Out of the three rookies that made their début in this year’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) championship, Tom Blomqvist was the third successive driver from BMW to take top rookie honours.
The Briton followed in the footsteps of last year’s champion Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin, as well as taking his maiden win at the second race at Oschersleben.
“Over the course of the year, I think, overall, we’ve done a really decent job. It has been a season of two halves, as the first was learning the ropes, understanding what this championship was about,” explained the Formula Three graduate to TouringCars.net after the last race of the year, where he finished 17th.
“The second half [of the season] from Moscow onward was pretty decent for me, as I was able to get into the points. That was positive, and it was a matter of learning, as it is very different coming from single seaters.”
He admitted that getting a win in the DTM in his maiden season was something he “was never expecting,” as he would eventually finish 14th overall in the drivers’ standings, ahead of fellow stablemate Timo Glock, who also took a win this year.
“We made the most of our situation, because we haven’t been the quickest; its only been the case on a couple of weekends, Zandvoort and Oschersleben,” said the 21-year-old about the efforts by the Munich marque to re-secure the manufacturer’s crown for the first time since 2012.
“We have consolidated, and this weekend we made the most of it. We’ve made sure that things haven’t caught us out that much.”
Blomqvist also has a good ally at Bart Mampaey’s Belgium-based squad, where he took the place of Joey Hand alongside Augusto Farfus, who was the runner-up in the drivers’ title race in 2013.
“I’m really lucky to have him as a teammate, as not only is he is super quick, but also it drives me on,” explained Blomqvist about his Brazilian colleague. “We can drive the car forwards, and have the best qualifying pace. We have had a few results, and some silly things that have caught us out. And he’s a really nice guy as well.
“Bart’s a great guy and I really get on with the boys at RBM. Joey was finding it quite tough, and they had to change things up. It’s a bit of a different challenge for him, but I think they’re enjoying it.”
The welcome addition of Blomqvist to the BMW ranks have paid dividends, helping Jens Marquardt’s outfit to take five wins this season, as well as being able to deliver great qualifying performances, with his best being second place in Oschersleben for race two.
The future in the DTM for this young Briton is clearly a lot brighter with a great début in the series, after what has been an outstanding year for him.