Marco Wittmann claims podium finish for BMW at the Nürburgring.

Nürburgring. Podium for Marco Wittmann (GER) on the fifth race weekend of the 2020 DTM season. Driving the Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM for BMW Team RMG, the 30-year-old completed Saturday’s race at the Nürburgring (GER) in third position. Wittmann took advantage of ideal racing conditions on the Grand Prix circuit to claim third place in the closing stage of the race and secure his 35th DTM podium. Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) finished sixth, while Timo Glock (GER, iQOO BMW M4 DTM), Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) and  Jonathan Aberdein (RSA, CATL BMW M4 DTM) crossed the finishing line in positions seven, eight and ten. Lucas Auer (AUT, BMW Bank M4 DTM) finished twelfth .
 
Wittmann claimed fourth place in qualifying, his best grid position of the season, but lost one place at the start of the race. However, a consistent performance and good pace saw him successfully defend fifth place, before moving back up to fourth thanks to a strong overtaking manoeuvre that took him past Mike Rockenfeller (GER, Audi) twelve minutes before the end of the race. On lap 27, Wittmann made the most of a driving error by Robin Frijns (NED, Audi) to claim third place and a spot on the podium.
 
Eng started from ninth on the grid in the fifth race of the season, moved up three positions in the opening phase and even used a swift pit stop after 27 race minutes to move ahead of Wittmann for a short time before being passed again. Eng crossed the finish line as the second-fastest BMW driver in sixth place. Glock, the best-placed BMW representative in the drivers’ standings, battled his way up from twelfth on the grid to take the chequered flag in seventh place. Glock remains in fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 68 points.
 
This Sunday, the tenth DTM race of the current season will also take place at the Nürburgring. The race will start at 13:30 (CET).
 
Reactions to the ninth DTM race of the 2020 season at the Nürburgring.
 
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):
“Congratulations to Marco Wittmann. He followed up a good qualifying session by driving a really good race, albeit with a little luck. Nico Müller was just different class today, but finishing with five BMWs in the top ten is a good result for us. We are slowly getting closer. Nonetheless, we have to make more progress and take another look at our pace management. All in all, we have continued to improve but it is not quite enough yet so we will be on the attack again tomorrow.”
 
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 4^th, Race: 3^rd, Drivers’ standings: 8^th, 59 points):
“It has been a good weekend for us so far. We were able to reach fourth place in the race and we also had a bit of luck that helped us reach the podium. Nonetheless, it is definitely satisfying to be able to stand on the podium again and to have scored some good championship points. Of course, we will be giving our all again on Sunday.”
 
Timo Glock (#16 iQOO BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 12^th, Race: 7^th, Driver’s standings: 5^th, 68 points):
“The start went well. Things were really tight in turn one, which prevented me from moving up too many places. I had a relatively good first lap nonetheless and overall, the speed was spot on. I then finished the race behind Philipp. That was a bit of a shame, as I thought our speed was a little better. But overall, we can be really pleased with that.”
 
Lucas Auer (#22 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 10^th, Race: 12^th, Drivers’ standings: 10^th, 36 points):
“We had a few issues in qualifying and started the race from tenth on the grid. We then worked on the strategy and that gave us a real advantage with the tyres but we weren’t able to make the most of that. Now we have to analyse what happened but I am confident about Sunday’s race.”
 
Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 9^th, Race: 6^th, Drivers’ standings: 11^th, 30 points):
“It was an interesting race and a lot of fun. I made a good start and had a good first lap. I think that was decisive in terms of the result. Then we were a bit unlucky that Robin Frijns spun out as I would probably have been able to overtake Mike Rockenfeller otherwise. But the car felt great and the result was good.”
 
Jonathan Aberdein (#27 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 16^th, Race: 10^th, Drivers’ standings: 12^th, 20 points):
“It was a tough race. After I went off the circuit during qualifying and broke something on the car, we had to start from the back of the grid. The first stint went very well and I made it up to twelfth place. We decided on an offensive strategy to move up further and in the end we did manage to score one point.”
 
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 6^th, Race: 8^th, Drivers’ standings: 6^th, 64 points):
“The race was OK. I didn't make the best start and then I lost a few places on the first three laps. Our strategy was not quite ideal. We still have some room for improvement there but we are confident about Sunday. Finishing eighth did at least mean that we scored some points. I am certainly happy with that.”