Marco Wittmann achieved another success for BMW at Lausitzring

Another significant success for BMW came at the second DTM race at Lausitzring this weekend. Marco Wittmann has finished third in the race and has scored for BMW the 300th podium in the DTM. It was not easy to pull, especially after a tough session, where Wittmann began in seventh place on the grid.

Marco Wittmann launched quickly in the Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM and pulled out a late overhaul strategy to take the third position and take over Robin Frijns. After a difficult qualification, Timo Glock (GER, iQOO BMW M4 DTM), Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM), and Jonathan Aberdein who placed sixth, seventh, and ninth in the leaderboard were showed some strong signs of progress at the end of the race itself.

In hot weather, and with tire-wearing factor at Lausitzring, the BMW DTM team focused solely on competing. While prepping up the BMW M4 DTM. As a result, Saturday’s successful qualifications could not be ensured. And Sunday’s race had therefore to start from behind the Grid. The majority of drivers, however, fought hard to capture valuable points with Wittmann taking even a well-earned podium.

Also after his early pit stop, Sheldon van der Linde (Shell BMW M4 DTM) took the top five, paying the price for this fearless tactic as his tires had suffered in the last few laps. He returned home in fifteenth place, just after Lucas Auer (AUT, BMW Bank M4 DTM).

René Rast (GER, Audi) was the victor of the race. The Lausitzring once again is the venue for the next round of the DTM.

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2020 SEASON 4th DTM RACE: Reaction

Jens Marquardt: BMW Group Motorsport Director

“Marco Wittmann’s podium is a real highlight, as it is the 300^th podium for BMW in the DTM – another milestone in our long history in this racing series. Marco Wittmanndrove a superb race and pulled off a brilliant and intelligent overtaking maneuver shortly before the finish, which ultimately earned him third place. Compliments to everyone on landing four BMW M4 DTMs in third, sixth, seventh, and ninth places after the tough qualifying session. We focussed on the race from the outset today, which meant making a compromise in qualifying. We must do a better job of coping with that compromise next week, as the race is obviously easier the further up the grid you start. I feel sorry for Sheldon van der Linde. We called him in early for his pit stop, which catapulted him up the field. Unfortunately, his tires gave up in the end. On the whole, we have taken a big step forward compared to Spa-Francorchamps. We must back that up next week. Congratulations to René Rast on his win.”

Marco Wittmann

#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 7^th, Race: 3^rd, Drivers’ standings: 6^th, 28 points

“I had an extremely good start and a super first lap, after which I was already up to third place. Then battled with Robin Frijns and René Rast for the lead. I finally got past Robin on the penultimate lap. Nonetheless, you have to say that the gap to the Audis is still very big in qualifying and in the race. Third place is a decent enough result. However, our goal is to challenge for titles, and we are a long way off doing that at the moment. We must work hard to close that gap.”

Timo Glock

#16 iQOO BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 12th, Race: 6th, Driver’s standings: 9th, 22 points

“After today’s qualifying, in which all the BMW drivers had issues with the car, I am definitely in a more positive frame of mind. The balance was good again in the race. I really had a good first lap and climbed into the top ten. I then had good speed and we came into the pits too early. That made the second stint very long, which meant I had to look after my tyres carefully. I did that well, and managed the DRS well. Generally speaking, I can be happy with that.”

Lucas Auer

#22 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 15th, Race: 14th, Drivers’ standings: 11th, 10 points

“That was a weekend to forget. We found a few things on the car after yesterday, but they did not really result in us making much progress. We have a few issues that need resolving in order to do better next weekend.”

Philipp Eng

#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 11th, Race: 7th, Drivers’ standings: 10th, 16 points

“I did not have a good starting position – that was the main problem. The start was not very good. I was a bit unfortunate in the first two corners, in which I fell back through the field when Ferdinand Habsburg returned to the track. After that, it was a reasonable race with a lot of battles. The pit stop was perfect. I am pleased to see BMW on the podium again. That is a great sign and I hope I am up there next time.”

Jonathan Aberdein

#27 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 14th, Race: 9th, Drivers’ standings: 13th, 5 points

“That was a tough day for me. I had a few problems with my car’s balance in qualifying. However, I fought back well in the race and came home ninth.”

Sheldon van der Linde

 #31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 10th, Race: 15th, Drivers’ standings: 7th, 26 points

“We went for a risky strategy today and came in for a tire change on lap eight. That initially allowed me to gain a lot of positions and may have looked really good from the outside. Ultimately, however, our risk did not pay off. In the final few laps, there was nothing I could do to hold off the cars behind me. These things happen sometimes. I will take the positives from yesterday into the next race weekend.”