What a weekend for the BMW M4 GT3 EVO at Zandvoort (NED)! René Rast and Marco Wittmann (both GER) celebrated a 1-2 finish in the Sunday race at the third DTM event of the season. Rast set a new DTM record with his pole position for the race. With 26 career poles, he surpassed Bernd Schneider (GER) to become the sole record holder.
Wittmann also reached a significant milestone, competing in his 200th DTM race on Sunday – a mark achieved by only seven other drivers in the series’ history. His second-place finish on the podium was a fitting reward. In the ADAC GT Masters, the BMW M4 GT3 EVO achieved a 1-2 result and a total of four podium finishes.
Schubert Motorsport started the weekend strongly with first and third places in qualifying for the Sunday race, which was held on Friday due to the simultaneous Le Mans test. On Saturday, both drivers struggled on a wet track during the second qualifying session but made impressive comebacks in the race under changing weather conditions. Rast’s comeback ended with a retirement after an accident on a damp track, while Wittmann gained 14 positions to finish sixth.
Sunday’s race remained dry, and both Rast and Wittmann had excellent starts. Wittmann slotted into second place right behind Rast and was able to apply pressure in the final third of the race. However, the order remained unchanged, and both drivers celebrated the 1-2 result together. After the race, Rast complained of headaches and dizziness and was examined at the medical centre and later at a clinic in Haarlem (NED) as a precaution. This examination has given him the green light for his onward journey to Le Mans (FRA). He had hit his head before the race. In the drivers’ standings, Rast moved up to second place with 75 points, 16 points behind leader Lucas Auer (AUT, Mercedes). Wittmann is sixth with 70 points. In the team standings, Schubert Motorsport is third with 139 points.
Wittmann reaches milestone of 200 DTM races.In Sunday’s race at Zandvoort, Wittmann became only the eighth driver in DTM history to reach the milestone of 200 races. Remarkably, all 200 races have been with BMW M Motorsport. Wittmann joined the DTM in 2012 at the age of 22 as a test and reserve driver and has been a full-time driver since 2013. He has won 19 of his 200 races, stood on the podium 47 times, and started from pole position 16 times. Wittmann was crowned champion in 2014 and 2016, both times driving the BMW M4 DTM. His first victory came at the 2014 season opener at Hockenheim (GER), and his most recent win was exactly one year ago in the Sunday race at Zandvoort.
ADAC GT Masters: Stellar weekend for FK Performance Motorsport.The ADAC GT Masters was even more successful for the BMW M Motorsport teams than the DTM. FK Performance Motorsport celebrated a 1-2 result with its two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs on Sunday. Tim Zimmermann (GER) and Leyton Fourie (RSA) triumphed ahead of their teammates Julian Hanses (GER) and Eduardo Coseteng (PHI). On Saturday, Zimmermann and Fourie had already finished second on the podium, while Hanses and Coseteng came fourth. Sandro and Juliano Holzem (both GER) from Schubert Motorsport secured third place in Saturday’s race with their BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Comments on the race weekend:
Björn Lellmann (Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport): “What a fantastic weekend at Zandvoort. The 1-2 result in the DTM was a demonstration of the strength of our BMW M4 GT3 EVO. René Rast made a fantastic comeback after his retirement on Saturday, recovering many of the points he lost with his victory and pole position. Marco Wittmann drove exceptionally strong races on both days. I’m also incredibly thrilled about the results in the ADAC GT Masters. What FK Performance Motorsport achieved this weekend is incredible. A 1-2 finish on Sunday and second and fourth places on Saturday – simply fantastic! Schubert Motorsport also secured a podium finish on Saturday with third place. What more can you say about this weekend? It was simply a dream!”
Torsten Schubert (Team Principal Schubert Motorsport): “With this 1-2 result we’ve put ourselves back in the title race and shown that we’re back. We achieved the maximum, which unfortunately wasn’t the case on Saturday. Marco Wittmann’s sixth place was very good damage control, but more would have been possible if we had taken the risk of starting one car on slicks. Ultimately, it was a 50:50 decision, and like most of the field, we opted for wet tyres. In hindsight, slicks would have been better, but in such situations, it’s easy to get it wrong. Now we head to the Norisring, where we’ve been strong in the past and have already won races. We want to build on that.”
René Rast (#33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3 EVO, R1: DNF, R2: 1st place): “The team did a fantastic job and deserved this victory. For me, it wasn’t an easy race. After hitting my head before the start, I experienced pain during the race. I’m happy that I was able to move up in the drivers’ standings after Saturday’s retirement thanks to the victory. I’m now second and still have every chance to fulfill my ‘Mission 4.’”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, R1: 6th place, R2: 2nd place): “What a team result! We can be very happy with first and second places. René had very strong pace at the start of the race, but in the final stint, the tide turned, and I was able to close the gap. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough for an attack, but with yesterday’s comeback and today’s podium, I’m very satisfied. Celebrating my 200th DTM race on the podium is something truly special.”
