Mattias Ekström breaks Audi’s 11 year Norisring victory drought
Audi’s Mattias Ekström has take Audi’s first victory at the Norisring since 2002, ahead of the HWA Mercedes’ of Christian Vietoris and pole-sitter, Robert Wickens.
The Swede, who has taken his first victory since Valencia 2011 and was 35 today, started ninth, but took advantage of the second safety car period to make his first stop on lap 19, which came out as a result of Martin Tomczyk’s retirement.
Ekström then ran an extra long stint on option tyres until lap 78, when he emerged marginally ahead of Gary Paffett’s Mercedes and Audi stablemate, Edoardo Mortara, who had been asked to led the Swede pass on lap 60.
However, the 2004 and 2007 DTM champion did not manage to pass until lap 64.
Despite Ekström emerging a handful of seconds ahead of the battling Paffett and Mortara after his second stop on lap 78, the race was then turned on its head after the Italian ploughed into the back of the Briton going into the Grundigkerhe on the following lap.
The contact allowed Vietoris and Wickens through, demoting Mortara and Paffett to fourth and fifth respectively.
On lap 82, after Paffett had managed to work his way back into the final podium place, both drivers once again made contact coming out of the Bahnhofkurve, which saw them both retire on the spot, and promote Wickens and Vietoris to second and third.
Further down the field, RSC Mucke Mercedes rookie, Daniel Juncadella managed to turn his career best grid slot of seventh into fourth, ahead of championship leader Mike Rockenfeller, who now leads the championship by two points ahead of BMW’s Bruno Spengler.
The reigning DTM champion finished sixth in front of Mercedes’ Roberto Merhi, and the BMW trio of Joey Hand, Andy Priaulx and Marco Wittmann who rounded out the top-10.
The so-called ‘King of the Norisring’, Jamie Green, had another trying weekend in his first season with Audi, as he retired his Abt Sportsline run RS 5 on lap 64 with a gear-shift problem.
However, Green was not the only Audi driver to have had a difficult weekend, as Timo Scheider failed to complete a lap due to a suspected handbrake problem.
Martin Tomczyk’s tough 2013 season also continued, after he appeared to be squeezed into the wall coming out of the Spitzkerhe by Jamie Green.
The accident means that the 2011 DTM title winner has yet to open his 2013 points account, and has not scored since the Nurburgring in August last year.
