Schubert Motorsport experienced a rollercoaster ride at the sixth DTM race weekend of the season at the Sachsenring (GER). In the qualifying sessions, all three BMW M4 GT3s struggled, but impressive comebacks followed in the races.
Laura Claesgens
BMW Group
Sachsenring. Schubert Motorsport experienced a rollercoaster ride at the sixth DTM race weekend of the season at the Sachsenring (GER). In the qualifying sessions, all three BMW M4 GT3s struggled, but impressive comebacks followed in the races. René Rast (GER) gained 13 positions in Saturday's race to finish seventh. On Sunday, he improved by eleven places to finish ninth. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) also made it into the top ten in both races. Marco Wittmann (GER) was very unlucky.
Rast faced the most significant issues of the three BMW M works drivers in both qualifying sessions and had to start from last position in the races. However, he capitalised on the good race pace of his #33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3 and made up a total of 24 positions over the weekend. This resulted in a seventh-place finish on Saturday and ninth place on Sunday.
Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) fared better in his #31 Shell BMW M4 GT3 during the qualifying, starting from 13th and 10th places. He improved several positions on Saturday, and his eighth place on Sunday was particularly remarkable, as he had to recover from a nearly hopeless position due to a punctured tyre early in the race. He never gave up and managed to fight back into the top ten after a safety car period.
Marco Wittmann (GER) encountered extreme misfortune at the Sachsenring. On Saturday, he was involved in a start collision that damaged the front of his #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3. Despite the lack of downforce affecting his performance, he managed to finish the race in 13th place. On Sunday, after an excellent first stint from 19th and a promising pit stop, he was within reach of a top-five finish. However, he became an innocent victim of a collision involving Rast and Jordan Pepper (RSA, Lamborghini) behind him, which the race stewards deemed a normal racing incident.
Thanks to the strong comebacks, Schubert Motorsport was able to defend its lead in the DTM team standings. With 273 points, the team from Oschersleben (GER) holds a 22-point lead ahead of the remaining race weekends at the Red Bull Ring (AUT) and the Hockenheimring (GER).
Comments after the races:
Björn Lellmann (Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport): “It's hard to put this DTM race weekend into words. On the plus side, the race pace was very strong for all BMW M4 GT3s. Our drivers managed to overtake the most competitors on the track. Thanks to the fighting spirit and the points scored, things look very good for Schubert Motorsport in the team standings. Unfortunately, our guys lost ground in the drivers' standings. The main reason for this is, of course, the weakness in qualifying. There's a lot of work ahead for the team and drivers in this area, as starting the races from much further ahead would be a big help in the title fight. Marco Wittmann's experience at the Sachsenring painfully showed how quickly accidents can happen when you have to fight through the field.”
René Rast (#33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3): ”It's obviously good to see that our car works well in the races and we can make up a lot of ground, but that's of no use if we can't find the pace in qualifying and have to start from so far back. We definitely need to understand and get a handle on this problem. I'm sorry about the accident on Sunday for Marco and Jordan. I had a good run out of the last corner and wanted to overtake Jordan. When I committed to the inside for the overtaking manoeuvre, he also moved inside, and I hit him. That was very unfortunate, but a racing incident.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 GT3): “I'm very proud of my guys' performance this weekend. I think we got the most out of the possibilities available to us here. There's nothing you can do about a tyre puncture like that; it happens. Nevertheless, we take a lot of positives with us looking forward to the upcoming events.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3): “The weekend was extremely frustrating. When you get hit as hard as I did on Sunday in turn one, there's nothing you can do. That's even more annoying because we were having a very good race up to that point. We had good tyre management and pace and were on a similar strategy to my win at Zandvoort. The plan for the second stint was to keep attacking and maybe even go for the top five. That's why the retirement is brutally disappointing.“
