Photo: DTM Media

DTM Lausitzring preview: Action and excitement at the Motorsport Festival

By

The DTM heads to Lausitzring this weekend for the second round of the 2017 season, with the series celebrating the effect of the new regulations, translating into two exciting races at the premiere at Hockenheim two weeks ago.

Eurospeedway is located 136 kilometres Southeast of Berlin and sets a different scene for the DTM teams and drivers, with a demanding layout, including a high-speed banked corner to enter the main straight and an abrasive tarmac, which will be an important test for the new tyres developed by Hankook for this season.

Audi Sport’s Miguel Molina and Mercedes AMG’s Lucas Auer shared the victories in 2016, with the Stuttgart-based manufacturer being particularly strong. The pace shown by the C63 DTMs at the season opener makes them favourites this weekend, but not overlooking Audi Sport, whose particular strategy in qualifying at Hockenheim, saving tyres for the race, raised a few eyebrows, showing itself effective to achieve good results.

Auer from Team HWA leads the standings with 40 points, 14 ahead of Audi Sport’s Jamie Green and fellow Mercedes AMG driver Gary Paffett. Timo Glock had a strong performance at Hockenheim to become the best placed driver for BMW Motorsport in fourth position, with 25 points on his account.

Mercedes AMG leads the manufacturer standings with 92 points, 13 over Audi Sport and 49 ahead of BMW Motorsport. The C63 DTMs and the M4 DTMs will be the heaviest cars at the beginning of the weekend, with a performance weight of 1,125kg, with the RS 5 DTMs five kilos lighter at 1,120kg.

Schedule

Friday 19th of May
17:00 – Free Practice 1
Saturday 20th of May
8:40 – Free Practice 2
10:15 – Qualifying for Race 1
14:48 – Race 1 (55 minutes plus one lap)

Sunday 21st of May
9:00 – Free Practice 3
11:30 – Qualifying for Race 2
15:18 – Race 2 (55 minutes plus one lap)