Mattias Ekström and Audi return to the top of the standings in Moscow
The sixth round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season in Moscow delivered tight qualifying sessions and action packed races. Audi Sport made the best of each situation to be the highest scoring manufacturer and finish the weekend leading the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ standings.
Mattias Ekström and Pascal Wehrlein’s battle for the title promises to be one of the best we have seen in the DTM. The 37-year old, twice champion, versus the 20-year old, they have been alternating as leaders on the Drivers’ table for four races now.
The Swede recovered from a heavy collision on Saturday’s race and a three place grid drop for Sunday’s to finish on the podium, against Wehrlein’s tenth place, winner of the shorter race. The resulting math puts Ekström on the lead with 126 points, six more than his Mercedes rival.
Edoardo Mortara is also ready to jump into the heat of the fight, with 110 points in his account. Jamie Green, who led the championship in the initial stages, is next with 103 points.
Audi Sport arrived in Moscow as second in the standings, after losing the points from the second race in Spielberg as a result of the DMSB’s ruling on the events from that day. Ready to make up for lost ground, and despite lining up the heaviest cars in the field, the current champions didn’t waste their opportunities, being the manufacturer with the most cars in the points in both races.
Audi outscored Mercedes AMG, despite Wehrlein’s strong victory on Saturday, and leaves Moscow as leaders of the Manufacturers’ table with 416 points, 28 more than the Stuttgart squad. BMW Motorsport follows with 321 points.
The Teams’ battle also remains tight and open, with the gooix/Original Teile pair at HWA AG, formed by Pascal Wehrlein and Christian Vietoris, leading the table with 176 points, 23 more than Team Abt Sportsline, who manages the RS 5 DTMs of Mattias Ekström and Miguel Molina.
The series now head back to Germany for the remainder of the season. With three more rounds and six full scoring races to be held, and a total of 150 points to be won and lost, the championship situation surely promises an exciting end of the season.
Next for the DTM is the round in Oschersleben, from the 11th to the 13th of September.
