After Saturday’s double podium, the six BMW DTM drivers endured a difficult 16th race of the season at the Nürburgring (GER). Philipp Eng (AUT) finished in eighth place at the wheel of the ZF BMW M4 DTM, scoring four points in the overall standings. Timo Glock (GER, JiVS BMW M4 DTM) and Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) also reached the top-ten, finishing in ninth and tenth positions. Jamie Green (GBR) secured the win on Sunday. After finishing third, fellow Audi driver René Rast (GER) has now been confirmed as 2019 DTM champion.
Nürburgring (GER), 15th September 2019. BMW M Motorsport, DTM Rounds 15 & 16, Philipp Eng (AUT), #25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR.
Joel Eriksson (SWE, CATL BMW M4 DTM) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) reached eleventh and 16th positions for BMW Team RBM at the Nürburgring. A drive-through penalty was imposed on van der Linde after a collision with Glock on the second lap.
An oil leak in the engine periphery forced Marco Wittmann (GER) to head for the pits to retire his Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM. The race in the Eifel mountains marked his 100thDTM appearance for BMW Team RMG. The two-time champion is the best-placed BMW driver in the overall standings, in third place with 182 points.
Reactions to the 16th DTM race of the 2019 season at the Nürburgring.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):
“First of all, congratulations to René Rast and Audi on winning the title here at the Nürburgring. René has performed very well throughout the season and deserves to be the champion. After a good team result yesterday, today’s race performance really was unsatisfactory – from the unnecessary collision between Sheldon and Timo to Marco’s retirement. Qualifying was really tight but we weren’t in the same position as on Saturday. Finishing eighth, ninth and tenth in the race is not enough. We must prepare perfectly for Hockenheim, as we want to round off the season with a good result.”
Stefan Reinhold (BMW Team RMG Team Principal):
“In qualifying, we were able to place the cars in a pack. However, there were a few incidents and technical problems during the race. After yesterday’s result, we had hoped that today would go a similar way. We had worked hard to achieve that but we didn’t get the right result. However, we will forget about that and look ahead to the next race weekend at Hockenheim, where we definitely want to put on a good performance.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 8th, Race: DNF, Drivers’ standings: 3rd, 182 points):
“The opening phase was good and we were mixing it up with the Audis, however we didn’t have the pace to make more progress. I was focusing more on the second stint as I knew that we would then have had fresher tyres. The technical issue at the end was very disappointing, especially as this was my 100th race for BMW team RMG.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 9th , Race: 10th, Drivers’ standings: 9th, 100 points):
“Today wasn’t easy for us in general. Maybe we stopped a little late, but we couldn’t really have done much better. We did manage to score one point, despite the difficult race. Now we are just focusing on Hockenheim.”
Timo Glock (#16 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 7th, Race: 9th, Driver’s standings: 13th, 37 points):
“Finishing ninth after this race shows that it could have been possible to record a better result today, but that wasn’t possible after the incident on lap two, which is very unfortunate. At Hockenheim, I will now do everything I can to finish this difficult season with a good result.”
Bart Mampaey (BMW Team RBM Team Principal):
“Philipp Eng moved up to eighth after starting from eleventh on the grid. He did as well as he possibly could and it was a similar story for Joel Eriksson. Looking at the pace of Sheldon van der Linde, I think that he could have been within striking distance of a decent result. However, his race was effectively over after that drive-through penalty.”
Philipp Eng (#25 ZF BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR, Grid: 11th, Race: 8th, Drivers’ standings: 5th, 144 points):
“Of course, that is not a dream result but it’s the best we can do at the moment. Things went better than yesterday for me. The guys turned the car around completely. At least that did pay off a bit.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 13th, Race: 11th, Drivers’ standings: 11th, 51 points):
“It was quite difficult today. The first lap in particular was especially messy. Overall, it was a hard weekend for us. We have lots of work to do before Hockenheim but I am looking forward to the final highlight of the season.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM, Grid: 10th, Race: 16th, Drivers’ standings: 12th, 42 points):
“It was a tough, tough day for us. Obviously the situation with Timo was not what I wanted. You never want to make contact with another BMW. We will now move on to the next round at Hockenheim.”
