Article Summary
- Marco Wittmann finished third on Saturday before winning Sunday’s Nürburgring race.
- The victory was Wittmann’s 20th in DTM and his first since Zandvoort in 2024.
- Wittmann now sits fifth overall for the season, 30 points behind the leader with four races remaining.
Marco Wittmann has placed himself firmly back in contention for the 2026 DTM championship. The BMW M works driver followed a third-place finish on Saturday with victory on Sunday at the Nürburgring, completing his strongest weekend of the season and delivering an important result for Schubert Motorsport. The victory was Wittmann’s first since Zandvoort in 2024 and the 20th of his DTM career. More importantly, it moved the two-time champion into fifth place in the driver standings with 135 points. He now trails the championship leader by 25 points with four races remaining.
Wittmann Scores Two Podiums at the Nürburgring
Wittmann and the #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 Evo #11 finished fourth in qualifying for Saturday’s race — a position that was not squandered. He converted that into a podium, finishing third in the first race as Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli secured the victory. It was already a valuable result after BMW and Schubert Motorsport endured several difficult weekends during the middle of the season. Sunday went even better. Wittmann qualified sixth and moved forward during a chaotic race that began with a multi-car accident in the opening corner. The collision eliminated several contenders, including Wittmann’s BMW teammate Kelvin van der Linde.
Wittman eventually emerged near the front during the final third of the race, although victory was far from secure. Thomas Preining applied pressure in the Porsche before 18-year-old Mercedes-AMG driver Tom Kalender charged forward on fresher tires. Kalender passed Preining for second and closed rapidly on the BMW during the final laps. Wittmann held on, crossing the line only 0.517 seconds ahead to secure the milestone victory. Preining completed the podium. “After some difficult events this season, finally everything went right from Friday onwards,” Wittmann said in BMW’s race report. “Many thanks to my team, who got the strategy spot on and delivered perfect pit stops.”
BMW’s 2026 DTM Season: Inconsistent, But There Is Hope
BMW has now won two races during the 2026 DTM season. Van der Linde scored the first at Zandvoort, where Wittmann also climbed from 13th to finish third. The Zandvoort race is historically strong for BMW overall. Wittmann previously started the year with fifth and second at the Red Bull Ring, establishing himself as BMW’s most consistent early championship contender. However, the following rounds proved more difficult. BMW lacked front-running pace at the Lausitzring, while the Norisring produced a tire failure for Wittmann and a frightening accident for van der Linde. Wittmann salvaged fourth place at Schubert Motorsport’s home race in Oschersleben, but BMW entered the Nürburgring needing a major points haul to remain in the title conversation.
Wittmann delivered exactly that. Schubert Motorsport is now third in the team standings with 201 points, 30 behind the leader. Van der Linde, meanwhile, suffered two retirements at the Nürburgring following a technical problem on Saturday and the start-line accident on Sunday. The DTM season resumes at the Sachsenring in September before concluding with two races at Hockenheim in October. With 25 points separating Wittmann from the championship lead, BMW suddenly has a realistic shot at the driver title again.
