The six drivers are assigned to the three DTM team
BMW Motorsport has assigned its six DTM drivers to the three teams that will run the M3 DTM in the series.
Dirk Werner and Bruno Spengler will drive for BMW Team Schnitzer, Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus will drive for BMW Team RBM, and Martin Tomczyk and Joey Hand will drive for BMW Team RMG.
Werner has run for Team Schnitzer, BMW’s long-time motorsport partner run by Charley Lamm, in endurance series in Europe, including the 24 hour races at both Le Mans and the Nürburgring. Spengler is new to BMW. (Text continues after photo)
Both Priaulx and Farfus drove for BMW Team RBM, run by Belgian team principal Bert Mampaey, in the World Touring Car Championship, where Priaulx was a three-time champion.
Tomczyk, the reigning DTM champion (with Audi), and the driver with the most DTM experience, will run for the new team, BMW Team RMG, run by team Principal Stefan Reinhold. Tomcczyk's teammate Hand, new to DTM, is the reigning ALMS GT drivers’ champion, along with his BMW Team RLL teammate Dirk Müller. He will commute between North America and Europe, running in both the ALMS and DTM series in 2012. When there are conflicts he will race in the DTM, but next week he will skip a DTM test session in Portugal to run at ALMS test days in Sebring.
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said, “In allocating our six DTM drivers to the three teams we have completed another stage of our planning for the 2012 season. The test program so far has primarily focused on evaluating control parts, performing basic set-up work on our BMW M3 DTM, and familiarizing ourselves with the DTM processes, which are new to us all. However, we now enter the crucial phase ahead of the start of the season in which the focus switches to performance. In order for us to be able to push ourselves to the limit and exploit the full potential of the car, it is essential that the cooperation between the driver, his race engineer, and the entire team is perfect. To find the ideal driver/team combinations, every one of our six drivers has driven for each of the teams. After many discussions with all those involved, we are confident we have found the optimal line-ups, which will allow us to get the best out of the individual strengths of the drivers and teams. The drivers and teams can now continue to grow together and prepare for the season, which begins in just three months.”
The first DTM race of 2012 will be run at the Hockenheimring on April 29.—Brian S. Morgan, motorsports editor, bmwcca.org
