Mattias Ekström dances under the rain at the Red Bull Ring
Mattias Ekström made the most of his pole position to win Race 2 at the Red Bull Ring this afternoon for Audi, after a strong battle with Merdedes driver Gary Paffett. The Swede prevailed under difficult conditions to take his second win of the year and 22nd of his DTM career.
The rain was an important factor at the Red Bull Ring, host of the fifth round of the 2015 DTM season, today. It started to rain heavily one hour before the race, and the start procedure was delayed due to safety concerns as, in addition to the rainfall, fog started to form over Spielberg, hampering with the medical evacuation helicopter’s operations.
The race was finally started with a 20-minute delay behind the safety car, which was on track for four racing laps. The race finally began with 49 minutes left on the clock.
At the race start, Audi’s Mattias Ekström kept the lead over team-mate Mike Rockenfeller, who kept a distance with the Swede. After just one lap of racing, Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella and BMW’s Marco Wittmann, Augusto Farfus and Timo Glock came in for tyre changes, presumably after picking up debris on track.
On lap nine, Gary Paffett saw a gap and went past Rockenfeller to take second position. Mercedes’ Robert Wickens then overtook Edoardo Mortara for fourth, but the Italian recovered the position on the following lap.
The round of compulsory pit stops started as Paffett initiated his charge, being the fastest man on track. Mercedes team-mates Paul Di Resta and Pascal Wehrlein had a few off track excursions, with the Scot falling out of the points’ positions, and the German dropping to eighth.
BMW’s António Félix Da Costa was the last man to complete his compulsory pit stop. After everybody had changed tyres, Ekström was the leader, followed by Paffett, Mortara, Rockenfeller, Nico Müller, Robert Wickens, Timo Scheider, Pascal Wehrlein, Maximilian Götz and local hero Lucas Auer, who was also making the most of avoiding trouble.
Gary Paffett was clearly faster in the second sector, where he was able to consistently take half a second from Mattias Ekström. The Briton from Mercedes managed to narrow the gap to 2.2 seconds.
Daniel Juncadella, who was having a difficult race, had to park his Mercedes C63 DTM on the trackside, after the car developed a small fire. This caused a yellow flag that halted Paffett’s progress.
With five minutes on the clock, Robert Wickens was fighting with Timo Scheider. On the final lap, the Canadian went wide, and the man from Audi was surprised by Pascal Wehrlein, who overtook both cars. Wickens tried to defend against his team-mate, but Scheider pushed the Canadian, who in turn slid into the rear of the HWA Mercedes, with both cars ending their race in the gravel trap. Timo Scheider is under investigation for the incident.
At the chequered flag, Mattias Ekström claimed his second win of the season, with Gary Paffett second and Edoardo Mortara completing the podium.
Mike Rockenfeller was fourth, followed by team-mates Nico Müller and Timo Scheider. The Mercedes contingent came right after, with Lucas Auer in seventh place, followed by Maximilian Götz, Christian Vietoris and Paul Di Resta, who completed the points’ positions.
António Félix Da Costa was again the best man for BMW, albeit in 11th place and out of the points.
The next round of the DTM takes place in the Moscow Raceway from the 28th to the 30th of August.
