Mercedes took home its second win of the DTM season during the fourth round which took place at the Norisring in Germany. It was a wet race as the rain poured continuously, prompting the safety car to be deployed. Nevertheless, the fun was still on as the three manufacturers BMW, Audi and Mercedes fought hard to claim victory. In the end, Mercedes-Benz driver Robert Wickens crossed the finish line first.
Wickens finished ahead of Audi driver and Briton Jamie Green. Perhaps Green was the luckiest driver in the field yesterday. The four time Norisring winner had collided with Paul Di Resta and was given a five second penalty. He fought back to keep away fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström who finish in third. Audi ultimately finished with two podium places in this fourth round.
Another Audi of Edoardo Mortara finished in fourth, Mortara had started in 20th but managed to climb up during the race. He is now in second place on the standings. Pascal Wehrlein put Mercedes in fifth, while Marco Wittmann finished in sixth for BMW. Wittmann leads the standings, even after finishing in sixth. Reigning champion Mike Rockenfeller finished at a distant eighth. Timo Scheider rounded off the top 10.
With the wet conditions in play, Christian Vietoris was one of the unlucky drivers from the race. He was to finish in second place but his Mercedes lost one wheel sending him to the back. He ultimately finished in 21st place. Other notable names include Miguel Molina who finished last in his Audi, Farfus in 14th place and Timo Glock in 16th place. The next DTM round will be at the Moscow Raceway on July 12th.
Quotes:
Robert Wickens (25, Canada, FREE MAN’S WORLD Mercedes AMG C-Coupé):
I couldn’t have wished for a better day today. Our good pace in practice and my pole position came right out of the blue after a tough start to the season. And then today’s win as well, it’s like a dream come true for me! Conditions were very difficult as was the case with my maiden DTM victory at the Nürburgring last year. But I’ve always done well in conditions like these. The team has worked hard to improve our performance and this success is just reward for their efforts. The weather was something else, though, and we never knew if it would go on raining or turn dry. My team did a fantastic job and always kept me informed as to whether I should continue to attack or nurse the tyres. Thanks guys, you are all really great!
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM), 2nd place:
This was a step in the right direction. Of course it would have been great to win here for Audi. That was our goal and we didn’t quite achieve it. But the race had a bad beginning with an incident with Paul di Resta following the start behind the safety car. His line and his speed surprised me. Unfortunately, we had body contact and as a result I lost time on the leader, Robert Wickens. I received a drive-through penalty. Looking at the whole action I can be happy about second place. I’m also happy about the first podium I’ve clinched with Audi Sport Team Rosberg. We can build on that.
