Bruno Spengler took a commanding win in the Sunday DTM race on the Norisring street circuit in Nuremberg. He started the #7 M4 DTM fifth on the grid, took the lead a few corners into the race, and held on for the victory. Philipp Eng in fifth and Timo Glock in ninth, who had started near the back of the pack, also scored points for BMW.
On Saturday Joel Eriksson in third was the best finishing BMW racer; he was second until Audi’s Nico Muller passed him on the final lap. The win went to DTM points leader René Rast in an Audi. Spengler in fifth, Eng in seventh, and Marco Wittmann in eighth also scored points for BMW.
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said, “In terms of atmosphere, the Norisring proved once again this weekend just why the DTM has such a special relationship with the track. The fans in Nuremberg simply love motorsport, which is why we always really enjoy this event. After Joel Eriksson finished on the podium on Saturday, we went the extra mile today and won the race with Bruno Spengler. The fantastic start and the first turn were the key to his success. This enabled him to establish himself at the front and bring home the race win with great superiority. His car was consistently among the fastest in the field. Kudos to Bruno and the whole team. He knows what it takes at the Norisring and with five wins is now the sole record holder here. Philipp Eng picked up good points, and I’m really happy for Timo Glock that he managed to move up the field after the problems in qualifying. Unfortunately, further down the field we lost cars to technical difficulties. We will analyze this in detail. It was a tough race and a tough weekend overall. But we rounded it off with a win—and that’s the most important thing.”
Fans at the Norisring were treated to an appearance by the BMW M1 Procar Revival. The event, staged to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Procar series, drew fourteen M1 Procars, with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Marc Surer, and Jan Lammers among the drivers. Jochen Neerpasch, head of BMW Motorsport GMBH when the cars were run, was also on hand.
Royalty indeed! From left to right, Gerhard Berger, Jan Lammers, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Prince Albert of Monaco, Marc Surer, and Jochen Neerpasch pose in front of the M1 Procars.
The DTM series runs again on July 19–21 on the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. This will be the series’ first visit to the slightly banked circuit, which was originally designed for motorcycle racing.—Brian Morgan
[Photos courtesy BMW Motorsport.]