The BMW Motorsport driver line-up for the coming DTM season is complete: Tom Blomqvist will race in the popular touring car series at the wheel of the eighth BMW M4 DTM in 2015. Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann, Maxime Martin, Augusto Farfus, Bruno Spengler, Martin Tomczyk, Timo Glock and António Félix da Costa had previously been confirmed as drivers at the traditional BMW Motorsport Season Review on 5th December.
Blomqvist was on track in the BMW M4 DTM for the first time at a test in Jerez de la Frontera at the start of December, where he and other debutants gained their first experience in a DTM racing car. The 21-year-old made an excellent impression, making a great case for the one vacant cockpit for the 2015 season.
“We are delighted to welcome another very promising youngster into our ranks, in the form of Tom Blomqvist,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Tom was extremely impressive at the test in Jerez, and comes to us with a wealth of experience from Formula 3. I am confident he has everything he needs to find his feet quickly in the DTM. With his likeable personality he is definitely a great asset to our line-up. We have done well with our choice of rookies so far. We will support Tom to the best of our ability to be successful from the word go in 2015.”
“I cannot put into words just how delighted I am to have been signed up by BMW Motorsport,” said Blomqvist. “After the test in Spain, I was able to envisage just how it would feel to be a BMW works driver and regularly push myself to the limit in the BMW M4 DTM. Now I have the opportunity to do just that – and it’s just fantastic. I’m really proud to be a member of the BMW Motorsport family now. As well as the exciting sporting prospects, I was also immediately impressed by the great team spirit and the way I was made to feel so welcome at the test.”
As the son of Swedish rally legend Stig Blomqvist, who won the World Championship in 1984, Tom literally has motorsport in his genes. However, the youngster was not drawn to the rallying scene after initially gaining experience and enjoying success on the karting circuit, but to single-seater racing. He impressed in Formula Renault in 2009, before winning the title in the British Formula Renault championship one year later – at just 16, he became the youngest driver in the history of the series to win the title.
Outings in the German Formula 3 Cup ultimately led Blomqvist to the Formula 3 Euro Series, In 2010 he made a guest start in the Formula BMW Pacific junior racing series in Macau (CN), and promptly finished third at the wheel of the Formula BMW FB02.
Despite still being in the early stages of his career, Blomqvist has already come to learn the dark side of motorsport, suffering a broken lumbar vertebra in a race at the Lausitzring (DE) in 2011, which brought his season to a premature end. However, he returned stronger than ever from this injury, and set about working his way to the top of Formula 3. In the 2014 season he scored 420 points, winning six races and stepping on the podium 15 times. At the end of the season he finished runner-up overall.
BMW Press Release