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.
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.”
