Photo: DTM Media

DTM Lausitzring preview: The motor racing festival is on!

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The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters heads to the Lausitzring this weekend, for the third appointment of the 2016 season. Mercedes AMG’s Paul Di Resta and BMW Motorsport lead the standings in one of the most competitive seasons in recent years.

The track, located Southeast of Berlin, will welcome the DTM, the ADAC GT Masters, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Superbike *IDM, in what is already called the Festival of Motorsports, one of the highlights of the season.

2016 has been very competitive so far, with four different winners in the four races held at Hockenheim and Spielberg. The differences have been minimal, with Paul Di Resta leading the standings with 43 points, three more than Audi Sport’s Edoardo Mortara and six over BMW’s pair formed by Timo Glock and Maxime Martin.

Mercedes AMG has an impressive record of eleven wins at the Lausitzring, which make the Stuttgart manufacturer look forward to a favourable race for them. The C63 DTMs will start the weekend on 1,110 kg, with the first calculation made after Saturday’s qualifying.

BMW Motorsport are the strongest manufacturer so far, with a healthy 95-point lead over Audi, but are choosing to remain cautious due to the past experiences at this track. The M4 DTMs will start the weekend with a base weight of 1,122.5 kg.

Audi Sport has possibly been the strongest manufacturer in the 2016 field, but incidents involving key drivers have prevented the Ingolstadt manufacturer from being further ahead in the standings. The RS 5 DTMs will start the weekend with a base weight of 1,120 kilos.

The DRS activations per driver will be limited to 48 for Saturday’s race, and to 69 for Sunday’s.

The action will be divided into three days, with the following agenda:

DTM Lausitzring Timetable

Friday 3rd June
16:30 – Free Practice 1.

Saturday 4th June
08:50 – Free Practice 2.
10:30 – Qualifying for Race 1.
15:28 – Race 1 (40 minutes plus one lap).

Sunday 5th June
9:00 – Free Practice 3.
11:30 – Qualifying for Race 2.
15:13 – Race 2 (60 minutes plus one lap).