DTM: Wittmann triumphs in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO at the Sachsenring and keeps title hopes alive
Marco Wittmann (GER) won Saturday’s race at the Sachsenring (GER), celebrating the 21st DTM victory of his career. At the wheel of the #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, the two-time champion triumphed from pole position in the opening race, securing BMW M Motorsport’s first-ever victory at the Sachsenring. On Sunday, Wittmann produced an impressive recovery drive to finish sixth. As a result, he moved up to third place in the drivers’ standings and kept alive his chances of claiming a third title ahead of the season finale at Hockenheim.
On Saturday morning, the 36-year-old surprised with his first pole position of the season – at a circuit where BMW M Motorsport has traditionally struggled in the past. Teammate Kelvin van der Linde (RSA), in the #3 Shell BMW M4 GT3 EVO, secured fourth place on the grid. Wittmann converted his strong starting position into BMW M Motorsport’s first victory at the Sachsenring – and, following his 20th DTM triumph at the Nürburgring four weeks ago, celebrated his second consecutive win. Van der Linde completed a strong result for Schubert Motorsport by finishing fourth.
In the wet qualifying session on Sunday, the two BMW M works drivers found conditions significantly more challenging following their strong result on Saturday. Van der Linde qualified seventh, while Wittmann started the second race from 19th on the grid. In the race, however, both drivers once again gave strong performances. Wittmann charged through the field and quickly climbed into the top ten, while van der Linde ran in fifth place within striking distance of the podium. During a safety car restart shortly before the end of the race, however, the South African was hit by a rival and forced to retire, eventually being classified 18th.
Wittmann ultimately gained an impressive 13 positions, finishing Sunday’s race in sixth place and keeping alive all hopes of claiming his third DTM drivers’ title after his triumphs in 2014 and 2016. The Fürth native heads to the season finale at the Hockenheimring (GER) third in the overall standings – just 24 points behind the championship leader. Schubert Motorsport also sits third in the team standings.
Reactions after the races:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “Congratulations to Marco Wittmann, who followed up his first win of the season four weeks ago with another triumph here at the Sachsenring. With a sensational recovery drive on Sunday, he kept all his title hopes alive – and did so at a circuit that has not brought us much luck in the past. It was a fantastic performance, also from Schubert Motorsport, who once again delivered a faultless weekend and made some strong strategic decisions. It is a shame that Kelvin van der Linde was not rewarded for his strong performance on Sunday and was once again involved in an accident through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, he continues to be plagued by bad luck this season. Nevertheless, we are now looking ahead to the finale at Hockenheim. We want to attack with everything we have there and make our dream of winning the title come true after all.”
Torsten Schubert (Team Principal Schubert Motorsport): “After the very surprising result on Saturday, today leaves us feeling somewhat disappointed. Unfortunately, Kelvin failed to finish for the seventh time, and once again through no fault of his own. That is frustrating for him, but he has to keep his head up. As a result, we also lost some points in the team standings. Marco scored the points we wanted and even exceeded our expectations for this weekend. In terms of points, we are now in quite a good position ahead of the season finale. Mathematically, everything is still possible. Hockenheim is next, and we want to have a strong finale there and hopefully win the title.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Race 1: 1st place; Race 2: 6th place): “It was an incredible weekend for us. The pole position and the victory were completely unexpected for us at this circuit. The fact that we still managed to finish sixth on Sunday despite the difficult qualifying session means a huge number of points for us that we had not expected to score here. When you consider how far behind we were at one stage during the season, everything that comes now is a bonus. We are within striking distance heading to Hockenheim and, of course, we will fight.”
Kelvin van der Linde (#3 Shell BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Race 1: 4th place; Race 2: 18th place): “It was another difficult weekend. Seven retirements in 14 races is obviously not what we expect, and this is another setback. Until the accident, however, it was a strong race. We had the pace to fight for the podium. Even so, we certainly could have finished fourth and collected important points for the team standings. In the end, though, we have to accept it and now look ahead to Hockenheim.”
*Information provided by the publicist.
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