The BMW M Motorsport team had a tough start to their title defence in the DTM season opener at Oschersleben in Germany. Despite their best efforts, the BMW M4 GT3 was unable to compete for top positions, making it difficult to make up positions on the tight circuit where overtaking is challenging.

The best results for BMW M Motorsport came from Schubert Motorsport at their home race, with René Rast finishing fifth on Saturday and Sheldon van der Linde, the reigning DTM champion, finishing eleventh on Sunday. Marco Wittmann, on the other hand, retired from both races.

Schubert Motorsport used the race weekend to treat their guests to a diverse programme of events off the racetrack, including the handover of a limited-edition BMW M4 DTM Champion Edition to van der Linde by the team’s principal, Torsten Schubert, BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel, and Head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos. The Champion Edition, based on a BMW M4 Competition, boasts a special design inspired by the colours of van der Linde’s BMW M4 GT3.

Andreas Roos, the Head of BMW M Motorsport, acknowledged that the Oschersleben race was not the start to the season that they had hoped for. He assured that they would analyse the data and prepare for the next race weekend at Zandvoort, particularly taking a closer look at the damage to René Rast’s car.

René Rast was pleased with his performance, managing to match the pace of van der Linde and Wittmann during Saturday’s qualifying session and finishing fifth on the race debut as a BMW M works driver. Sheldon van der Linde acknowledged that it was a difficult weekend for the team, and they needed to work on their qualifying performance. Marco Wittmann lamented the disadvantage caused by his car’s top speed and the penalty that impacted his chances of scoring points.