Driving the Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM for BMW Team RMG, 30-year-old Marco Wittmann completed Saturday’s race at the Nürburgring in third position. Wittmann took advantage of ideal racing conditions on the Grand Prix circuit to claim third place in the closing stage of the race and secure his 35th DTM podium.
Philipp Eng (AUT, ZF BMW M4 DTM) finished sixth, while Timo Glock (GER, iQOO BMW M4 DTM), Sheldon van der Linde (RSA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) and Jonathan Aberdein (RSA, CATL BMW M4 DTM) crossed the finishing line in positions seven, eight and ten. Lucas Auer (AUT, BMW Bank M4 DTM) finished twelfth.
Wittmann claimed fourth place in qualifying, his best grid position of the season, but lost one place at the start of the race. However, a consistent performance and good pace saw him successfully defend fifth place, before moving back up to fourth thanks to a strong overtaking manoeuvre that took him past Mike Rockenfeller (GER, Audi) twelve minutes before the end of the race. On lap 27, Wittmann made the most of a driving error by Robin Frijns (NED, Audi) to claim third place and a spot on the podium.
Eng started from ninth on the grid in the fifth race of the season, moved up three positions in the opening phase and even used a swift pit stop after 27 race minutes to move ahead of Wittmann for a short time before being passed again. Eng crossed the finish line as the second-fastest BMW driver in sixth place.
Glock, the best-placed BMW representative in the drivers’ standings, battled his way up from twelfth on the grid to take the chequered flag in seventh place. Glock remains in fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 68 points.
Audi driver Nico Muller claimed the top spot, ahead of his teammate René Rast. Formula 1 convert Robert Kubica came in 16th after a disappointing showing in the ART-run BMW.
This Sunday, the tenth DTM race of the current season will also take place at the Nürburgring. The race will start at 13:30 (CET).
Reactions to the ninth DTM race of the 2020 season at the Nürburgring.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):
“Congratulations to Marco Wittmann. He followed up a good qualifying session by driving a really good race, albeit with a little luck. Nico Müller was just different class today, but finishing with five BMWs in the top ten is a good result for us. We are slowly getting closer. Nonetheless, we have to make more progress and take another look at our pace management. All in all, we have continued to improve but it is not quite enough yet so we will be on the attack again tomorrow.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG, Grid: 4th, Race: 3rd, Drivers’ standings: 8th, 59 points):
“It has been a good weekend for us so far. We were able to reach fourth place in the race and we also had a bit of luck that helped us reach the podium. Nonetheless, it is definitely satisfying to be able to stand on the podium again and to have scored some good championship points. Of course, we will be giving our all again on Sunday.”
