point, but it's not enough to compete in the championship. Sheldon van der Linde had a very long first stint but he didn't quite manage to score a point. We gambled on a potential safety car phase with Joel Eriksson, but that didn't happen.”

 

Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 18th, Race: 10th, Drivers’ standings: 4th, 140 points):

“Starting from the very back made it a bit tricky. But I did have a great first lap that saw me move up from last place to tenth. That was great fun and is something positive for me to take from today's race. But, in this case of course, I'd have preferred to have had more fun and been on the podium. Basically, we were off the pace today, in qualifying and in the race. We will have to work on that.”

 

Joel Eriksson (#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 12th, Race: 13th, Drivers’ standings: 10th, 47 points):

“That was not my best race. I started really well and things were going well early on, but then there was contact with Nico Müller on the inside on the second lap. After that, I had some problems with the balance of the car. We drove a two-stop strategy, but it didn't work out in the end.”

 

Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 11th, Race: 11th, Drivers’ standings: 12th, 36 points):

“I made a good start but then I lost a few places in the first sector after I was pushed out. The pace was really good after that and I was very pleased with the car. But obviously it wasn't enough to score any points.”





- Ingo Lehbrink- photos BMW