Christian Vietoris takes maiden DTM win at wet Oschersleben

Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris has taken the first victory of his DTM career in a chaotic wet-race at Oschersleben ahead of 2013 DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller and Edoardo Mortara.

Vietoris qualified a lowly 16th and was set to start on standard tyres. However, he pitted at the end of the Formation Lap to take on wet-tyres in the worsening conditions. The decision proved key in giving him his first DTM victory, as well as providing the struggling Mercedes squad with a shot in the arm.

DTM returnee Paul di Resta wound up fourth after using a similar strategy, while Augusto Farfus and Miguel Molina – who started from the back of the grid following his disqualification from qualifying – rounded out the top six.

For the majority of the race, it appeared the win was to be going the way of Audi’s Jamie Green, who took his last DTM victory in 2012 at the Norisring while he was driving for Mercedes.

Following the second Safety Car period, Green had managed to bring his Audi RS 5 DTM into contention for the win, and on lap 20, he passed then-leader and Audi stable-mate Adrien Tambay.

Until the final Safety Car which was brought out as a result of Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein going off at Turn 1, Green held an 11.7 second lead over Tambay.

However, Green’s decision to pit late for option tyres was costly and in addition to plummeting down the order, he ended his race 18th and in the gravel.

Timo Scheider was seventh, ahead of Gary Paffett, Martin Tomczyk and Adrien Tambay who completed the top-10. Paffett also led the race from lap-10 to lap-13, after he stayed out on option-rubber during the first Safety Car period.

DTM rookie Antonio Felix da Costa had another eventful race and he showed good pace for the majority of the Oschersleben race. However, his strong race was blighted by contact once again with Scheider, as the pair were heading into Turn 1 on lap 26. Da Costa eventually finished 11th in his BMW M4 DTM.