Bruno Spengler
| Bruno Spengler | |
|---|---|
|
At the Nürburgring in 2006, as a DTM driver. | |
| Nationality |
 Canadian |
| Born |
August 23, 1983 Schiltigheim, France |
| DTM career | |
| Debut season | 2005 |
| Current team | BMW Team MTEK |
| Car no. | 7 |
| Starts | 139 |
| Wins | 14 |
| Poles | 17 |
| Fastest laps | 14 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2012 |
| Finished last season | 15th (51 pts) |
| Previous series | |
| 2003-04 2001-02 |
Formula 3 Euro Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2012 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters |
Bruno Spengler (born August 23, 1983) is an Alsatian-born Canadian BMW factory racing driver, nicknamed 'The Secret Canadian'. He won the 2012 DTM Drivers' Championship.[1]
Career
Early career
Spengler was born near Strasbourg, France but moved with his parents to Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec, Canada, when he was 3.[2][3] He went to school in Canada but continued to go back to France where he started competing in kart racing in 1995.[2] Spengler continued karting in both France and Canada and then moved on to competing in the French Formula Renault.[2] Eventually this led to him being signed by Mercedes-Benz motorsport and in 2003 he was racing for ASM in the Formula Three Euroseries.[2]
DTM
From 2005 until the end of 2011, Spengler drove a Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in Germany. In 2005 he ran with Persson Motorsport and he convinced AMG directors to have an official car in 2006. That year he finished the 2006 season second behind his team mate and five times champion Bernd Schneider.[4] He completed the 2007 season campaign once again in second place, this time behind Audi driver Mattias Ekström, despite Audi's mass pull-out in Barcelona.[5]
In August 2007 he was mentioned in a possible move to the new Prodrive F1 team for 2008, and possibly for a drive with McLaren.[6] Spengler was a leading candidate for an F1 driver's seat based on his performances and also it was thought to help drive up interest in North America for Formula 1.[2] With Prodrive gone and Heikki Kovalainen signed for McLaren, this did not happen for 2008. While leading the DTM in points during the 2010 season, Spengler's name was again brought up as a possible candidate to drive in F1. Norbert Haug Mercedes motorsports director commented that if Spengler were to win the DTM championship he would earn a ride in F1.[3] However, he lost the championship in the last few races to Paul di Resta who went on to drive for Force India in the next F1 season.
For the 2012 season, Spengler left Mercedes and joined BMW Team Schnitzer for the latter's return to DTM.[7] Spengler had a strong season, coming into the last race at the Hockenheimring three points behind leader and Mercedes driver Gary Paffett. He overtook Paffett at the start and held on to win the race. With this victory, his fourth of the season, Spengler took the Driver's Championship by four points and helped Team Schnitzer to the Teams' Championship and BMW to the Manufacturers' Championship.[8]
Racing record
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | ASM F3 | Dallara F303/016 | Mercedes | HOC 1 |
HOC 2 |
ADR 1 |
ADR 2 |
PAU 1 |
PAU 2 |
NOR 1 19† |
NOR 2 Ret |
LMS 1 11 |
LMS 2 3 |
NÜR 1 16 |
NÜR 2 4 |
A1R 1 3 |
A1R 2 7 |
ZAN 1 2 |
ZAN 2 Ret |
HOC 3 6 |
HOC 4 5 |
MAG 1 Ret |
MAG 2 21 |
10th | 34 |
| 2004 | ASL-Mücke Motorsport/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg | Dallara F302/012 | Mercedes | HOC 1 7 |
HOC 2 Ret |
EST 1 10 |
EST 2 10 |
ADR 1 7 |
ADR 1 20 |
PAU 1 6 |
PAU 2 Ret |
NOR 1 8 |
NOR 1 6 |
MAG 1 5 |
MAG 2 3 |
NÜR 1 9 |
NÜR 2 7 |
ZAN 1 13 |
ZAN 2 11 |
BRN 1 11 |
BRN 2 5 |
HOC 1 21† |
HOC 2 9 |
11th | 27 |
† — Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete DTM results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish, but completed 75% of the race distance.
24 Hours of Daytona results
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 |  BMW Team RLL |
Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner Augusto Farfus |
BMW Z4 GTLM | GTLM | 725 | 5th | 2nd |
| 2016 | BMW Team RLL |
Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner Augusto Farfus |
BMW M6 GTLM | GTLM | 721 | 11th | 5th |
References
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-18. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The case for Bruno Spengler". F1 News. November 6, 2007. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- 1 2 Jeff Pappone (November 9, 2010). "Spengler now closer to his Formula One dream". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ↑ http://racing.auto123.com/en/racing/news/index,view.spy?artid=72368[]
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
- ↑ http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19837.html
- ↑ "Bruno Spengler to drive for BMW in the DTM from 2012". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. ITR e.V. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- ↑ Johan Meissner (October 21, 2012). ""Sensational" triple title for BMW and Bruno Spengler". Touring Car Times. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bruno Spengler. |
- Official website (German)
- Bruno Spengler on Twitter
- Bruno Spengler career summary at DriverDB.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Martin Tomczyk |
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Champion 2012 |
Succeeded by Mike Rockenfeller |