Photo: BMW
It was a heated season finale yesterday on the Hockenheimring, where BMW fought for the Manufacturer’s Title, the last one that wasn’t already claimed before the race. Marco Wittmann had already won the driver’s title back in the eighth race of the season, while the ninth brought Team RMG the Teams’ win.
Things didn’t go according to plans for the blue and white roundel company, Audi managing to sweep the win in a heart-stopping finale.
In lap 37, when Andy Green from Audi was leading the pack with a safe 5-second lead, Juncadella and Spengler get in a tangle that sends the Mercedes-Benz car off track. The safety car had to step in, rearranging the pieces of the puzzle. That’s when all hell broke loose.
With only 5 laps to go, two being done with the safety car in front of the pack, the ‘race was on’. Green was leading with Ekstrom, Rockenfeller, Scheider, Wittmann, Di Resta, Farfus, Molina, Wehrlein and Tocmzyk in a hard chase.
At this point, if Wittmann and Farfus pushed hard enough for a one-two finish, the Manufacturer’s Title would’ve gone to BMW. However, no matter how hard Marco pushed, he couldn’t get past Di Resta that overtook him in the 41st lap. Unfortunately, Augusto Farfus was involved in yet another clash with Robert Wickens and dropped to 17th place.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad race for BMW that had several drivers show impressive performance while others simply had bad luck. Maxime Martin had to retire due to malfunctions to the car, while Marco Wittmann and Martin Tomczyk posted incredible gains.
The champion started out from the 13th place on the grid and finished fifth while Tocmzyk started from the 20th place and finished seventh, a 13-position gain.
However, BMW can say they had an amazing season this year as well, claiming both the Drivers’ Title thanks to Marco Wittmann and winning the Team competition as well, BMW Team RMG gathering the most points in the competition by the end of the year.
“Receiving the trophy for the best team of the year on the podium alongside Marco Wittmann as champion driver was obviously a very special moment. I am sure the trophy will look good back at our place. Only then will we really comprehend what we have achieved in 2014,” said Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG).
“Today went quite well for me. I had a bad day in qualifying yesterday, and only finished 13th. Therefore, we knew that the race would not be easy for us. I am very happy with fifth place. The pace was good. I had some great battles out there on the track. It was great fun," said Marco about the race.
"Unfortunately we were not able to defend the title in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Having said that, we did win the Drivers’ and Team competitions. We have every reason to be proud of our performance this season,” added Wittmann.
In lap 37, when Andy Green from Audi was leading the pack with a safe 5-second lead, Juncadella and Spengler get in a tangle that sends the Mercedes-Benz car off track. The safety car had to step in, rearranging the pieces of the puzzle. That’s when all hell broke loose.
With only 5 laps to go, two being done with the safety car in front of the pack, the ‘race was on’. Green was leading with Ekstrom, Rockenfeller, Scheider, Wittmann, Di Resta, Farfus, Molina, Wehrlein and Tocmzyk in a hard chase.
At this point, if Wittmann and Farfus pushed hard enough for a one-two finish, the Manufacturer’s Title would’ve gone to BMW. However, no matter how hard Marco pushed, he couldn’t get past Di Resta that overtook him in the 41st lap. Unfortunately, Augusto Farfus was involved in yet another clash with Robert Wickens and dropped to 17th place.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad race for BMW that had several drivers show impressive performance while others simply had bad luck. Maxime Martin had to retire due to malfunctions to the car, while Marco Wittmann and Martin Tomczyk posted incredible gains.
The champion started out from the 13th place on the grid and finished fifth while Tocmzyk started from the 20th place and finished seventh, a 13-position gain.
One-two-three finish for Audi and the Manufacturers’ Title
There was only one thing BMW was still fighting for yesterday: the Manufacturers' Championship. Due to the one-two-three finish Audi managed, the title went to the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer.However, BMW can say they had an amazing season this year as well, claiming both the Drivers’ Title thanks to Marco Wittmann and winning the Team competition as well, BMW Team RMG gathering the most points in the competition by the end of the year.
“Receiving the trophy for the best team of the year on the podium alongside Marco Wittmann as champion driver was obviously a very special moment. I am sure the trophy will look good back at our place. Only then will we really comprehend what we have achieved in 2014,” said Stefan Reinhold (Team Principal, BMW Team RMG).
“Today went quite well for me. I had a bad day in qualifying yesterday, and only finished 13th. Therefore, we knew that the race would not be easy for us. I am very happy with fifth place. The pace was good. I had some great battles out there on the track. It was great fun," said Marco about the race.
"Unfortunately we were not able to defend the title in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Having said that, we did win the Drivers’ and Team competitions. We have every reason to be proud of our performance this season,” added Wittmann.
Google News