All-or-nothing for Robert Wickens in Budapest

Robert Wickens’ hopes to remain in the fight for the title hang from his results at the Hungaroring race meeting, which takes place this weekend.
The Canadian lost vital ground to Marco Wittmann in a dreadful weekend at the Nürburgring two weeks ago. The BMW driver now has 170 points to his account, 50 more than Wickens.

Still, Wickens is optimistic about the task ahead: “With regard to the championship, Budapest is an all-or-nothing weekend for us. The Hungaroring has been resurfaced for this season, so that’s going to be a new challenge for everyone. So far this year, we’ve been highly competitive on tracks with a very smooth surface, for example recently in Moscow. there are some encouraging signs that we can take to Budapest. Anyway, I’m all fired up for the weekend, and I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got to score as many points as possible.”

Mercedes AMG is third and last in the manufacturers’ table, with 429 points, 92 behind leaders BMW Motorsport. The Stuttgart cars will again start the weekend as the heaviest on track, with a base weight of 1,135 kg.

In spite of the dispiriting results from Nürburgring, Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes AMG DTM, believes his men can keep the three-point star squad in contention for the championship, despite heading for an unfavourable track: “The team has done a really fantastic job throughout the year. We have a strong car and great drivers. Consequently, we’re of the opinion that we are still contenders for the championship. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy for us in Budapest, and I mean that quite literally, but we just have to deal with it.”