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Hungaroring preview: match ball for Marco Wittmann

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The DTM heads to the Hungaroring for the eighth round of the 2016 season this weekend. The championship battles are open in all fronts, but Marco Wittmann and BMW Motorsport tackle the Magyar track from an advantage point.

The series returns to the Hungaroring after two years. The 4.381-kilometre track is notorious for its twisty layout, making position changes scarce and with turns 1 and 6 being the main overtaking points. The first immediate consequence is that the qualifying sessions will be a crucial part of the final race result. The circuit was resurfaced last year, making it a new clean drawing board for all drivers with previous DTM experience at the Hungaroring.

Back in 2014, Marco Wittmann scored both the pole position and the race victory, in a good weekend for BMW Motorsport, which the Bavarian manufacturer hopes to repeat this weekend. The Team RMG driver arrives to Budapest with a 33-point advantage over his closest competitor, Audi’s Edoardo Mortara, after a very consistent season with 12 points results in 14 races and three victories. A solid weekend at the Hungaroring could land Wittmann with his second DTM crown.

Mercedes AMG’s Robert Wickens and Audi Sport’s Jamie Green are 50 and 51 points behind Wittmann in the standings and both will be making a last effort to cling to the title chase. The Hungarian round of the 2016 DTM season is thus set to be a thriller.

BMW Motorsport leads in the manufacturers’ standings and, with a starting base weight of 1,117.5 kg, the M4 DTMs are the favourites at the Hungaroring. The Audi RS 5 DTMs are 7.5 kg lighter, but their struggle to get the most out of the tyres in qualifying could be a serious handicap in Budapest. The Mercedes AMG C63 DTMs are the heaviest, with a base weight of 1,135 kg, already expecting to struggle in the particular characteristics of the Hungaroring.

The DRS activation will be limited to 36 for Saturday’s race, with 54 for Sunday’s. There is a maximum of three activations per driver per lap.

The DTM at the Hungaroring will have the following agenda (all times are local, CEST time zone, GMT+1):

Friday 23rd September
17:00 – Free Practice 1.

Saturday 24th September
10:45 – Free Practice 2.
12:35 – Qualifying for Race 1.
14:58 – Race 1 (40 minutes plus one lap).

Sunday 25th September
10:45 – Free Practice 3.
12:50 – Qualifying for Race 2.
15:13 – Race 2 (60 minutes plus one lap).