BMW: Zanardi better off focusing on endurance, no further DTM plans
BMW says it has no further plans to run Alex Zanardi in the DTM and believes endurance racing remains a better fit for the ex-Formula 1 and CART driver

Zanardi finished a sensational fifth in an additional seventh BMW M4 DTM entry with special hand controls in the second night race at Misano last weekend.
BMW motorsport boss Jens Marquardt praised Zanardi for his performances at Misano, especially given his limited testing experience, but believes the 51-year-old would be better off focusing on sportscars than further DTM outings.
Zanardi is already scheduled to race in next year's Daytona 24 Hours in an adapted BMW M8 GTE.
Marquardt said: "To have him compete in a full season, also with his other commitments; obviously the 2020 Paralympics are coming onto the horizon, Ironman...
"With all respect to Alex - and we all know he always says, 'I'm like a red wine, getting better every year!' - he's the same age as I am! It's a super-tight field [in DTM].
"What we have seen is a really impressive performance, but I think the endurance stuff we are planning with him is really an easier application and an easier task for him than the sprint set-up we have here."

Zanardi said his packed media schedule was such that he "didn't have time to fart", when asked if he could foresee being involved in the DTM full-time.
"I am an old man: I can take it one week a year, not week in, week out!" he added.
"If they want me to be involved, they would have to work out a different programme. If I could only drive [DTM], yes, I would love to."
Zanardi is the second of three guest drivers appearing in the DTM this season, following the retired Mattias Ekstrom's Hockenheim outing at the start of the season with Audi.
Five-time World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier will join the field at the Red Bull Ring next month, making his series debut in a Mercedes.
Marquardt described the DTM's new-for-2018 guest driver initiative as a "positive" for the series and said he expects it to continue into '19.
"We will discuss together but I don't see why this shouldn't carry over into next year," he said.
"It really makes sense, for the spectators it's a very good experience."

Previous article
Audi commits to DTM for 2019 but needs third manufacturer for '20
Next article
BMW joins Audi in ruling out Mercedes drivers for 2019 DTM season

About this article
Series | DTM |
Author | Julia Spacek |
BMW: Zanardi better off focusing on endurance, no further DTM plans
Trending
The slow-burner threatening to unseat Audi's DTM king
It's taken him a while to emerge as a consistent title challenger, but in the final year of DTM's Class One rule set, Nico Muller has smoothed the rough edges and has double champion stablemate Rene Rast working harder than ever to keep up in the title race
How a DTM failure became an unlikely Nurburgring conqueror
Opel's fortunes in the DTM had taken a turn for the worst by 2003 - hardly the pedigree that suggested it could take on the toughest 24-hour race of them all. But that's exactly what it did
The season that revitalised a sleeping giant
On the 20th anniversary of the resumption of hostilities in the DTM, Autosport revisits a classic season that brought a staple of German motorsport back to life with a bang and set in motion the careers of some notable names
Does 2000 hold the answers to DTM's current crisis?
It's 20 years since the DTM roared back into life at a packed Hockenheim with a back-to-basics approach as the antidote to its high-tech past. Now it's on its knees again, so is it time to recall the lessons learned in 2000?
The last-chance saloon of Germany's forgotten tin-top champions
The Opel Vectra GTS was the last in the line of the marque's DTM challengers, but failed to hit the lofty heights of its predecessors when financial constraints hit
Ranking the 10 best Audi DTM drivers
Audi last week announced it would be exiting the DTM at the end of 2020, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of continuous participation since the series' reboot in 2000. Autosport's expert panel ranks its 10 best drivers from the period
How the DTM landed itself in crisis
Audi's announcement that it will withdraw from the DTM was the latest bodyblow for a series that has lost three manufacturers in as many years. Some major soul-searching will now be required to assess how it can survive
The FE cynic who had to accept change in his series
DTM boss Gerhard Berger was an ardent detractor of Formula E and was reluctant for his series to embrace greener engine technologies. But this cynic's tune has had to change to ensure the DTM's existence in the future of motorsport