Mattias Ekström scores first win of 2014 for Audi
Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) drove a charging race today at Zandvoort to score his first win of the 2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Season. The Swede, who had started from ninth on the grid after getting a penalty for blocking during qualifying, broke the spell for Audi Sport, who also got their first victory of the year.
At the green light, Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG) and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Team Phoenix) came side by side on the main straight, with the BMW driver winning the position at the first corner. Nico Müller (Audi Team Rosberg) took third position, with Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer) coming up in fourth, followed by Jamie Green.
Timo Glock (BMW Team MTEK) got stuck behind Mercedes’ Vitaly Petrov, who was significantly slower, but made it difficult for the German to get past him. Glock managed to overtake on the following lap, move copied by Daniel Juncadella.
On lap four Adrien Tambay (Audi Team Abt) carried too much speed, going off and hitting the barriers, causing the first Safety Car to come out. The race was neutralised for two laps, during which Dani Juncadella and Vitaly Petrov changed their tyres onto new sets of standards.
After the restart, the positions changed with Gary Paffett (Mercedes AMG) overtaking Timo Scheider (Audi Team Phoenix) for seventh, and Paul Di Resta coming into points’ positions after doing so to Joey Hand.
Quietly, Edoardo Mortara (Audi Team Abt) was recovering positions and already up to tenth by lap ten, after starting the race at the back of the grid. Likewise, Timo Glock overtook Bruno Spengler three laps later, and was up to 14th place.
Upfront, Mike Rockenfeller was closing on Marco Wittmann, with the 2014 champion going wide on turn 1, and the Audi Team Phoenix driver taking the lead.
The round of pit stops started on lap 17, with Wittmann and Gary Paffett switching to Standard tyres.
Further back on the field, Daniel Juncadella pushed Augusto Farfus coming into the chicane, causing the Brazilian to hit the barriers heavily. The BMW Team RBM driver was unhurt, but out of the race and, with debris on track, the Safety Car was called into action for the second time.
At the restart, Rockenfeller led the field from Tomczyk, Müller and Green, but the young German went wide, being overtaken by the Briton and Timo Scheider. Müller would pit for standard tyres one lap later, with Miguel Molina switching to options at the same time.
On lap 23, Nico Müller was nudged by Christian Vietoris, hitting the barriers and causing the third Safety Car of the day.
Rockenfeller led the field, but was the only driver in the top 10 to not have made his compulsory pit stop. He came into the pits on lap 32, leaving Wittmann as the race leader, and plunging into the field.
Mattias Ekström was on a charge, having mounted option tyres, and recovering positions quickly. Race was restarted on lap 29, with the Swede in eighth position and, three laps later, “Ecky” was overtaking Marco Wittmann for the lead.
On lap 35, Gary Paffett, who was having a solid race and was in seventh position, run wide, going against the barriers and ending up in the gravel trap. The Safety Car was called into action for the fourth time.
The race was restarted with just eight minutes left on the clock, and Ekström put on a charge to distance himself from Wittmann. Tomczyk was a comfortable third.
Edoardo Mortara was in fourth position. Christian Vietoris overtook Pascal Wehrlein for fifth, and started his particular “shock and awe” strategy on the Swiss from Audi Team Abt, coming side by side and nudging him on several occasions.
With five minutes on the clock, Bruno Spengler touched Jamie Green, causing the Briton to spin, losing several positions. The Canadian was handed a drive through penalty and, as there weren’t enough laps to fulfil it, 30 seconds were added to his race time.
Mattias Ekström took a solid victory, 7.4 seconds ahead of Marco Wittmann. A very happy Martin Tomczyk came third.
Edoardo Mortara managed to hold Chris Vietoris off to finish on a great fourth position, after coming back from the back of the field.
Maxime Martin overtook Pascal Wehrlein for sixth with two minutes on the clock and his result, combined with Wittmann’s second place, was enough to give BMW Team RMG the 2014 Teams’ title.
With Spengler’s penalty automatically added to the final classification, Daniel Juncadella finished in eighth position, followed by Robert Wickens and Timo Scheider.
After this race, BMW leads Audi by 21 points in the Manufacturers’ table, with just one race left in the season. The last race of 2014 will take place in Hockenheim, on the 18th and 19th of October.
