Lucas Auer takes impressive DTM maiden win at the Lausitzring
Mercedes AMG driver Lucas Auer scored his first ever victory in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, crossing the finishing line in first position after controlling the second race held this weekend at the Lausitzring, host of the third round of the season. Auer started from pole position and only abandoned the lead during the pit stop period.
At the start, Lucas Auer defended the first position from pole, with Robert Wickens overtaking Timo Glock to be second. Gary Paffett moved up to fourth position.
Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller was found guilty of a false start and given a ‘drive through’ penalty as a result. The Team Phoenix driver complied on the second lap.
Auer started to build a comfortable lead over Wickens, whilst the Canadian defended from BMW’s Timo Glock. Mercedes’ Gary Paffett established himself in fourth position, followed by the Audi contingent formed by Mike Rockenfeller, Jamie Green and Mattias Ekström.
On lap 14, BMW driver Augusto Farfus spun at Turn 1, after yesterday’s winner Miguel Molina collided with the Brazilian whilst trying to overtake on the main straight. The Brazilian closed the gap to the wall, and the Spaniard couldn’t avoid him. Farfus managed to return to the pits to retire, whilst Molina served a ‘drive through’ penalty for the incident.
Gary Paffett started to come under pressure from Jamie Green, with Mattias Ekström closing into the duo. A few laps later, Green went wide at Turn 1, with the Swede going through for fourth position.
Mercedes AMG started their round of pit stops early in the race, with the leader being the first to come into the pits. Auer managed to rejoin the track just ahead of Edoardo Mortara, who was running in P10 at the time.
With their stops completed, Mercedes AMG’s Robert Wickens and Gary Paffett came behind Audi’s Timo Scheider, with the Ingolstadt manufacturer delaying their round of tyre changes. The Canadian managed to go through, but the Briton was stuck behind the Audi for a couple of laps.
Paffett finally managed to overtake Scheider at Turn 1 whilst, in a mirror move a few metres behind, BMW’s Timo Glock did so to Daniel Juncadella.
Green and Ekström completed their pit stops and soon caught Gary Paffett, who was running in third place. The Briton and the Swede overtook the Mercedes in the same lap and Green went wide again, with Ekström taking third place from him, starting his charge to catch Robert Wickens.
The main incident of the race took place with 20 minutes to the chequered flag. Edoardo Mortara came into the pits, running over a mechanic that had just partaken in Nico Müller’s tyre change. The Audi mechanic had to be taken to the hospital for checks, whilst Mortara was referred to the stewards for investigation.
Soon after Mercedes AMG drivers Daniel Juncadella and Max Götz retired at the same time with mechanical issues, with the Slow Zone 3 being activated on the track. The neutralised sector became an opening for several drivers to close into their predecessors.
Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris came right behind Marco Wittmann, launching himself on the inside at Turn 1 and braking very late. The 2014 champion managed to avoid him, keeping his position.
After the Slow Zone was green flagged, Lucas Auer managed to increase his lead over Robert Wickens, who soon would be caught and overtaken by Mattias Ekström.
At the chequered flag, Lucas Auer took his maiden win in the series, ahead of Audi’s Mattias Ekström and fellow Mercedes AMG driver Robert Wickens.
Jamie Green was fourth, followed by Mercedes’ Gary Paffett and BMW’s Marco Wittmann. Chris Vietoris was eighth, with BMW’s Bruno Spengler and Timo Glock taking the final points.
Next round of the DTM is in Norisring, from the 24th to the 26th of June.
