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BMW Still Committed to DTM, Blames Audi for Tarnishing the Series

One of Europe’s most appreciated racing series, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), lost two big names from its roster in just two years. First Mercedes-Benz in 2018, and then Audi earlier this year left the competition for various reasons, effectively leaving only BMW to line up its cars on the starting grid.
BMW stays in DTM for now 45 photos
Photo: BMW
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That pretty much means the series’ future in uncertain, and currently efforts are being made to attract more carmakers to the tracks. It’s unclear how these efforts will go.

In an interview released by BMW on Friday (June 5), the group’s motorsport director Jens Marquardt tried to shed dome light on the future of the series, reaffirmed his company’s dedication to DTM, but did not forget to point the finger at those who have jumped ship, no matter their reasons.

Marquardt says BMW will work hard to “offer fans great racing again in 2020,” even if that presently means on-screen racing, and not live action on a track with the fans in the stands. He hinted the Bavarians have no plans of abandoning DTM because the carmaker’s motorsport aspirations “have exactly the same DNA as the DTM.”

As far as Audi goes, Marquardt appears disappointed the rivals will no longer be working together for the advancement of DTM, and even accuses the four-rings carmaker of tarnishing the competition’s future.

“With all the anticipation ahead of the coming season, I will openly admit that the announcements by our competitors that they will be withdrawing from the series have tarnished the coming months and years,” the director said.

Audi announced its departure from the series in April because of the need to focus more on becoming a carbon-neutral carmaker and the economic challenges it is currently facing because of the ongoing health crisis. The German carmaker is the latest to announce a retirement from a longer list of companies that also includes Aston Martin.

The full interview with Jens Marquardt can be found in the press release section below.
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press release
About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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