Photo: DTM Media

Mattias Ekström wins his last race of ’16 as title contenders collide at the start

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Audi Sport driver Mattias Ekström tooka lights-to-flag at the Hungaroring in his last DTM race this season, with Marco Wittmann making an important step forward for the championship after finishing in fourth place, while pole-sitter Edoardo Mortara had a difficult race.

The first start was aborted as Robert Wickens lined up on the wrong side of the grid, and was banished to the back for the second start, with the race distance reduced to 57 minutes plus a lap.

At the start of the race, Edo Mortara had a lot of wheelspin as the lights went out, with Marco Wittmann behind him in third trying to go around the outside towards Turn 1. The Italian made sure there was no room for his title rival, which forced him on the grass. Wittmann eventually worked his way on to the track, but spun across the nose of Mortara and collided with Jamie Green’s Audi. Mattias Ekström avoided the tangle, taking first position, followed by Adrien Tambay and Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella.

Edo Mortara and Jamie Green both suffered punctures and had to pit, with the Briton having to retire from the race with additional damage. The Italian rejoined 23rd and last of the active cars. The officials deemed both drivers Mortara and Wittmann at fault and received warnings.

After the first lap incidents and retirements, the race settled into a more relaxed phase with no significant position changes. The BMW drivers completed their pit stops in the earlier part of the window, in a strategy opposite to Mercedes.

After the round of pit stops, Mattias Ekström led ahead of fellow Audi driver Adrien Tambay and Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella. On lap 32, Audi’s Timo Scheider made a move on BMW’s Maxime Martin for eighth position. Edo Mortara then retired from the race with just over a minute to go while running outside of the points.

At the chequered flag, Mattias Ekström took his first win of the year and the 22nd of his DTM career, followed by fellow Audi driver Adrien Tambay and Mercedes AMG’s Daniel Juncadella.

Marco Wittmann scored key points in the championship with fourth position, followed by fellow BMW drivers António Félix Da Costa, Tom Blomqvist and Timo Glock.

Timo Scheider was eighth for Audi, followed by BMW’s Maxime Martin, with Mike Rockenfeller taking the final point.

The next round of the DTM season is the finale at Hockenheim on October 16th.