Marco Wittmann took the pole and dominated the entire DTM race at the Nürburgring. The victory, his fourth of the season, left Wittmann with a 64 point edge in drivers’ points with just three races remaining and 75 points left on the table.
Wittmann dominated despite carrying the maximum 10 kg of performance weight in his BMW Team RMG Ice-Watch M4 DTM. Audi’s Michael Rockenfeller closed on Wittmann in the waning laps, but could not catch him.
Maxime Martin, Wittmann’s teammate at RMG, was the next BMW racer in the top ten; he finished seventh. Martin Tomczyk, who finished eighth, was the best of the racers who had started on option tires; despite the tires’ speed advantage, the entire race was run under green, so there was no safety period to allow the option tire runners to catch the leaders.
BMW racers Bruno Spengler, António Félix da Costa, and Joey Hand finished twelfth through fourteenth, and Timo Glock finished seventeenth after an early race collision. Augusto Farfus, who ran as high as sixth early in the race, was set back after he was hit by Audi’s Jamie Green. He eventually retired.
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said “That was another sensational race from Marco Wittmann. He once again produced a flawless display at the wheel of the heaviest car in the field. The fourth pole position of the season yesterday, followed by win number four today: Marco and the BMW M4 DTM are the perfect package at the moment. I am very proud of him. After the disappointing qualifying result on Saturday, a couple of our other drivers also picked up points. We witnessed fantastic, exciting fightbacks from Maxime Martin and Martin Tomczyk. Although it is looking very good for Marco in the Drivers’ Championship, we will remain fully focused. There are still three races to come, with 75 points up for grabs. In the name of the BMW Motorsport family, I would like to dedicate this victory on this special weekend to Dieter Lamm.” (Lamm, twin brother of Charley Lamm and half-brother of Herbert Schnitzer, was a principal in Schnitzer Motorsport. He died last week, succumbing to a serious illness at age 59).
Going into the next race at the Lausitzring on September 14, Wittmann leads drivers’ points, BMW Team RMG leads team points, and BMW leads manufacturers’ points.—Brian S. Morgan
