BMW Motorsport’s Bruno Spengler has won the drivers’ title of the BMW Bank M3 DTM in the tenth and final DTM race. It is Spengler’s fourth win of the season, capping an amazing comeback. In addition, BMW got the manufacturers’ title in Hockenheim (DE), while BMW Team Schnitzer finished the season at the top of the team standings after a spectacular finale. Augusto Farfus (BR), who began the race from pole position, took third place to end the season on the podium. Second place went to Gary Paffett (GB, Mercedes), who led the standings while getting into the race. Fifth place went to Dirk Werner (DE, E-POSTBRIEF BMW M3 DTM), scoring 10 crucial points more for Team Principal Charly Lamm’s (DE) outfit. Seventh place went to Andy Priaulx (GB, Crowne Plaza Hotels BMW M3 DTM) while eighth place went to Joey Hand (US, SAMSUNG BMW M3 DTM).
These rankings contributed to BMW’s rise from third to first in the manufacturers’ standings. Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M3 DTM) placed 14th after having his car damaged in the opening round. In an amazing turn of events at the finale, Spengler was able to get past Paffett at the top of the overall standings. The Canadian was able to get into the lead on lap one and it was able to widen its gap from the others. BMW Team Schnitzer certainly helped with this with its outstanding pit stops. Paffett narrowed the gap to Spengler consistently after the second round of pit stops, but he couldn’t catch up to the champion.
