BMW Team RMG driver Bruno Spengler commanded the Sunday DTM race at the Norisring leading from the first lap and holding first place after his mandatory stop, however he admitted it wasn’t all cool in the cockpit.
The Canadian, who has now scored a record five wins at the 2.3km Nuremburg street circuit, took the lead after executing a perfect cutback on three drivers at the Grundig Hairpin.
“My start was quite good,” explained the 2012 DTM champion, “I was P4 just before T1 and then the three guys in front of me were a bit close together and they touched slightly eachother.
“I had a very good exit and could overtake the three of them.
“It was a bit unexpected but felt very good.”
From then onwards, Spengler was the class of the field, eventually leading Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green by five seconds at the line.
“I knew I was not allowed to do the slightest mistake,” he explained, “The race developed very well because I had good pace, my car was amazing.
“I could push all the time which makes the difference here at the Norisring. If you can push you’re going to be fast.”
However, the Canadian admitted he was not completely at ease with his lead after race one was all but decided by an early safety car.
Spengler was one of the last drivers to pit, making his mandatory stop on lap 37, meaning he was vulnerable to losing position because of a safety car intervention for over half the race.
“Until my stop I was just thinking about the safety car,” the BMW driver revealed, “I was just thinking is it going to come.
“As soon as there was a yellow flag it’s like oh my god is the safety car going to come out!
“It feels very nice to have a normal race that just happens like a race should be.
“We’ve had a lot of safety cars in the past which I understand, but today it just felt good to have a normal race and be able to push to the end.”