Press Release

  • Motorsport

Unbeatable in the pit lane – BMW Team MTEK wins Hankook’s Best Pit Stop Award 2016

The BMW Team MTEK is the pit stop champion of the DTM season 2016. The MTEK crew, with Bruno Spengler at the wheel, delivered the fastest tyre change times over the past season in the final reckoning in the Best Pit Stop competition sponsored by Hankook. The exclusive DTM partner is presenting this coveted award for the sixth time since joining the hugely popular international touring cars series in 2011. It is a prize honouring the important work done by those in the pit lane. Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook’s Motorsport Director for Europe, presented the Hankook trophy to the winning team at the team’s headquarters in Garching near Munich on December 8, 2016.
Unbeatable in the pit lane – BMW Team MTEK wins Hankook’s Best Pit Stop Award 2016

Neu-Isenburg/Germany, December 12, 2016– With the fastest pit stop during the DTM final in Hockenheim, the BMW Team MTEK clocked up 110 points and thus sealed their overall victory in the Best Pit Stop Award 2016. During the nine rated Sunday races where a compulsory pit stop was specified, the successful BMW mechanics managed the fastest tyre change of the day on three occasions, making them the team with the most individual successes. The Mercedes-AMG Team HWA with Paul Di Resta came second, 23 points behind the winners, with the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline with Miguel Molina taking third spot.

The success of the BMW Team MTEK was the second time the Hankook Best Pit Stop Award has gone to a team from the Munich-based car manufacturer. Driver Bruno Spengler, whose BMW Team Schnitzer won the prize in 2013, is delighted to be receiving the prize again. “Tyre changing is extremely important. If time is lost here, even two or three tenths of a second, they can prove very difficult to catch up on the track where everything is unbelievably tight. I can only make up a little time entering and leaving the pit lane, but that is an absolute minimum. The guys do a fantastic job and have really earned this great award. My share is certainly no more than ten percent,” the 2012 DTM Champion explains. Hankook Motorsport Director for Europe, Manfred Sandbichler, agrees. “The fans usually see the drivers and cannot always estimate how important the work behind the scenes is as well. If there are problems during a pit stop, the mechanics are quickly held responsible. If everything goes to plan, it’s often seen as just being part of the job. With our Best Pit Stop Award, we would like to honour the great performance delivered by the pit crew, without which no driver can be successful, either in the DTM or any other motorsport for that matter.”

Premium tyre maker Hankook has been awarding the popular and coveted team award since its DTM première in 2011. The points in this competition are allocated according to the DTM rules per vehicle and are not added up within the teams. After each race, the fastest crew is awarded 25 points for the car (2nd -10th place are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 points respectively) and gets three crates of beer the following DTM weekend. The evaluation is based on the times determined officially by the DMSB from entering the pit lane to leaving it again. At the end of the year, the winning team receives a crystal trophy from the exclusive DTM tyre partner Hankook. This challenge cup depicts a stylised pit stop scene and must be returned at the beginning of the new season. In addition, Hankook hosts an exclusive barbecue at the team’s headquarters.

Previous overall winners of the Hankook DTM Best Pit Stop Award:

2011: Audi Sport Team Phoenix

2012: Audi Sport Team Abt

2013: BMW Team Schnitzer

2014: Mercedes-AMG Team HWA

2015: Audi Sport Team Abt

2016: BMW Team MTEK

Hankook Tire manufactures globally innovative, award-winning radial tyres of proven superior quality for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, RVs, trucks, and buses as well as motorsports (circuit racing/street circuits/rallies).

Aspiring to bring consumers the utmost excellence in product quality, technological excellence and driving satisfaction, Hankook Tire continuously invests in research and development maintaining five R&D centres and eight production facilities around the world. Bespoke tyre solutions for the European markets as well as European Original Equipment according to the requirements of leading premium car manufacturers, are developed in the company’s regional Technical Centre in Hanover/Germany. Production for the European region is taking place in the state-of-the-art manufacturing site in Rácalmás/Hungary which was inaugurated in June 2007 and is continuously being expanded.

Hankook Tire’s European headquarters are located in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The manufacturer operates further branches in several European countries and sells its products through regional distributors in other local markets. Hankook Tire employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and sells products in over 160 countries. The company has been the technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier of the Generation 3 for the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship since 2023. Internationally leading car manufacturers rely on tyres made by Hankook for their original equipment. Approximately 38 percent of the company's global sales are generated within the European region.

For more information please visit www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com or www.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Marketing Communications Europe | Siemensstr. 14, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany

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Unbeatable in the pit lane – BMW Team MTEK wins Hankook’s Best Pit Stop Award 2016

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Contacts

Sabine Riedel

PR Manager Marketing Communications

 +49 (0) 6102 8149-178

Sabine Riedel

PR Manager Marketing Communications

 +49 (0) 6102 8149-178

Lisa Schmid

PR Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (0) 6102 8149-172

Alexander Nevinny-Stickel

PR Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (0) 6102 8149-173

Annika Malcherek

Annika Malcherek

Digital Lead Marketing Communications

+49 (0) 6102 8149-176

Stefan Prohaska

Stefan Prohaska

Digital Marketing Communications

 +49 (0) 6102 8149-171

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