Photo: DTM Media

Jamie Green wins the final race in Hockenheim

Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver Jamie Green has finished the season as he started it: with a victory in Hockenheim. The Briton achieved his fourth win of the year to climb up to the second place in the drivers’ championship, while BMW Motorsport scored enough points to win their third manufacturers’ title.

Mercedes’ Gary Paffett started from pole position and held the lead at the start of the race,ahead of Jamie Green and BMW’s Maxime Martin. Mattias Ekström and Miguel Molina followed, as Audi was clear that only a joint effort would allow them to overtake the points difference in the championship.

However, it soon became clear that Green was faster than his countryman, and took the lead in the early stages of the race. Mattias Ekström also took third from Martin and, quickly, also grabbed second place from Paffett.

The round of pit stops started with Timo Glock coming into the pits after only 17 minutes. Most of the drivers followed, with Audi’s Nico Müller getting a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release.

BMW’s Tom Blomqvist also received a drive-through penalty for tagging Mercedes’ Robert Wickens into a spin. A few laps later, Audi’s Miguel Molina and Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris collided, with the German driver spinning into Adrien Tambay. The move saw both cars retiring from the race, with Molina being given a drive-through penalty for the manoeuvre.

After the round of pit stops, Jamie Green was leading from fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström. Paul Di Resta was in third, with Edoardo Mortara recovering ground after staying out late. The Italian overtook the Scot from Mercedes to complete the podium.

Behind them, yesterday’s winner Timo Scheider was in fifth, being reported to the stewards because of a problem with his pit stop light. The effort from Audi, though noticeable, wasn’t enough, as BMW followed in the classification with Maxime Martin, António Félix Da Costa and Bruno Spengler, who had recovered a lot of ground after the pit stops.

Gary Paffett closed into the group in the final laps of the race, but wasn’t able to get through.

Martin Tomczyk was tenth and was able to maintain the position until the end. Miguel Molina was recovering after his penalty, but was only able to climb up to 11th place, not scoring any points for Audi.

At the chequered flag, Jamie Green won the race, with a 1.3 second advantage over Mattias Ekström. Edoardo Mortara was third, making it a 1-2-3 result for Audi Sport.

Paul Di Resta was fourth, with the rest of the positions unchanged until the chequered flag, despite BMW’s Martin and Da Costa battling for sixth place right until the last lap.

The victory allowed Green to finish second in the drivers’ standings, ahead of Ekström and Mortara.