Spengler claims first podium finish of the DTM season for BMW Motorsport by finishing third at the Norisring.

This was Spengler’s 39th podium finish in his DTM career and his first since the second place he picked up at the race in Moscow (RU) last year. By finishing tenth, Maxime Martin (BE) from BMW Team RMG scored one point. Martin Tomczyk (DE), António Félix da Costa (PT) and Marco Wittmann (DE) were unlucky to miss out on the points as they finished 11th, 12th and 13th respectively. DTM rookie Tom Blomqvist (GB) finished 16th.

Through no fault of their own, Augusto Farfus (BR) and Timo Glock (DE) were forced to retire their cars after collisions in turn one.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “After Saturday’s rain roulette, this race was easier to predict. The Norisring is quite a special track, where experienced drivers can really step up their game. This is precisely what Bruno Spengler did in qualifying, as his pole lap was absolutely perfect. In the race, Bruno showed real fighting spirit, attacking at the right time and, deservedly, achieved his first podium of the season for us. Our 2012 DTM champion performed very strongly today. Maxime Martin also gave no quarter and made it into the points. In our current situation, these are precisely the qualities we must show to get back to where we want to be. After the first two difficult race weekends, this was a small step in the right direction. If things stay as they are, I am convinced that we can improve slowly but surely. Congratulations to Mercedes, who have been successful in Nürnberg for years now.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 3rd place): “I’m really happy to have finished third, however, I am also a little disappointed as I would, of course, liked to have won the race. Both Mercedes were unbeatable today. I dropped down to fifth, but I fought back and the battle for third with Mattias Ekström was a lot of fun. He actually made a small mistake, which meant I could overtake him in the last few metres. Thank you to my team. We pitted at exactly the right time. Hitting the pit stop window correctly was difficult today. It’s also due to the great strategy that I managed to get onto the posium today.”