Bruno Spengler elated with ‘sensational’ victory
Bruno Spengler has described his and BMW’s performance in Spielberg as ‘sensational’ after the Munich manufacturer claimed its first 1-2-3 since its 2012 DTM return, with Spengler winning from rookie stablemates Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock.
The victory was Spengler’s first since Hockenheim in October last year, and his first of the 2013 season.
Despite Wittmann narrowing the gap to to just 0.8 seconds at one point during the race, the Schnitzer team pitted current DTM champion on lap 41; a move which Spengler believes was decisive in securing the win.
“A one-two-three is simply sensational [as] that does not happen very often in motor racing. We had one of those weekends; a weekend you dream of all the time and for which you spend your entire life working,” said Spengler.
“This victory belongs to BMW Team Schnitzer. I’m really happy.
“The late stop strategy was great and my engineer was amazing this weekend.
However, Spengler, who took the drivers’ championship lead by 12 points from Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller today, insisted the win was not as easy as it seemed.
“At start I pushed hard to get out of the DRS window because I knew I’d get heavily attacked. I managed it, but had to push in the middle of my first stint in order to stay in front
“The track was really green after the rain and I struggled a little bit, but the car always came back in the end.”
The Schnitzer team principal, Charlie Lamm, also paid tribute to his driver and described Spengler’s efforts as ‘fantastic.’
“That was a great race day for us in Spielberg and it is nice to get our first win of the year under our belts.
“Bruno Spengler did another fantastic job, but it was once again a very close affair as it is very competitive out there.
“However, he just keeps on pulling out flawless displays.
“The engineers provided him with a perfect car for the job. It has been our day – our weekend. Everything came together perfectly: the pit stops, strategy, everything.
“That is how racing should be.”
