This year, the DTM has changed quite a lot. Apart from losing and gaining some new partners and competitors, the German championship is now also forcing the teams to use 2-liter turbocharged engines, in a new chapter for the venue. After two racing weekends, the teams are now heading to their first international race of the season so far, at the Misano track, in Italy. Last year, living legend, Alex Zanardi raced there as a special guest.
Now, the teams head there with big plans. Following the rather good results attained in the first two weekends at Zolder and Hockenheim, BMW drivers are doing well in the competition. Philipp Eng is sitting at the top of the drivers’ championship while Marco Wittmann is now third. Wittmann has claimed first place on the grid twice, while Eng and rookie Sheldon van der Linde have done so once each. There have been two wins (Wittmann and Eng) and two further podium finishes for Eng and Joel Eriksson so far.
“It has been a successful start to the new turbo era in the DTM for us. Four races, four pole positions, two wins and two further podiums – those are good results for our new BMW M4 DTM. In the races thus far, we have seen that all six BMW drivers are very competitive and can record some top results. With Philipp leading the championship and Marco in third place overall, we are heading to Misano with plenty of momentum,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Group Motorsport Director.
Unlike last year, when the Misano track hosted two night races, this time the racing will be done in daylight. At the same time, two of the BMW drivers (Wittmann and Timo Glock) will be celebrating a special occasion: both will be contesting their 100th race.
