"More than we could have expected" - Theissen

By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 27 2006

In its maiden season, the BMW Sauber F1 Team already succeeded in securing two podium finishes. In our Track Talk, BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen talks about the team's goals for the remainder of the season.

Dear motor racing enthusiasts, Our performances in the last three Grands Prix show that we are in the ascendancy. Nick's third place in qualifying at Monza and the two podium places - through Nick in Hungary and Robert in Italy - are a good deal more than we could have expected in our first season. It's still a new experience for our team to be cheering our own driver on the podium. But it's a great feeling! With three races of the season to go, we're in fifth place in the constructors' standings. That also puts us ahead of schedule, but defending this position will not be easy. The up-coming circuits will present us with fundamentally different challenges from Monza, where we looked in great shape. Now the aim is to take the momentum we've built up with us to Asia, get into the top-ten again in qualifying and pick up points in the race itself. The sheer expanse of the Shanghai facility was still extremely impressive on our second visit there in 2005. Handing China a round of the World Championship opened up a new dimension for all the companies involved in Formula One. The Chinese market has huge growth potential for the BMW Group, for example, with business up 36 percent on the same period the previous year in 2005, and by as much as 41 percent in 2006. BMW has its own production plant in China, where the 3 Series and 5 Series are built. Kind regards, Mario Theissen