Hockenheim. Saturday’s race at the Hockenheimring (GER) saw Timo Glock (GER, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM) return to the strong form he showed at the season-opener at the same venue. The German came home third to claim a podium result in the penultimate race of the 2018 DTM season. This was BMW’s 15th podium of the season. Bruno Spengler (CAN, BMW Bank M4 DTM) finished ninth to score two points.
Philipp Eng (AUT, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM) and Joel Eriksson (SWE, BMW M4 DTM) had to settle for 12th and 15th place at the end of an eventful race. Marco Wittmann (GER, BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BRA, Shell BMW M4 DTM) failed to finish. René Rast (GER, Audi) took the race win.
Reactions to Saturday’s race at Hockenheim:
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“It was a very eventful race and we can be happy with the third place. We started from fourth, eighth and twelfth. Timo Glock cut through the field really well. I feel sorry for Augusto Farfus and Marco Wittmann, who were unable to finish the race. You could see that there was a lot going on out on the track. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have to do a focussed job in qualifying when we will hopefully be able to score some decent points again. There was certainly more in it for us today, however, with so much action, you really have to be happy with any car that makes it to the finish. All in all, the race featured everything that makes the DTM special: close racing, great battles and overtaking manoeuvres galore. On the whole, it was a great advertisement for the DTM.”
Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG):
“Before the race even started, Timo said that he would work his way forward, because we had performed well here from the word go. Marco and Augusto also showed that we were basically very quick. Marco was superb in free practice. Then came the mishap, but that kind of thing can happen when you are pushing the cars to the limit. Augusto was also having a good race at first. We must now look into exactly why the door on his car came unstuck during the race. Whatever happened, it was a real shame.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW Driving Experience M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG – qualifying result: 18th place, race result: DNF, points: 143):
“In short, that was a really bad day for me. The repairs needed after my mistake in qualifying cost us a lot of time. That meant we were unable to take part in qualifying. We then actually paced ourselves very well in the race. I still had a lot of DRS activations left at the end, and had relatively fresh tyres at the restart. I think I was running sixth when I lost downforce behind Paul di Resta and had to drive through the dirt. With all the dust and dirt in the car, something broke and the race was over.”
Augusto Farfus (#15 Shell BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMG – qualifying result: 5th place, race result: DNF, points: 50):
“The start was very promising for me and I was able to match the pace at the front of the field. After the pit stop, it looked like we were in for a good race. Then the door flew off. There was no contact before that happened, it just suddenly flew off.”
Timo Glock (#16 DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying result: 3rd place, race result: 3rd place, points: 143):
“Hockenheim is my living room. Every race here is a real cracker. The circuit really suits our cars. It is ideal for putting on a good show – and we did that again today. I was following the battle between René Rast and Gary Paffett on the big screens whenever I passed them, and was just thinking: ‘Hey guys, wait for me. I’ll be there soon.’ In the end, we had to settle for third place. It is a shame that we didn’t have a chance against Robin Frijns and his fresh tyres after the safety car period, however, our pace was good. Congratulations to René on his fifth race win in a row. That is a really remarkable effort. We will now look ahead to tomorrow and see whether we can challenge then.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal, BMW Team RBM):
“We simply have to qualify further up the grid tomorrow than we did today. Philipp Eng’s five-place grid penalty obviously did not help us today. He was actually on course for a points finish in the end, but lost a few places after a collision. Joel Eriksson fell back during the restart after the safety car period. Bruno Spengler was also well down the field after his outing into the gravel bed. The decision to make a second tyre change during the yellow flags proved to be the right one and allowed him to finish in the points. That race was difficult to read. We now have a lot of work ahead of us to be able to push for the top-ten with all three cars again tomorrow.”
Philipp Eng (#25 SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RMR – qualifying result: 7th place, race result: 12thplace, points: 98):
“The penalty I received for a third warning meant it was difficult, from twelfth place on the grid, to make my way through the field. On the whole, that was not an easy race. However, hopefully we will be back in the points again tomorrow.”
Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW Bank M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying result: 12th place, race result: 9thplace, points: 77):
“After a good start, I unfortunately lost time in the pits because something got stuck during the tyre change. I then skidded into the gravel bed in the Sachs corner and dropped further back, although I actually had a good car. Fortunately, we then had a safety car period and my team made the perfect decision to give me another set of fresh tyres. That ultimately allowed me to work my way up the field.”
Joel Eriksson (#47 BMW M4 DTM, BMW Team RBM – qualifying result: 11th place, race result: 15th place, points: 70):
“It was really tough today. The start was quite okay, however, the first stint was not easy for us. We had a few good laps after the pit stop but there was contact in the hairpin at the start, resulting in damage to my left side. That affected my performance and I had a few problems. The pace was definitely there. We must now solve all the little issues and push hard again tomorrow.”
