It was the big news on the first day of the DTM Series weekend at the Nürburgring: Martin Tomczyk will leave the series after 16 years.
The Rosenheim-born driver complained about the series “becoming too technical and political, when the normal thing for a motor sport professional is to achieve things by pure skill,” and will now look to GT racing to further his career.
Since becoming a part of the BMW Schnitzer squad, Tomczyk has had two top 10 finishes in 2010 and 2014, but in 2015 and the current season, the German has had a terrible slump in his performance. In a moment when it’s certain that the series will reduce their number of cars for 2017, the decision to move on to another series seems adequate for Tomczyk.
Tomczyk will keep on racing at an international level. Credit: AC Photocorse
The final destination of the German driver looks to be a GT3 program with a BMW M6 – probably in Europe – which in its first year on track achieved an important victory at the Spa 24 Hours race, among others. There was a rumour of a possible Le Mans ‘Garage 56’ project but BMW Motorsport Director, Jens Marquardt, claimed the hybrid technology Audi, Toyota and Porsche are using in none of their priorities.
Tomczyk spent ten years in the Audi ABT squad, before being demoted to the year-old Phoenix cars in 2011. Precisely, that year he got three victories and five other podiums that granted him his biggest achievement to date – the DTM Series crown.
