Nürburgring. The unpredictable weather in the Eifel region once again caused difficulties for the BMW M Motorsport teams during the DTM race weekend at the Nürburgring (GER). Particularly on Sunday, the BMW M4 GT3 couldn’t fully exploit its speed due to the wrong tire strategy by the Schubert Motorsport and Project 1 teams in extremely challenging weather conditions. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Marco Wittmann, and René Rast (both GER) opted for slick tires as the track seemed to be drying out, only for the rain to return a few laps later and drop them down the rankings. Wittmann and van der Linde managed to score some points on Saturday.
On Sunday, the BMW M Motorsport teams took a risk when they believed the track was drying up at the start of the race. Van der Linde and Rast chose to use slick tires, and Wittmann followed suit after the first warm-up lap. Meanwhile, the rest of the field started with wet-weather tires. Initially, the three BMW M works drivers fell behind on the damp surface, but as conditions improved, they were able to make progress.
If the weather had remained stable until the pit-stop window opened 20 minutes into the race, the tire gamble might have paid off. However, a rain shower about 15 minutes into the race foiled their strategy. The BMW trio lost so much time in the laps leading up to the regular pit stop that a points finish became unattainable. Wittmann finished 16th, with van der Linde and Rast in 17th and 19th positions, respectively. On his debut DTM weekend, Sandro Holzem (GER) was the highest-placed BMW driver in 15th position, earning his first DTM point. The second Project 1 driver had started on wet-weather tires. This unfortunate weather luck was particularly disappointing for van der Linde and Wittmann, who had qualified in second and fifth place, respectively.
On Saturday’s race, both Wittmann and van der Linde reached the top ten, finishing sixth and seventh. Despite struggling in qualifying, both drivers performed well in the chase. Wittmann climbed from tenth on the grid to sixth, while van der Linde made an even stronger comeback after starting 15th and at times had the fastest car on the track. Rast finished 20th, just ahead of Holzem.
Reactions to the DTM weekend at the Nürburgring:
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW M4 GT3, Project 1): “Overall, we made decent progress this weekend and earned good points on Saturday as the highest-placed BMW. After qualifying on Sunday, things looked very promising. Unfortunately, the team and I made the wrong strategy decision at the start of the race. We thought the dry conditions would last longer, so we switched to slick tires after the warm-up lap. It helped me be the fastest car in the early laps, but when the rain returned, our strategy fell apart. It’s very disappointing, but sometimes these things happen.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “Naturally, I’m disappointed that we made the wrong tire choice on Sunday, especially after starting the day well with second place in qualifying. Unfortunately, our strategy mistake cost us a lot of points. On Saturday, I had a positive comeback from 15th on the grid to finish seventh, showing that we had good pace.”
René Rast (#33 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “This time, it hardly seemed worth traveling to the Nürburgring. It was a weekend to forget. We made the wrong tire strategy in both races, robbing us of any chance of scoring points. On Saturday, it started raining, so we switched to wet-weather tires. Just as I seemed to be improving, the rain stopped. On Sunday, it was the complete opposite. It’s disappointing, but sometimes you have those kinds of weekends.”