BMW’s DTM season preview: Aiming for the triple again

The 2012 DTM season could not have gone better for BMW. After allegedly ‘not showing any performance’ in pre-season testing, Munich’s most famous son returned to the series after a 20 year break and come the end of the year, had claimed the driver’s title with Bruno Spengler, who joined the Bavarian returnees after eight years with Mercedes, as well as the manufacturers’ and teams’ championships with the Schnitzer outfit.

If Audi seemed confident in its pre-season comments, then belief amongst the boys and girls of Munich that they can repeat their title triple must be sky high, despite playing expectations down ahead of the forthcoming season which begins next weekend at Hockenheim.

“We are the defending DTM champions and, as such, find ourselves in the best position you could ever wish for,” said BMW’s motorsport director, Jens Marquardt. “We are very happy to take on this role. However, with two opponents as strong as Audi and Mercedes, you can never rest on your laurels and you have to work hard in order to ensure you are always competitive; that is precisely what we did during the winter break.”

In a clear warning shot to its rivals, BMW appeared to prove Marquardt right during pre-season testing at Barcelona and Hockenheim. During the latter, the reigning champions finished at the top of the time sheets on each of the four days of the latter in varying weather conditions conditions. Proof then, that they haven’t let up over winter.

Mattias Ekstrom, one of the Audi drivers who took part in the test, also suggested the M3 DTM has a pace advantage over its rivals by commenting to TouringCarTimes “During the test in Barcelona it looked like BMW has an edge over the rest. They are fast and well sorted out.”

High praise indeed from a double DTM champion, and if the car is as quick as it looked in testing, then a strong title defence from the Munich corner looks to be on the cards. According to Schnitzer’s team principal Charly Lamm, Spengler will be even quicker in 2013, given his sinister black M3 carries the number 1, a psychological advantage in such a close knit series.
“As I see it,” said Lamm. “Not a lot has changed with regard to our starting position compared to our rivals.
Hopefully having that number 1 on his car will inspire Bruno to be even quicker.”

Rest assured, given the reigning champion recently stated that “lining up with the number 1 on the M3 DTM is a very special feeling, I am highly motivated and out to prove I am a worthy champion,” both he and Schnitzer will fight tooth and nail to stop Mercedes or Audi from reclaiming the number one spot.

However, Schnitzer is not BMW’s only team, and despite Spengler being the marque’s winningest driver in 2012 with four wins, he was not its only driver to win last season given there is the case of Augusto Farfus. The Brazilian won his debut DTM race with the RBM BMW outfit at Valencia and scored three pole positions on his way to seventh in the overall standings as well as the accolade of the second highest placed BMW driver behind Spengler.
“We had a fantastic 2012 season, but I’ve learned that every year in motorsport it’s a new-year and we start from scratch,” said the winner of TouringCarTimes’ Rookie Of The Year Award. “But after having a good second half of the year we want to do well. At the end of the day,” continued the Brazilian, “our main target is to get the maximum out of our package every race. We have a very strong driver-line up, maybe the strongest ever in DTM.”

RBM team principal, Bart Mampaey reitered Farfus’ comments and believes both the team and DTM’s only Brazilian can continue its good form into 2013. “We made a point with Augusto’s win and two pole positions in 2012,” he said. “We would now like to follow on from those achievements.”

Momentum is key to confidence in motorsport, so will RBM and Augusto Farfus win races again in 2012? Certainly.
However, whilst Schnitzer and RBM were BMW’s star performers of 2012, its RMG outfit will be keen to improve as it enters a second season with 2011 title winner Martin Tomczyk who had an uncharacteristic win-free 2012.
“This year’s preparations have centred more on the fine tuning,” said RMG team principal Stefan Reinholdt. “During the winter tests, we have been able to concentrate on those areas in which we feel we have the greatest room for improvement as the basis we achieved in 2012 was very good. In the new season, it will primarily be about eliminating the misfortune we were struck by at some of last year’s races, and pointing ourselves further towards the front of the field.”

Over the winter, BMW added a fourth team to its line-up, the new for 2013 MTEK outfit and the team, spearheaded by Formula 1 refugee Timo Glock and fellow rookie Marco Wittmann, will be keen to make an impression in its debut season. Speaking to TouringCarTimes as part of its three-part season preview, Glock made his intentions clear for 2013 as he seeks to make the most of his transition to the DTM with BMW; a company that has supported him since his early racing career.

“BMW allowed me to make the step up from karting to single-seater racing,” he said. “The powers that be recognised my talent back then, so they supported me and in doing so, set me up for the rest of my career. I have not forgotten that.”

The former Jordan, Toyota and Marussia driver also intends to change the perception that F1 drivers cannot adapt to DTM, given the vastly different driving style required from the series.

“I know Formula One drivers have rarely been able to make an impact in the DTM,” he continued. I want to prove I am different and will at some point be challenging for victories – although that may not necessarily be in my first year. [However], we are improving with every lap and I feel right at home in the car now.”

He also paid tribute to the positive working environment that BMW provides; something which stablemate Farfus, described as “one big family”.
“When you consider that we pretty much started from scratch in January, it is amazing what we have achieved so far,” said Glock. “The atmosphere in the team is outstanding and everyone is really eager to perform well in our debut season.”

So things look good for BMW, don’t they? They head into 2013 with the championship triple, the fastest car in the guise of the M3 DTM, an ex-Formula 1 driver as part of the line up and the belief they can pick up from where they finished in 2012.

They probably will, too. Just expect Spengler and Schnitzer to face some stiffer in-house rivalry this season.

BMW line up for 2013:
Car:
BMW M3 DTM
Teams and drivers:
BMW Team Schnitzer: Bruno Spengler #1 (CN)/Dirk Werner #2 (DE)
BMW Team RBM: Augusto Farfus #7 (BR)/Joey Hand #8 (USA)
BMW Team RMG: Martin Tomczyk #15 (DE)/Andy Priaulx #16 (GB)
BMW Team MTEK: Marco Wittmann #21 (DE)/Timo Glock #22 (DE)