Bruno Spengler will race for BMW in the 2012 DTM championship, the Munich-based manufacturer confirmed on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old French-Canadian has long been linked to a switch from Mercedes, with whom he has won nine times in the category since making his series debut in 2005. Spengler becomes the third driver alongside multiple world touring car champion Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus to be announced in BMW's DTM lineup as it prepares for its debut in the modern-spec DTM.
The German car maker intends to run six BMW M3 DTMs next season under the supervision of three teams – Schnitzer, RBM and RMG – though it remains undisclosed who will drive for which squad. Spengler's experience and standing within the DTM field (he has been a title contender for the past two seasons) will however be considered a boost to BMW's burgeoning program.
"In recent weeks, we have not only been developing the BMW M3 DTM, but have also been working on the driver lineup for our return to the DTM," said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. "Outside our current lineup, Bruno Spengler was one of our top choices.
"Despite his youth he has a lot of DTM experience, which will greatly assist us during our development phase and on race weekends. For this reason, we did not hesitate when the opportunity to sign Bruno up arose. We have yet to decide which of our three teams he will drive for. That will be announced at a later stage."