António Félix da Costa “speechless” after maiden DTM win

Since being signed to the BMW Motorsport family for the beginning of last year’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) season, it would only be a matter of time before Team Schnitzer’s António Félix da Costa would show his class as a top driver in the series.

Today saw the young Red Bull-backed driver take not only his maiden pole position, but would also see the Portuguese ace take his maiden win in the DTM.

Da Costa, who also took his first win in the FIA Formula E Championship with Amlin Aguri in Buenos Aires earlier this year, could only describe his successes this weekend as “fantastic.”

“My first podium in the DTM yesterday was fantastic enough,” explained the 23-year-0ld, who finished runner-up in yesterday’s race to defending champion Marco Wittmann.

“But today was just perfect, with pole position and my first win. I am enjoying every moment. I have come through a difficult time. I would like to thank BMW Motorsport for the support – and thanks to the guys at BMW Team Schnitzer, of course. I am now really looking forward to the home race of my Red Bull BMW M4 DTM in Spielberg.”

Da Costa’s win at Zandvoort was also the end of a winless streak for Charly Lamm’s Team Schnitzer, who had their last win over two years ago at the Red Bull Ring, thanks to Bruno Spengler.

“That feels fantastic. The DTM is so fiercely competitive, and it is so extremely difficult to win that it comes as an enormous relief to be back on the top step of the podium after over two years,” explained Lamm, whose Freilassing-based outfit also had its fair share of downs, with Martin Tomczyk failing to finish in both races.

“I am delighted for everyone in the team. Everyone has worked incredibly hard. António crowned a perfect weekend with victory on Sunday. He deserved that success. I feel sorry for Martin Tomczyk, who got off to a very good start in both races and could have scored a lot of points.”

Zandvoort is a track that has recently been unkind to the 2011 champion, who was happy for his team mate, but had hoped for better luck this weekend, especially after an impressive start in race two.

“My start was excellent and I gained five places. Timo Glock was just in front of me, and he finished fourth. So it could have been a good result. However, Lucas Auer held up the entire bunch on his used tyres,” explained the 33-year-old. “In that kind of situation, you get five or six cars in very close proximity. I was stuck in a sandwich, was shoved from behind and made contact with Miguel Molina. That released the fastening on my bonnet. That was it for me.

“Despite this it was generally a dream weekend for BMW, even if I personally left empty-handed. To see my BMW Team Schnitzer and my team-mate António winning here makes me really happy. Congratulations!”