After a 16-year tenure in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, BMW Motorsport’s Martin Tomczyk has confirmed his departure from the series at the end of the current campaign, in an interview with German publication Auto Bild Motorsport.
To date, the German has 169 career starts in the DTM, seven race wins, 28 podiums and eight pole positions to his credit. 60 of those starts were with BMW, who he joined in 2012 when the Munich manufacturer made their return after a 20-year hiatus.
The 34-year-old joined the series back in 2001 with Hans-Jürgen Abt’s Abt Sportsline Junior team, and in 2011, took his first and only driver’s title with Ernst Moser’s Team Phoenix.
“At some point, the decision was made that 16 years were very nice and cool in the DTM, but now it’s enough,” explained Tomczyk, who has admitted that he is not retiring from racing just yet.
He has also competed for BMW Motorsport in GT racing, which included outings with Team Schubert and ROAL Motorsport respectively at both the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps this very season, which is the direction the Rosenheim driver will be heading in the future.
“After my decision was made, I have found a great way where I can continue to work together with BMW, as a new passion has blossomed.”
Tomczyk started his work with BMW in the DTM with Stefan Reinhold’s Team RMG, before spending the last four seasons at Charly Lamm’s Team Schnitzer, partnering both 2012 champion, Bruno Spengler, and Portugal’s António Félix da Costa for the last two seasons.
TouringCars.Net would like to wish Martin all the very best of luck in his future racing endeavours.