Reactions to the fourth race weekend of the 2015 DTM season.

Zandvoort (NL), 12th July 2015. BMW Motorsport enjoyed an historic race weekend at “Circuit Park Zandvoort”. The BMW DTM drivers completed a top-seven shut-out on Saturday. Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann (DE) claimed the first BMW victory of the season, ahead of six fellow BMW drivers.

On Sunday, António Félix da Costa (PT) first secured the first pole position of his career, and then converted this into a race win. He was followed over the line by another four BMW drivers.

Read here what BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, BMW Team Schnitzer team principal Charly Lamm, and the eight BMW DTM drivers had to say after the race weekend in Zandvoort.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “After yesterday’s result, we were able to achieve another top result in race two, although it was much tougher today. It is obviously fantastic to see so many BMW drivers so far up the field. After yesterday’s excellent second place, António Félix da Costa went one better and claimed his first win in the DTM today – the first Portuguese driver ever to do so. He drove a good race. It was not easy for him, as he had all his fellow BMW drivers behind him. António and BMW Team Schnitzer worked hard for that win. They have not always had it easy in recent months. Congratulations to António and Schnitzer! Augusto Farfus, Bruno Spengler, Timo Glock and Marco Wittmann also had a great second race. Martin Tomczyk was unlucky again, but had once again shown his fighting spirit before his retirement. Maxime Martin and Tom Blomqvist at least managed to finish in the points on Saturday. All in all, my summary of the weekend is obviously a very positive one. Everything came together for us. However, given the overall situation, we remain realistic in our evaluation of the weekend: the opposition is extremely strong – much stronger than it may have appeared here. The way the DTM is at the moment, it is coming down to mere details from one racetrack to the next. The differences in qualifying times are always extremely small. Importantly, our team spirit is very strong. We will need that over the coming months. We must continue to work hard. I would like to dedicate this success to the entire team, of whom I am very proud. Everybody worked very hard for that. Today we will celebrate, but we start from scratch again in Spielberg.”

Charly Lamm (Team Principal, BMW Team Schnitzer): “That feels fantastic. The DTM is so fiercely competitive, and it is so extremely difficult to win that it comes as an enormous relief to be back on the top step of the podium after over two years. I am delighted for everyone in the team. Everyone has worked incredibly hard. António crowned a perfect weekend with victory on Sunday. He deserved that success. I feel sorry for Martin Tomczyk, who got off to a very good start in both races and could have scored a lot of points. Unfortunately, though, he was really unlucky in both races.”

António Félix da Costa (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun: 1st place, Sat.: 2nd place): “I am speechless. What a fantastic weekend. My first podium in the DTM yesterday was fantastic enough. But today was just perfect, with pole position and my first win. I am enjoying every moment. I have come through a difficult time. I would like to thank BMW Motorsport for the support – and thanks to the guys at BMW Team Schnitzer, of course. I am now really looking forward to the home race of my Red Bull BMW M4 DTM in Spielberg.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 2nd place, Sat.: 4th place): “I am very happy that I made it onto the podium this time. I said yesterday I had a score to settle with Zandvoort. I settled it today. I had a perfect car, and think I was a little bit faster than António in front of me in the second half of the race. However, it is virtually impossible to overtake on this track. Congratulations to him on his deserved first win in the DTM, and to BMW on two fantastic results. We are back after the difficult start to the season.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 3rd place, Sat.: 5th place): “I am really pleased with third place. The weekend was just awesome for BMW. After tough race weekends at the start of the season, we have fought back well. BMW Motorsport and my team have done a great job. My car was perfect today. Unfortunately I lost a place after the pit stop. We had to wait a bit, in order not to risk an ‘unsafe release’. Despite this, it was still a great day. Hopefully the season will continue this way. I am already looking forward to Spielberg.”

Timo Glock (BMW Team MTEK, Sun.: 4th place, Sat.: 6th place): “I think I can be very happy with what we achieved today. We improved continuously over the course of the race weekend, and I had a very good car. Thank you very much to my guys at BMW Team MTEK. It was thanks to a very good pit stop that I climbed into fourth place. Generally speaking, I am just missing a tiny little bit in qualifying, which would allow me to start from nearer the front of the field. I am delighted for my team-mate from last year, António. I think he was the fastest man over the course of the weekend. He deserved the win.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 5th place, Sat.: 1st place): “That was a superb weekend for BMW and me. I was delighted with the win on Saturday. I could have been on the podium on Sunday too, but unfortunately I got stuck behind my fellow BMW drivers at the start. After that I had some hard, but fair, battles with Miguel Molina. Unfortunately I damaged the car in the collision with Lucas Auer, but my pace was still good after that. However, I was just too far behind the cars in front to do anything about it.”

Maxime Martin (BMW Team RMG, Sun.: 17th place, Sat.: 3rd place): “Being hit by Adrien Tambay was unfortunate. Generally speaking, it was hard fought out there in today’s race. Unfortunately I was one of the people to suffer and missed out on scoring more points. On the whole, however, I leave with a nice memory of my podium finish in Saturday’s race. I am still delighted with that, as I am with the two fantastic results for BMW Motorsport.”

Tom Blomqvist (BMW Team RBM, Sun.: 18th place, Sat.: 7th place): “My problem on Sunday was not the race. It was qualifying. Unfortunately I was held up on my fastest lap, and was unable to start from the position I actually should have been in. That made it a tough day. On the whole, however, I am pleased with my first DTM points on Saturday and with the outstanding overall result for BMW. I hope we can build on this in Spielberg.”

Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, Sun.: DNF, Sat.: DNF): “My start was excellent and I gained five places. Timo Glock was just in front of me, and he finished fourth. So it could have been a good result. However, Lucas Auer held up the entire bunch on his used tyres. In that kind of situation, you get five or six cars in very close proximity. I was stuck in a sandwich, was shoved from behind and made contact with Miguel Molina. That released the fastening on my bonnet. That was it for me. Despite this it was generally a dream weekend for BMW, even if I personally left empty-handed. To see my BMW Team Schnitzer and my team-mate António winning here makes me really happy. Congratulations!”

DTM standings.

Drivers' Championship.

1. Jamie Green (81 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (76), 3. Pascal Wehrlein (76), 4. Edoardo Mortara (58), 5. Robert Wickens (57), 6. Bruno Spengler (52), 7. Marco Wittmann (49), 8. António Félix da Costa (43), 9. Christian Vietoris (40), 10. Gary Paffett (37), 11. Augusto Farfus (35), 12. Maxime Martin (32), 13. Miguel Molina (27), 14. Timo Glock (25), 15. Mike Rockenfeller (25), 16. Paul di Resta (23), 17. Martin Tomczyk (20), 18. Timo Scheider (16), 19. Daniel Juncadella (14), 20. Nico Müller (12), 21. Tom Blomqvist (6), 22. Adrien Tambay (2), 23. Lucas Auer (2).

Team Championship.

1. gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG (116 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (103), 3. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (93 Punkte), 4. BMW Team RMG (81), 5. SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (80), 6. BMW Team MTEK (77), 7. BMW Team Schnitzer (63), 8. Audi Sport Team Abt (60), 9. BMW Team RBM (41), 10. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (41), 11. EURONICS/BWT Mercedes-AMG (39), 11. 12. PETRONAS Mercedes-AMG (14).

Manufacturers' Championship.

1. Audi (297 points), 2. Mercedes-Benz (249), 3. BMW (237).

Statistics for the BMW DTM drivers.

2015 race calendar.

1st-3rd May – Hockenheim (DE), 29th-31st May – Lausitzring (DE), 26th-28th June – Norisring (DE), 10th-12th July – Zandvoort (NL), 31st July-2nd August – Spielberg (AT), 28th-30th August – Moscow (RU), 11th-13th September – Oschersleben (DE), 25th-27th September – Nürburgring (DE), 16th-18th October – Hockenheim (DE).