Bruno Spengler finished second on Saturday and Marco Wittmann finished third on Sunday in the DTM series event at the Nürburgring on September 8-9. Spengler was the first of four BMW M4 DTM racers to finish in the points on Saturday, and Wittmann was the first of five on Sunday. Audi’s René Rast won both races. Wittmann’s third-place finish came in BMW’s 100th DTM race since returning to the series in 2012.
On Saturday, Spengler finished second after coming out on top in a battle with third-place finisher Gary Paffett in a Mercedes. Timo Glock, who had started twelfth on the grid, found his way to fourth at the end of the race, finishing just ahead of Marco Wittmann. Augusto Farfus finished ninth, noting afterward that his car was much better after it got a new set of tires on its pit stop. Joel Erikkson finished out of the points in twelfth, and Philipp Eng finished sixteenth after serving a drive-through penalty for contact with Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta.
In Race Two, Wittmann finished third, just ahead of Spengler. Erikkson, Farfus, and Eng finished sixth through eighth. Glock, who received a drive-through penalty for colliding with Mercedes’ Lucas Auer, finished sixteenth.
After the Sunday race, BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said, “Marco Wittmann did well to move up through the field today—and he was rewarded with a podium finish. Getting five cars into the top eight is a great result for BMW. Of course, after Bruno Spengler claimed second place on Saturday, we would have liked to top the podium. However, all in all, we can definitely be satisfied with the race weekend here at the Nürburgring. I am very positive about the fact that we reached the podium and scored plenty of points in the 100th race since our DTM comeback in 2012. Congratulations are in order for René Rast, who put on a great performance this weekend with the ‘clean sweep.’”
Paffett regained the lead in the title chase after Race Two, with Di Resta second in points. Wittmann, in fifth, is the top BMW racer in the drivers’ points standings, and BMW is second to Mercedes in manufacturers’ points with two events remaining in the season.
The series runs next at Spielberg in Austria on September 21-23, and finishes its season at Hockenheim on October 12-14.—Brian Morgan
