The 2015 DTM season in the BMW Motorsport review

Hockenheim (DE), 18th October 2015. BMW Motorsport can look back on a successful fourth season since returning to the DTM in 2012. With five wins, 19 podiums, seven pole positions and five fastest laps, the BMW M4 DTM has emphatically proven what it is capable of in its second year in the popular touring car series and, in doing so, ensured that BMW finished on top of the Manufacturers’ Championship for the third time in four years. In total, the manufacturer has won seven of a possible 12 titles since 2012.

In our DTM review, we cast our minds back to the year’s top stories and the highlights of an eventful 2015 season from a BMW Motorsport perspective.

Number one again: BMW wins the 2015 Manufacturers’ Championship.
BMW is the most successful manufacturer of the 2015 DTM season. With a grand total of 602 points, the eight BMW drivers out-performed the opposition from Mercedes and Audi for the third time in four years – despite a difficult start to the season: after the first two race weekends in Hockenheim (DE) and at the Lausitzring (DE), BMW had just 48 points and trailed the leaders by 217 points. However, a combination of a dramatic improvement and the performance weight system allowed the BMW teams and drivers to launch a remarkable fight back. Having previously won the title with the BMW M3 DTM in 2012 and 2013, this was the first Manufacturers’ title with the BMW M4 DTM. This latest success means that BMW has now won seven of a possible 12 titles in the past four DTM seasons and has triumphed in at least one championship every year during this time.

No one-hit wonder: BMW Team RMG the most successful BMW crew again in 2015.
The close battle between BMW Team RMG and BMW Team MTEK to end the 2015 DTM season as the best-placed BMW crew in the Team Championship came down to the very last race weekend. In the end, team principal Stefan Reinhold’s (DE) crew came out on top, finishing second in the Team competition with 206 points to confirm emphatically that the title win in 2014 was far from a flash in the pan. RMG drivers Marco Wittmann (DE) and Maxime Martin (BE) both claimed one race win in 2015. Martin was responsible for one of the most special moments of the season when he triumphed at the team’s home event at the Nürburgring (DE). After four years in the DTM, BMW Team RMG now has seven wins, 15 podiums, six pole positions and five fastest laps to its name.

Mr. Podium: Bruno Spengler the most successful BMW driver of 2015.
No win, but still the best-placed BMW driver in the overall DTM standings in 2015: Bruno Spengler (CA) was a picture of consistency in the BMW Bank M4 DTM, ending the season fifth in the Drivers’ Championship despite not once making it onto the very top step of the podium. The 2012 DTM champion stepped onto the podium on six occasions this year. It all started with third place in the Sunday race at the Norisring (DE), where the Canadian claimed BMW’s first top-three finish of the season. He followed this with third-place finishes in Zandvoort (NL), Moscow (RU) and at the Nürburgring (DE), as well as second places in Moscow and Oschersleben (DE).

Flying youngster: Tom Blomqvist is “Rookie of the Year”.
The 2015 DTM season once again showed that BMW Motorsport has a knack of discovering talented young drivers. Tom Blomqvist (GB) became the fourth BMW driver in a row to win the unofficial title of “Rookie of the Year”. Blomqvist follows in the footsteps of Augusto Farfus (2012), Marco Wittmann (2013) and Maxime Martin (2014). The highlight of the season for the BMW Team RBM driver was his victory in Sunday’s race in Oschersleben (DE). However, Blomqvist impressed across the board. He qualified in the top ten on nine occasions and finished in the points six times.

Historic triumph: top-seven lock-out for BMW in Zandvoort. 
A first for the DTM record books. The Saturday race in Zandvoort (NL) saw BMW claim the first ever top-seven lock-out. Marco Wittmann (DE) crossed the finish line first, followed by António Félix da Costa (PT), Maxime Martin (BE), Augusto Farfus (BR), Bruno Spengler (CA), Timo Glock (DE) and Tom Blomqvist (GB). Only once before the race in Zandvoort had one manufacturer claimed the top six positions in the DTM. BMW does have three top-five lock-outs to its name in the DTM – one of which came in Sunday’s race in Zandvoort. The other two quintuple successes for BMW came in Diepholz (DE) in 1990 and at the 1992 finale in Hockenheim (DE).

The comeback king: Martin Tomczyk makes up 15 places at the Nürburgring. 
Nowhere was the outstanding fighting spirit of BMW Team Schnitzer driver Martin Tomczyk (DE) more apparent than in Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring (DE): the previous day he had been forced to watch from the sidelines, as technical issues meant his BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM was unable to start the race. Tomczyk then had to start Sunday’s race from the very back of the grid. Despite this difficult starting position, the experienced driver worked his way through the field one place at a time, eventually coming home in ninth place to score valuable points – just reward for his attitude and the tireless commitment of BMW Team Schnitzer.