BMW Motorsport bags brace of wins at the Norisring

BMW Motorsport emphatically returned to form in the DTM with an extremely successful weekend at the Norisring. The partner of MAHLE Motorsport claimed two historic victories at the street circuit in Nuremberg, throwing the championship race wide open again.

BMW Motorsport had more than one reason to celebrate at the Norisring. Bruno Spengler and Maxime Martin won both races for the MAHLE Motorsport partner at the fourth DTM race weekend of the season.

It was already clear on Saturday that BMW would enjoy a historic race weekend in Nuremberg. Spengler’s victory on the 2.3-kilometre track was BMW’s first win at the Norisring for 25 years, and also marked the 25th success for BMW since the Bavarian car maker returned to the DTM in 2012. And there was more good news to come from race one. When the chequered flag was waved after 61 laps of racing, the top six contained no fewer than five BMW drivers.

The crowds around the Dutzendteich lake then witnessed possibly the most spectacular race of the season so far on Sunday. It featured two safety car phases, countless thrilling manoeuvres, a big crash – which, despite Mike Rockenfeller breaking a metatarsal, could have ended far more seriously – and a photo finish that saw reigning DTM champion and BMW driver Marco Wittmann cross the line in fifth place.

The winner was a BMW Team RBM driver: Maxime Martin crossed the finish line first in the SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM. Having finished runner-up on the Saturday, the Belgian was not only the most successful driver of the weekend, but also ensured that BMW reached a second milestone at the Norisring – the 75th DTM win for BMW since 1984.

Martin’s 46 points at the Norisring were enough to catapult him into third place in the Drivers’ Championship. BMW picked up 124 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship – the best result so far by any of the three manufacturers in the 2017 season.

The DTM returns from the summer break on 21st July in Moscow.