A huge win for BMW who is at a disadvantage compared to Audi and Mercedes fielding two fewer cars and also supposedly running a heavier and less powerful vehicle. A great victory and we hope BMW is able to maintain their momentum into the next race on May 20th at Brands Hatch in the UK.
Bruno Spengler (car number 7, BMW Team Schnitzer, 1st place): “Today is a dream come true for me. I am so happy I just want to give everyone at BMW Team Schnitzer a big hug. That was a perfect weekend for me: the first DTM pole position for BMW for 20 years, then the first victory since 1992. This is one of the best days of my life. The race was unbelievable. We had a really tough battle with the Mercedes drivers, and did everything in our power to stay in front of them. Thankfully it worked. The final lap was the longest of my career. My team and I did not put a foot wrong today. That was definitely the crucial factor. One thing is certain: it is time for a celebration.”
Augusto Farfus (car number 16, BMW Team RBM, 3rd place): “Congratulations to BMW for doing a great job and giving us this car. This is only my second DTM race and we are a very young team in the series. That makes it all the more amazing to finish on the podium at the second race. I feel really great. I had a difficult time in Hockenheim, but we have recovered brilliantly. One week later, this was a very different performance. I am very happy to be able to bring the car to the finish without any mistakes even though I had Jamie Green pushing me for a lot of laps. But I just made sure I stayed calm and made no mistakes. Thanks also to BMW Team RBM for two fantastic pit stops.”
Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), Second: "It's such a pity. My THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé had enough speed to win again today. I was just a bit too far behind at the pit-stop. Having said that, my car was really quick and had a brilliant set-up, a tribute to the team. I was also so close to Bruno Spengler's car that I was losing a bit of down force. However, I did give it my all and being second on the podium within the space of a week is a great result for us, especially after the win in the opening race.“
Jamie Green (Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), Fourth: "My Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé was just terrific today. Augusto Farfus drove a fantastic race. I was behind him most of the time, but despite the great pace of my car, I couldn’t get past. Now the focus of my attention has to be on my home race at Brands Hatch where I’m hoping to get back on the podium again."
BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt: “Most certainly, this is a very special moment which we didn’t expect this way. This fantastic victory by Bruno Spengler is the crown on a week, which was quite something. Firstly, we had our strong comeback weekend at Hockenheim, then our maiden pole-position yesterday and today, in only our second race, already the first victory in our new DTM era. This is fantastic, simply unbelievable, absolutely awesome!”
Mercedes-Benz head of motorsport Norbert Haug: “We were very close, our drivers were bumper-to-bumper with the opposition. The important thing is that the DTM is exciting. The three brands are providing great motorsport. Now, we have seen two races with two different winners. Let’s wait and see what it will be like at Brands Hatch, perhaps we will see the third there. Scoring points has never been more difficult in DTM history.”
Audi head of motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “Of course, we can’t be happy with this result, because this time again, we couldn’t get the tyres on our cars to work well in the race. Today, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider have made the best of their starting grid positions that weren’t optimal and have made up several places, at times with very good lap times. Nevertheless, we have to understand our A5 better and use the full potential. We will work hard on that.”
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