Bruno Spengler took his first DTM victory of the season at Spielberg and led the all BMW podium. He started from pole position and dominantly made his way to his first win of the season. Canadian Spengler claimed his fifth win with BMW, meaning that he has now scored more than one third of his wins in the series with the marque, despite racing for less than two seasons with the team. Spengler also put his success down to the strategy of his Schnitzer team, with the reigning champion not pitting until lap 40.
“A one-two-three is simply sensational – that does not happen very often in motor racing,” said Spengler. “We had one of those weekends, for which you spend your entire life working. However, it was not as easy as it looked. My pace was very good throughout the entire race, but I had to push in the middle of my first stint in order to stay in front.
“This victory belongs to BMW Team Schnitzer. The strategy, with the late second stop, was the key to the success.”
Spengler moves into the lead of the championship on 53 points, with nearest challenger Mike Rockenfeller on 41 points. Marco Wittmann and ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock joined the new points’ leader on the rostrum. “I haven’t completely arrived in the DTM, but today, I have made a big step – third place in the third race. Mike Rockenfeller built on his good results from the first two rounds and made the best of his five places’ starting grid penalty. In total, the Audi driver made up nine positions. Swede Mattias Ekström finished behind his fellow Audi driver Rockenfeller in fifth place.
1. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW 2. Marco Wittmann MTEK BMW 3. Timo Glock MTEK BMW 4. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 5. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi
