BMW Motorsport News – Issue 09/12
Whether in the DTM, the American Le Mans Series, or countless other championships: week after week BMW teams and drivers around the world do battle for points, victories and titles. Away from the track too, members of the large BMW Motorsport family around the world are also creating headlines. The “BMW Motorsport News” now allows us to regularly summarise all the action for you in a compact and informative manner. This way, you are always up to speed.
Three questions for … Martin Tomczyk.
Martin, now you’ve had time to let the dust settle, how would you sum up your first DTM season with BMW Motorsport?
Martin Tomczyk: “Generally speaking it was a fantastic season for BMW Motorsport, winning all three titles. I, personally, have never worked so hard to develop a car during the winter prior to a season as I did ahead of BMW’s comeback in 2012. Up until the race at the Norisring, everything was going very well for me. I was on the podium three races in succession and was in touch with the leaders in the Drivers’ Championship. Unfortunately, however, I was then struck by something that just happens sometimes in motorsport: I was really unlucky in the second half of the season and failed to finish four times in a row. That obviously dashed any hopes of defending my title. Still, at least the number 1 will still be on a BMW in 2013, thanks to Bruno Spengler.”
What was your personal highlight of the season?
Tomczyk: “The race in Spielberg. It was the first podium for me and BMW Team RMG, who were new to the DTM and had made it onto the podium at only the fourth time of asking. I really enjoyed seeing the joy in the eyes of the team members and knowing that the BMW M Performance Parts M3 DTM was competitive right from the word go.”
What are your goals for the 2013 season?
Tomczyk: “My goal is very clear: to get the number 1 back on my car. BMW Team RMG learned a lot this season. Now we must regroup over the winter and put what we learned into practice as we prepare for 2013. This way we can ensure that we line up at the first race of the new season in top form.”
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WTCC: Impressive D’Aste claims podium in Shanghai.
Stefano d’Aste (IT) of the Wiechers Sport team has finished third to claim a podium finish in race one of the penultimate WTCC weekend of the season in Shanghai (CN). The Italian was only beaten by the two Chevrolet works drivers Alain Menu (CH) and Robert Huff (GB). Fourth place in race one went to Tom Coronel (NL) of ROAL Motorsport. Coronel, at the wheel of the BMW 320 TC, was also fourth in Sunday’s second race – this time behind a trio of Chevrolet drivers. D’Aste came home in fifth to complete a fine pair of results and pick up valuable points in the Independents’ Trophy. Two victories in this class saw him close the gap on Norbert Michelisz (HU) of Team Zengö Motorsport and Pepe Oriola (ES, SEAT) ahead of the final round of the season in Macau. Michelisz could do no better than 16th and 24th in Shanghai, but still leads Oriola (126 points) and D’Aste (123) with 138 points. Mehdi Bennani (MA) of Team Proteam Racing and Alberto Cerqui (IT) of ROAL Motorsport also had impressive results. Bennani was sixth in race two, while Cerqui came home in ninth in race one and tenth in the second race of the weekend. The ROAL Motorsport team leads the overall standings for private teams with 166 points.
GT Open: Fourth place in the GT3 class for BMW Team Schubert.
Lars Stugemo (SE) and Stefan Landmann (AT) produced a great performance to finish fourth in the GT3 class in their BMW Z4 GT3 at the final round of the International GT Open in Barcelona. The Team Schubert duo may have narrowly missed out on a trip to the podium, but the official result of Sunday’s sprint race shows them in second place behind the Ferrari pair of Stefano Bizzarri (IT) and Andrea Rizzoli (IT), as two of the cars that finished ahead of them were not eligible to receive points towards the championship. Stugemo and Landmann were unable to live up to their own expectations in Saturday’s race, finishing 13th in the GT3 class.