The BMW Schnitzer team after winning the 2012 Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft championship. [Photos Provided to China Daily]

Driver Bruno Spengler won at Hockenheim in the latest BMW M3.

Following 20-year hiatus, prevails in prestigious German championship series

The German Touring Car Championship, one of the most popular series in motorsport, will kick off a new season in just two weeks at the fabled Hockenheim racetrack.

About half a year ago at the same venue, Canadian driver Bruno Spengler, a member of the BMW Schnitzer team, claimed the 2012 championship in the series known in German as the Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft.

The win wrapped up an outstanding comeback season for BMW Motorsport after a 20-year absence from the DTM. Though the company just returned in 2012, it won three titles.

In addition to the driver's title, BMW also won the manufacturer's division and team BMW Schnitzer ended the season on top of the standings.

Following in the footsteps of Volker Strycek (1984), Eric van de Poele (1987) and Roberto Ravaglia (1989), Spengler became the fourth driver to clinch the DTM title in a BMW car.

"I was definitely very proud to be the champion for BMW after the brand was away for 20 years," the 30-year-old Spengler told China Daily in a recent interview.

Winning the championship in the first year of a comeback "just shows what kind of an amazing brand BMW is and what BMW can do", he said.

The triumph last year was also exciting for former champion Ravaglia.

"My last race (in 1992) was in Hockenheim with team BMW Schnitzer in a BMW M3 and also in October - the same conditions when they won again," said the Italian driver.

Both Spengler and Ravaglia said the BMW M3 racecars they drove to victory are very competitive. The most successful touring car of all time, it now has 46 DTM titles to its name.

"Our BMW M3 from the 1980s and 1990s was a dominant force in terms of power and handling," Ravaglia said.

"I will always remember our very first season with the BMW M3 in 1987, and I knew this is a special car and it will claim many wins."

The new BMW M3 in the 2012 DTM was specially built for the tour. It has a carbon-fiber monocoque with integrated tank and steel roll cage.

It is powered by a 32-valve, 4-liter aspirated V8 engine that delivers 480 horsepower.