Bruno Spengler (CA) of BMW Team MTEK made his second appearance of the weekend on the podium after race two in Moscow (RU). After his third-place finish on Saturday, the Canadian went one better at the wheel of the BMW Bank M4 DTM on Sunday. Spengler finished runner-up – his best result of the season.
Victory in the 12th race of the DTM season went to Mike Rockenfeller (DE, Audi). BMW came close to repeating Saturday’s achievement and landing two drivers on the podium on Sunday.
However, Maxime Martin (BE) surrendered third place to Mattias Ekström (SE, Audi) just minutes before the end of the race after a lengthy battle for the final podium spot. Last year’s winner crossed the finish line fourth in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. His team-mate at BMW Team RMG, Marco Wittmann (DE, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), followed yesterday’s second place with a seventh place in race two at the “Moscow Raceway”.
Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) and Tom Blomqvist (GB, BMW M4 DTM) finished just outside the points in 11th and 12th. Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) and António Félix da Costa (PT, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) came home 17th and 23rd. Martin Tomczyk (DE) failed to finish in the BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM.
Reactions to the 12th race of the 2015 DTM season.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “We can be happy with our outing here in Moscow. After two podiums yesterday, Bruno Spengler finished a very impressive second today. Unfortunately he was not quite able to make it onto the very top step. Maxime Martin battled hard to finish fourth and score some good points. Marco Wittmann was our third car in the top ten, finishing seventh. This racetrack has been a happy stomping ground for us: since Moscow has been included in the race calendar, we have always finished on the podium here. After three race weekends in a row abroad, we are now looking forward to the final third of the season in Germany. Congratulations to Mike Rockenfeller and Audi.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW Team MTEK, 2nd): “After my third place yesterday, that was a fantastic result. Thank you very much to my team. The team was able to make even more significant improvements to the car, which allowed me to clock consistent lap times today. I am happy to have scored a lot of points in Russia, thanks to my two podium finishes. Unfortunately I was held up by Lucas Auer in the middle of the race – as were a few other drivers. Fortunately I was able to overtake him and then hang on to second place.”
Facts and Figures.
Circuit/length/duration:
Moscow Raceway, 4.326 kilometres, 60 minutes plus 1 lap
Conditions:
Cloudy, 19 degrees Celsius
BMW Motorsport results:
#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – 2nd
#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RMG, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 4th
#1 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 7th
#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team RBM, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 11th
#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, BMW M4 DTM – 12th
#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team MTEK, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 17th
#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 23rd
#77 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – DNF
Useful information:
António Félix da Costa was handed a drive-through penalty following a collision with Antonio Giovinazzi early on in the race.
Marco Wittmann, Augusto Farfus and Martin Tomczyk were the first BMW drivers to come into the pits at the end of lap 12.
Maxime Martin came in one lap later and, thanks to the fine work by BMW Team RMG, pulled ahead of Jamie Green (GB, Audi).
Martin Tomczyk was forced to retire his BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM on lap 19.
At the end of the 35th lap, Maxime Martin lost out to Mattias Ekström in the battle for third place when the Swede moved ahead of him under braking at the end of the long home straight.
This was Bruno Spengler’s fourth podium of the season, and the first time he has finished runner-up.
