Vietoris and Wickens confident of Mercedes win

HWA Mercedes drivers, Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens, are aiming to carry the strong form they showed at Lausitz, over to this weekend’s DTM race at the Norisring.

The last race saw Vietoris qualify on pole, and finish third to take the second podium of his DTM career behind team-mate and race winner Gary Paffett, and second placed man, Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller.

Wickens also showed fared well, by qualifying and finishing fourth.

Given that Mercedes has taken 10 wins from the last 10 years around the Norisring, both drivers are sure they can continue their strong form into this weekend.

“We always knew that we had a good car and that it was just a matter of getting the setup right. Well, we did that at the Lausitzring,” said Vietoris. “When I got in the car on Saturday morning, it was like driving an express train.

“That was a great feeling [and] we intend to build on that at the Norisring.”

“The street circuit in Nuremberg is not exactly one of my favourites, but the atmosphere is perhaps the most electric of the entire year [and it] is traditionally a happy hunting ground for Mercedes-Benz.

“Ten wins in a row speak for themselves, and I think we are contenders for the win yet again this year.”

Wickens also feels that the team will be able to fight at the front, given Mercedes’ performance in the last race and his ninth place finish around the circuit in his 2012 rookie season.

“In recent weeks, we have been hard at work aiming to build on this performance after the summer break and to achieve a similar measure of success at the Norisring.

“My target for Nuremberg is to be battling it out with the front-runners once again and to take up where I left off last year – I had quite a respectable result on this circuit.”