BMW Motorsport has now announced their respective team and driver combinations for the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, as part of the BMW Sports Trophy end of year celebrations at the manufacturers’ global headquarters in Munich.
Current and defending two-time champion, Marco Wittmann, who is the only driver to have taken two titles since the new change in regulations in 2012, will remain at Stefan Reinhold’s Team RMG, along with three-time race winner Timo Glock.
Joining them for next year will be 2013 runner-up Augusto Farfus, after both Team MTEK and Team Schnitzer were recently announced to be moving onto new focuses after the conclusion of the season.
2012 champion Bruno Spengler, who partnered the Brazilian this season at Ernest Knoors’ outfit, will now partner up with both Tom Blomqvist and Maxime Martin at Bert Mampaey’s Team RBM.
This backs up the consistency that the Munich manufacturer has stuck with since the brand’s return to the DTM in 2012, with eight titles over the past five years.
Following their departure from Schnitzer at the end of the 2016 season, Martin Tomczyk and António Félix da Costa will be working alongside Alexander Sims, as part of MTEK’s efforts towards BMW’s entry into the GTE Pro class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2018.
Da Costa will also continue with his efforts in Formula E, as BMW are now supporting the efforts of Andretti Autosport in the fully-electric racing series.
Tomczyk will be racing in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan, alongside John Edwards, who recently took part in the Young Driver Test at Jerez. The 35-year-old will also be taking part in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
Audi Sport have yet to confirm who their drivers will be for 2017, with Mercedes-AMG DTM having only confirmed ex-Ingolstadtler Edoardo Mortara thus far.
Wittmann, who also picked up the “Victory of the Year” award, begins his title defence against 17 other drivers at the 2017 season opener at the Hockenheimring, between the 5th and 7th of May 2017.