Marco Wittmann wins in Nürburgring and consolidates championship lead
BMW Motorsport and Marco Wittmann made an important step towards the 2016 DTM title after winning today’s race at the Nürburgring. It was a strong result for the Bavarian manufacturer, with Tom Blomqvist finishing in second position.
At the start, Marco Wittmann made his pole position count to maintain the lead into the first turn followed by Blomqvist. Mercedes AMG driver Daniel Juncadella was able to reach the first corner in third position, but was overtaken on the outside by the Audi of Jamie Green and, two corners later, by the sister Audi of Edoardo Mortara.
On lap eight Timo Glock, who had been closing on Mercedes’ Lucas Auer, broke late to take the outside at Turn 1, managing to overtake the Austrian. At Turn 3 Paul Di Resta also took the position from his fellow Mercedes driver, with Auer falling to ninth place.
Audi played a tactical move on lap 13. Jamie Green had been unsuccessfully trying to close the gap to Tom Blomqvist for several laps, with Green allowing Edoardo Mortara past for third place, as the Italian had better tyres. The Team Abt Sportsline started reducing the gap to the BMW bit-by-bit.
Mortara was reducing the gap to BMW’s Tom Blomqvist until, on lap 14, the Italian tried to overtake in the braking zone towards the chicane. Both collided, with the Audi taking the escape road. Mercedes AMG’s Daniel Juncadella, who had overtaken Jamie Green for fourth place, tried to make a move coming side-by-side with Mortara, but the Italian managed to prevail.
At Turn 1, Mortara attempted another move on Blomqvist, with Juncadella also trying the inside. Jamie Green then came into the mix, retaking fourth place from the Spaniard. Bruno Spengler also tried to reap some positions, colliding with Juncadella and causing him to spin. The Canadian would receive a drive-through penalty for the incident, but Juncadella fell to the back of the pack.
Further back, Mattias Ekström tried to force the inside of Maximilian Götz at the chicane, with both cars colliding. The incident was reported to the stewards, but soon the Swede had to retire with damage.
In the closing stages of the race Edoardo Mortara tried to close the gap to Tom Blomqvist once more, but was unable to bridge the gap. On the last lap, the Italian allowed Jamie Green to retake third position in another tactical move by the Ingolstadt manufacturer.
At the chequered flag, Marco Wittmann took his third win of the season, followed by Tom Blomqvist completing the 1-2 result for BMW Motorsport. Jamie Green completed the podium for Audi.
Edoardo Mortara was fourth, followed by Timo Glock, Paul Di Resta was the best-placed man for Mercedes AMG, with Lucas Auer, Maxime Martin, Robert Wickens and Maximilian Götz completing the top ten.
Marco Wittmann now leads the championship by 35 points over Mercedes’ Robert Wickens, with Jamie Green just one point further behind for Audi.
The DTM goes back on track tomorrow at 10:40 for the third free practice session.
