Maxime Martin claims his maiden DTM win – Bruno Spengler completes first one-two of 2014 for BMW

Maxime Martin (BE) crowned a perfect weekend at the Moscow Raceway (RU) with the first win of his fledgling DTM career. After 46 laps of the 3.931-kilometre circuit on the outskirts of the Russian capital, the BMW Team RMG driver crossed the line as the comfortable winner in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. Bruno Spengler (CA) followed 4.259 seconds behind in the BMW Bank M4 DTM to finish runner-up and make his second appearance of the year on the podium. The one-two marks the 16th time in the history of the DTM that two BMW drivers have occupied the top two steps of the podium.

Saturday’s qualifying had seen Martin secure his first pole position at only his fifth DTM race weekend. Martin’s victory also presented BMW Team RMG with its third win in five races this season. The previous two victories came courtesy of Marco Wittmann (DE), who this time came home fourth in the Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. Team Principal Stefan Reinhold’s (DE) outfit also regained the lead in the Team competition.

Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) in sixth place and Augusto Farfus (BR, Castrol EDGE BMW M4 DTM) in tenth also finished in the points at the end of an eventful race, which included two safety car phases. BMW added a further 64 points to its tally in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) and Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) narrowly missed out on the points, coming home eleventh and 13th respectively. Joey Hand (US, Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M4 DTM) finished 17th.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“That was a fantastic race for us – the most successful of the season so far. Maxime Martin produced a dominant display and a magnificent race against a great backdrop and in only his fifth race in the DTM. He was simply unbeatable this weekend. Bruno Spengler also put in a very strong performance to finish just behind him. Despite the fact that it was, at times, hard to keep track of what was going on, this one-two was never in doubt. I feel sorry for Timo Glock: a problem with the fuel pressure meant he dropped back to sixth place shortly before the end of what had been a great race for him. Marco Wittmann also scored a lot of points and extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Augusto Farfus rounded off a good result for us in tenth place. We once again leave Moscow very happy and are now looking forward to Spielberg – and we obviously have our fingers crossed for the German national team tonight.”

Maxime Martin (car number 24, BMW Team RMG, 1st):

“I can’t quite believe it yet. It is simply incredible. To drive in the DTM was always a dream of mine. As I have never driven single-seater cars, I never paid much attention to Formula One. Instead, I always wanted to race in this series. And now here I am after five races, with a first pole position and maiden win to my name. Incredible! I would like to thank everyone at BMW Team RMG. The pit stop was awesome and the strategy was spot on. The team and, of course, everyone at BMW Motorsport really did a fantastic job.”

Bruno Spengler (car number 9, BMW Team Schnitzer, 2nd):

“That was a good day for us. First of all, I would like to congratulate Maxime Martin on his maiden win. He did not make any mistakes and was very quick. It is a dream result for BMW. I struggled a little on the option tyres in the first stint, and lost a bit of time. However, things were much better on the primes. We scored some valuable points towards the championship. That gives me a lot of confidence ahead of the next races. BMW Team Schnitzer deserved a result like this.”

Marco Wittmann (car number 23, BMW Team RMG, 4th):

“I was really under fire in the start phase. As such, the key for me was to get through in one piece and without making any mistakes. I managed that. Fourth place is a super result. Our team did a great job and we can be very happy. Congratulations to Maxime Martin and BMW.”

Timo Glock (car number 17, BMW Team MTEK, 6th):

“It is a real shame, as I could obviously have been on the podium today. However, I suffered a massive drop in fuel pressure in the final stages of the race. There were signs of this happening after the safety car phase and I noticed that the engine was no longer getting the fuel it needed. In the end I had no chance at all. It is painful, as we were within touching distance of a one-two-three for BMW. However, we showed today that we had good pace – particularly on the softer tyres. I hope we will have a bit more luck at the Red Bull Ring. Congratulations to Maxime, Stefan Reinhold and his entire crew. They did a superb job all weekend.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 3, BMW Team RBM, 10th):

“All in all, the race was ok for us. However, the safety car phases didn’t exactly help us. They meant we were on the standard tyres for a lot longer than planned. That basically destroyed our race. It could definitely have gone a lot better, but we just didn’t have any luck on our side. Congratulations to Maxime Martin on his victory!”

António Félix da Costa (car number 18, BMW Team MTEK, 11th):

“The safety car phases could have helped us, but unfortunately they lasted far too long. We lost too many laps behind the safety car, meaning our strategy no longer came into play. It was actually fun out there. However, we simply have to ensure that we qualify further up the field for the next races.”

Martin Tomczyk (car number 10, BMW Team Schnitzer, 13th):

“I did my very best today, and was involved in hard-fought duels for the majority of the time. The safety car phases lasted a very long time, but I just drove my own race. There was certainly no lack of fighting spirit. Congratulations to my team-mate Bruno Spengler on second place – and to Maxime Martin on his maiden DTM win, of course.”

Joey Hand (car number 4, BMW Team RBM, 17th):

“Starting from 16th on the grid meant that we were right in the middle of all the turmoil right from the word go. When we then missed the pit stop window due to the safety car phases, our race was basically over. After that it was just a case of putting on a good show for the fans. We just weren’t quick enough here.”

Facts and figures from Moscow:  

Standings after 5 of 10 races.  

Drivers’ standings.
1. Marco Wittmann (70 points), 2. Mattias Ekström (50), 3. Edoardo Mortara (41), 4. Bruno Spengler (41), 5. Mike Rockenfeller (35),  6. Maxime Martin (33), 7. Christian Vietoris (31), 8. Adrien Tambay (28), 9. Miguel Molina (26), 10. Robert Wickens (25), 11. Jamie Green (24), 12. Timo Glock (18), 13. Augusto Farfus (15), 14. Pascal Wehrlein (14), 15. Paul di Resta (12), 16. Nico Müller (10), 17. Timo Scheider (9), 18. Martin Tomczyk (8), 19. Joey Hand (7), 20. António Félix da Costa (4), 21. Gary Paffett (4). 

Team standings.
1. BMW Team RMG (103 points), 2. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline (76), 3. Audi Sport Team Abt (69) , 4. BMW Team Schnitzer (49), 5. Audi Sport Team Phoenix (44), 6. Original-Teile Mercedes AMG (43), 7. Audi Sport Team Rosberg (34), 8. EURONICS / FREE MAN’S WORLD Mercedes AMG (29), 9. BMW Team MTEK (22), 10. BMW Team RBM (22), 11. gooix Mercedes AMG (14).

Manufacturers’ standings.
1. Audi (223 points), 2. BMW (196), Mercedes-Benz (86).

2014 calendar:

4th May – Hockenheim (DE), 18th May – Oschersleben (DE), 1st June – Budapest (HU), 29th June – Norisring (DE), 13th July – Moscow (RU), 3rd August – Spielberg (AT), 17th August – Nürburgring (DE), 14th September – Lausitzring (DE), 28th September – Guangzhou (CN), 19th October – Hockenheim (DE).