BMW secured its first DTM title since 2016 with a team new to the series and a brand-new car, with Sheldon van der Linde delivering the goods. Season review:
Photo by: DTM
Neither Schubert driver scored in race one at Spa after changeable conditions in qualifying left them line astern in 22nd and 23rd. But van der Linde was in inspired form for race two, leading from his front-row grid slot until a slow tyre stop dropped him behind Nick Cassidy's Ferrari. Mental strength in responding to setbacks, Schmidt believes, is one of van der Linde's best traits.
That was evidenced again after van der Linde's worst weekend of the year at the Red Bull Ring, where Schmidt believes BMW had a less than optimal BoP to ensure the championship went to the Hockenheim finale. Van der Linde earned a nine-place grid drop for excessive track limits abuse in the dry opener, which he finished 11th, before spinning on the opening lap of a soaking race two.
A battling run to third in the finale was enough for van der Linde to secure the crown, the culmination of"a childhood dream of mine ever since I was four or five years old". It was also a high-water mark in Schubert's BMW story, the team having returned to the marque after a brief dalliance with Honda in 2018 when, Schmidt says,"some personnel changed at BMW and relationships started getting better again".
"Absolutely," Schmidt agrees, when asked about his driver's comment."Especially when you work with a new car, you have to be a bit more open and try things. At some points it paid off, and some points it was the wrong direction, but that was quite important to learn so quickly about the car. If you have just one direction, then maybe you are lost.
Without suffering a puncture apiece at Spa, there's a case to be made that either one of Lucas Auer or Rene Rast could have been the 2022 DTM champion.
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