Photo: BMW Motorsport
The first race of the 2014 DTM season started off almost perfectly for BMW. Their new M4 car started out from the first 2 grid lines and eventually, Marco Wittmann claimed the checkered flag after an eventful race.
Marco started out second on the grid, just behind Audi’s Adrien Tambay. After 42 laps of the 4.574-kilometer circuit, Marco managed to finish ahead of him though, with his Ice-Watch BMW.
This win marked Marco’s first in the DTM, the first one for Team RBM in the championship and BMW’s 60th in the series, since March 11, 1984 when Harald Grohs won the very first race for the Bavarians in the competition, behind the wheel of a BMW 635CSi.
Furthermore, six of the eight BMW cars that entered the race finished in the points. Timo Glock (Deutsche Post M4) came in fifth, Bruno Spengler (BMW Bank M4) sixth, Martin Tomczyk (BMW M Performance Parts M4) seventh, Augusto Farfus (Castrol EDGE M4) eight and Joey Hand (Crowne Plaza Hotels) tenth.
Unfortunately, rookies Maxime Martin and Antonio Felix da Costa didn’t finish in the points even though the latter was in reach for a podium position for long periods. However, a collision with Timo Scheider from Audi and the penalty that followed forced the Portuguese driver well back, finishing 21st.
As for Martin, a loose wheel after a pit stop and the penalty that followed placed him on 20th place at the end of the race.
“What a dream debut weekend for the BMW M4 DTM. To return to Hockenheim with the brand-new BMW M4 DTM and win the first race, half a year after the last victory with the BMW M3 DTM – it doesn’t get much better,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director.
“At the same time, it is also a great maiden win for BMW Team RMG and Marco Wittmann, who drove an absolutely incredible race and was in a league of his own today. He controlled the entire race magnificently. It was a joy to watch him,” he added.
At the moment, in the driver standings, Marco is leading with 25 points followed by Mattias Ekstrom and Adrien Tambay. In the manufacturer’s standings, BMW leads by 54 points followed by Audi with 47. Unfortunately, no Mercedes-Benz teams finished in the points so it’s basically a two horse race between BMW and Audi at the moment.
This win marked Marco’s first in the DTM, the first one for Team RBM in the championship and BMW’s 60th in the series, since March 11, 1984 when Harald Grohs won the very first race for the Bavarians in the competition, behind the wheel of a BMW 635CSi.
Furthermore, six of the eight BMW cars that entered the race finished in the points. Timo Glock (Deutsche Post M4) came in fifth, Bruno Spengler (BMW Bank M4) sixth, Martin Tomczyk (BMW M Performance Parts M4) seventh, Augusto Farfus (Castrol EDGE M4) eight and Joey Hand (Crowne Plaza Hotels) tenth.
Unfortunately, rookies Maxime Martin and Antonio Felix da Costa didn’t finish in the points even though the latter was in reach for a podium position for long periods. However, a collision with Timo Scheider from Audi and the penalty that followed forced the Portuguese driver well back, finishing 21st.
As for Martin, a loose wheel after a pit stop and the penalty that followed placed him on 20th place at the end of the race.
“What a dream debut weekend for the BMW M4 DTM. To return to Hockenheim with the brand-new BMW M4 DTM and win the first race, half a year after the last victory with the BMW M3 DTM – it doesn’t get much better,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director.
“At the same time, it is also a great maiden win for BMW Team RMG and Marco Wittmann, who drove an absolutely incredible race and was in a league of his own today. He controlled the entire race magnificently. It was a joy to watch him,” he added.
At the moment, in the driver standings, Marco is leading with 25 points followed by Mattias Ekstrom and Adrien Tambay. In the manufacturer’s standings, BMW leads by 54 points followed by Audi with 47. Unfortunately, no Mercedes-Benz teams finished in the points so it’s basically a two horse race between BMW and Audi at the moment.
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