Bruno Spengler has admitted that his and BMW’s performance so far in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters – in which he is currently second in the standings – comes as no surprise given the team’s preparation and abilities.
Spengler took his and BMW’s second pole position and win of the 2012 season at the Nürburgring at the weekend, elevating him to second in the driver’s championship and BMW Team Schnitzer to third in the team’s championship.
“Basically, our car is really good – as are the guys at BMW Team Schnitzer,” explained Spengler, 28. “They always want to win, and the same goes for me. That was also my approach to my first season with BMW. However, at the start we did not know how we would compare to the opposition. It relatively quickly became clear we are up there with the front-runners. That is fantastic and shows just how well BMW Motorsport and BMW Team Schnitzer have worked.”
Canadian Spengler is a veteran of the DTM and has twice before finished runner-up in the series, along with finishing third overall in the previous two seasons. He moved to BMW for the start of the 2012 season, having spent seven years with Mercedes-Benz beforehand. Spengler admits that theopportunity to drive for the historic Schnitzer team was too good to miss out on.
“It is and remains an honour for me to drive for BMW Team Schnitzer,” added Spengler. “Even when I was just a kid my father used to rave about Schnitzer. That is pure motorsport history. However, the team is proving week after week that it is still unbelievably strong here and now.
“Only a very few members of the team had any DTM experience prior to the start of the season. However, the team has learned at record speed. We are now consistently completing pit stops in 3 to 3.5 seconds. That is the sign of a top team. Charly [Lamm] is a fantastic team principal. You can sense his experience and he is never anything but cool when pressure situations arise. That never fails to impress me. It means a lot to me that I am now able to add new chapters to the success story of BMW Team Schnitzer.”
Spengler is now 20 points behind Mercedes’ Gary Paffett in the driver’s championship, with 25 points available for winning a race. Spengler is hoping to keep a lid on expectations heading to this weekend’s seventh round of the championship at the Dutch Zandvoort circuit, admitting that he and the team will approach the race weekend like any other.
“I am obviously pleased I am only 20 points behind Gary Paffett,” continued Spengler. “However, we would be well advised to approach the remaining four races in exactly the same way as we have the first six. So far we have managed to find our feet quickly on new circuits. If we pull that off again in Zandvoort and Oschersleben, where the only experience we have is from testing during the early stages of the development of our car, we should be up there with the leaders again. We are taking it one race at a time, then we will see where we end up come the end of the season.”