BMW M Motorsport enters final sprint of the 2019 DTM season in the Eifel region

For the BMW DTM teams, the weekend in the Eifel marks the start of the final sprint of the 2019 season. The Nürburgring (GER) is set to host the penultimate race weekend of the year this coming weekend (13th to 15th September), with races number 15 and 16. For BMW Team RMG it is their home event; the team HQ in Andernach (GER) is located just a few kilometres away from the Nürburgring.

BMW Team RMG is also celebrating a milestone: Marco Wittmann’s (GER) 100^th race for Stefan Reinhold’s (GER) team. After seven race weekends, Marco Wittmann (GER) in third place overall with 167 points is the best-ranked BMW driver in the DTM driver’s standings. Right behind him is Philipp Eng (AUT) with 140 points in fourth place.

Eng and Bruno Spengler (CAN) will get the weekend at the Nürburgring started with a special race for a good cause: the ONE-World Charity Simrace on Thursday evening. At this simulator event, each team is made up of one DTM pro and one fan, who secured their place during an auction. The teams will complete a total of 30 laps on the virtual Grand Prix track at the Nürburgring. Proceeds from the event will go to the children’s hospital in Cologne (GER) via the Lukas Podolski Foundation.

Quotes ahead of the DTM races at the Nürburgring.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):

“BMW’s history in motorsport is closely linked with the Nürburgring, which is why the races on this iconic track are always particularly significant for us. We will head into the finishing straight of the 2019 DTM season there, a season that has brought us highs but also lows so far. In the last races in particular, we haven’t matched up to our own expectations. But this season has also shown that we are capable of winning. And now we have to build on these successes. We will give it everything from the first to the last minute and focus on providing our drivers with the best possible package. This also includes being stronger in qualifying again, so that we have the chance to achieve top results in the races. Our objective is clear: We want to keep the fight for the title open down to the wire and put on exciting DTM action for the fans in the final spurt of the season.”

Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal BMW Team RMG):

“The weekend at the Nürburgring is always a highlight of the season for us because it is the home event for our whole team. It is fair to say that we all love the Nürburgring. And this year we are celebrating a special milestone at the Ring: Marco Wittmann’s 100^th race for our team. We have celebrated major successes together previously, and this year Marco has already won four races. We will keep working hard and fight since it isn’t over until after the final race in Hockenheim. Bruno Spengler has also been on the top step of the podium this season and has celebrated successes at the Nürburgring in the past. Timo Glock has been very unlucky this year, which has prevented him from converting his pace into the corresponding results. We hope that the tide will turn for him in the Eifel region. As a team, we will really give it our all to have a successful home event with all three of our drivers.”

Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Drivers’ standings: 8^th, 79 points):

“I really enjoy the Nürburgring. I have won there several times already, and the crowd is always amazing. I hope that we will be more competitive again there than we were recently at the Lausitzring. We will work hard to improve our performance. If we manage that, we are in with a good chance of bringing home a podium. It would be great to make it onto the podium at BMW Team RMG’s home event. I’m also really looking forward to competing in a Simrace with our cars. It’s going to be an awesome event, and it’s fantastic that lots of DTM drivers will be involved. We will have a lot of fun with the fans, and it’s all for a good cause. It’s going to be a great start to the race weekend.”

Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Drivers’ standings: 3^rd, 167 points):

“I hope that we will be in a stronger position again at the Nürburgring. It’s a track that has always suited us really well in the past, and me personally. We have celebrated a few wins at BMW Team RMG’s home event in the past as well. I’ve known the track for a long time through the DTM, 24-hour races and the VLN. So I’m looking forward to the weekend and hope that we will be able to bring home good results.”

Timo Glock (#16 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Drivers’ standings: 13^th, 33 points):

“I’m looking forward to the Nürburgring. It is the team’s home race, which always makes it special. We hope to be able to perform well there – and that our luck returns.”

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team RBM):

“We are highly motivated going into the final spurt of the season. The races at the Lausitzring didn’t go quite as we had hoped, but the deck will be shuffled in the Eifel region. The Nürburgring has its own special challenges, which both our team and all three drivers Philipp Eng, Joel Eriksson and Sheldon van der Linde are very familiar with. It will be important for us to return to the strength in qualifying that we have already shown at many race weekends this season. Then our three drivers will be able to convert their good pace in the races into corresponding results again. The whole team has been preparing intensely. We are all working hard to make sure our drivers are able to be up there battling for the top spots in the remaining four races of the season so that they can pick up the maximum number of points.”

Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Drivers’ standings: 4^th, 140 points):

“The Nürburgring is like a second home to me, and I will have to be careful that I don’t turn onto the Nordschleife. Seriously though: I am looking forward to the Nürburgring, I love being there, I like the track and the area. The track is very technical in the first sector in particular, then you have medium-speed turns in the second sector, and finally the chicane with the high kerbs, you need to know exactly how to take them without damaging the car. It will definitely be interesting. I hope that we will be able to repeat our good qualifying performance from last year and then pick up plenty of points in the races. I’m also really looking forward to the Simrace on Thursday. It’s going to be cool driving on a virtual version of the Grand Prix track, alongside the fans and all for a good cause. It will be a lot of fun.”

Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Drivers’ standings: 12^th, 36 points):

“Nürburgring is probably the track that I know best on the DTM calendar. So from that point of view I’m really looking forward to it. I hope that it will suit our car a bit more than the Lausitzring has – and by the nature of the track it normally should. In general, the performance and race pace are good, and I am looking forward to bringing it all together now and making a good end to the season.”

Joel Eriksson (#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Drivers’ standings: 10^th, 47 points):

“Nürburgring is a track I like. My pace has always been quite good there, also already in single seaters. The track is fun in the BMW M4 DTM, and of course it’s a classic circuit. Everybody knows the Nürburgring. We have some work to do, but we will do everything in our power to make sure we have a strong weekend there.”