In the six DTM races from mid-August through the end of September, BMW drivers scored two victories, with Sheldon van der Linde winning in race two at the Nürburgring back in August and René Rast winning on Sunday (September 29) at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Marco Wittmann had an additional podium finish at the Nürburgring, finishing third in race two.
At the Nürburgring races (DTM holds two races per race weekend), Marco Wittmann was the best BMW finisher in race one in sixth. Sheldon van der Linde was the best qualifier among the three BMWs for race two but started down in ninth. He had a great start to the race, making up five positions to get into third, and worked his way into the lead after caution periods brought the top three closer together. Marco Wittmann finished in third, while René Rast was penalized for causing an accident.
Sheldon van der Linde won at the Nürburgring.
The win at the Nürburgring was BMWs 100th victory in DTM and the first for van der Linde in nearly a year. “I am very happy and relieved to have won a DTM race again after such a long time,” he said. “I was close at the Norisring, but then the weather spoiled it in the last laps. My brother Kelvin won the Saturday race so for both of us, this is a very special weekend that makes the whole family proud. For me, this is one of my best victories in the DTM.”
Marco Wittmann finished third in race two at the Nürburgring.
The two rounds at the Sachsenring in early September were races to forget for BMW, with the best finish in either race coming from Rast, who finished seventh in race one, with van der Linde in ninth and Wittmann in thirteenth. In race two, van der Linde finished in eighth, with Rast following in ninth. Wittmann finished last after being involved in an accident on lap one that damaged his car when he was hit going into turn one by an errant Lamborghini.
This last weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the BMWs were off the race in qualifying for race one, with Wittmann the fastest BMW way down in fourteenth and around 1.2 seconds off the pole time of Arjun Maini in a Mercedes. All three BMWs were within around a tenth of each other in qualifying. Two of them managed to move up in the race, with Rast finishing in ninth and van der Linde in eleventh, while Wittmann had a DNF.
René Rast won race two at the Red Bull Ring.
Things went much better in race two, as Rast started from third after qualifying. He initially dropped back to fourth at the start but then moved up into second before pit stops. Clever team strategy and a fast pit stop put Rast out in front after pitting, to take the win. “I really enjoy the races at the Red Bull Ring, which makes it all the nicer to win,” he said. “My start was not good, and I then had to work my way to the front from fourth place. I kept seeing Thomas Preining in my mirror in the closing stages. I knew I could not afford to make a single mistake.” Sheldon van der Linde finished in sixth in race two, while Marco Wittmann finished in eleventh.
The last two rounds of the year take place at the Hockenheimring in Germany on October 18th-20th. BMW team Schubert Motorsport is in the lead in the team points, while BMW is third in manufacturer points behind Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini. Rene Rast is in fourth place in the driver’s championship points, while Sheldon van der Linde is in sixth and Marco Wittmann is in eleventh. Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti leads the driver’s championship. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy DTM, BMW]
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