Nürburgring. The infamous weather in the Eifel region struck
once again, catching the BMW M Motorsport teams out during the DTM
race weekend at the Nürburgring (GER). On Sunday in particular, the
BMW M4 GT3 was unable to make the most of its great pace as the
Schubert Motorsport and Project 1 teams picked the wrong tyre
strategy in extremely challenging weather conditions. Sheldon van
der Linde (RSA), Marco Wittmann and René Rast (both GER) started on
slicks with the track drying out, only for the rain to return a few
laps in and send the trio tumbling down the order. Wittmann and van
der Linde had scored some points on Saturday.
The BMW M Motorsport teams decided to risk it all on Sunday when it
looked like the track was drying out at the start of the race,
prompting van der Linde and Rast to put on slicks. Wittmann followed
suit after the first of two warm-up laps, while the remainder of the
field started on wet-weather tyres. The three BMW M works drivers
initially fell back on the moist surface, but were able to progress as
conditions improved.
Had the weather held until the pit-stop window opened 20 minutes into
the race, the tyre gamble may have paid off. However, the strategy was
torpedoed by a rain shower after about a quarter of an hour. During
the laps preceding the regular pit stop, the BMW trio lost so much
time that a points finish was now out of reach. Wittmann finished
16th, with van der Linde and Rast in 17th and 19th positions. On his
debut DTM weekend, Sandro Holzem (GER) was the best-placed BMW driver
in 15th position, a result that saw him score his first DTM point. The
second Project 1 driver had started on wet-weather tyres. This bad
luck with the weather was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for
van der Linde and Wittmann, as they had qualified in second and fifth respectively.
Wittmann and van der Linde both reached the top ten in Saturday’s
race, finishing sixth and seventh. Both drivers gave great chasing
performances after struggling in qualifying. Wittmann moved up from
tenth on the grid to sixth place, while van der Linde came back even
more strongly after starting 15th and was the fastest car in the field
at times. Rast finished 20th, directly ahead of Holzem.
Reactions to the DTM weekend at the Nürburgring:
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW M4 GT3, Project 1): “In
principle, we made pretty decent progress this weekend and scored good
points on Saturday as the best-placed BMW. Things also looked very
good after qualifying on Sunday. Unfortunately, the team and I then
made the wrong strategy decision at the start of the race. We thought
it would stay dry for longer, which is why we came in after the first
warm-up lap to put on slicks. That helped me to be the fastest car out
there for the early laps, but when the rain returned it put paid to
our strategy. That is very disappointing, but it can happen sometimes.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert
Motorsport): “Of course, I am disappointed that we made the
wrong choice of tyre on Sunday, as the day had started really well
with second place in qualifying. Unfortunately, our strategy error
then cost us a lot of points. My comeback from 15th on the grid to
finish seventh on Saturday was a positive. That shows that we had good pace.”
René Rast (#33 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “It
was hardly worth me travelling to the Nürburgring this time. That was
a weekend to forget. We chose the wrong tyre strategy in both races,
which meant we had no chance of scoring any points. It started to rain
on Saturday and we switched to wet-weather tyres. Just as I seemed to
be going faster, the rain stopped. It was exactly the opposite on
Sunday. It is disappointing, but you have weekends like that sometimes.”
