Lucas Auer takes unchallenged second win of the season at Lausitz
Mercedes AMG driver Lucas Auer dominated Race 1 at the Lausitzring, taking his second victory of the season and ending a perfect day where the Austrian dominated every session.
At the start of the race, Lucas Auer took the lead, followed by team-mate Robert Wickens and BMW’s Maxime Martin. The Belgian made a move to overtake the Canadian at Turn 1 on lap four, meanwhile Audi driver Loic Duval was give a five-second stop-and-go penalty for a false start.
BMW’s Timo Glock overtook Audi’s René Rast at the start of lap vie, while Jamie Green, starting from the back of the grid, pitted on lap six for new tyres, followed by fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström and BMW’s Bruno Spengler two laps later.
The Briton was now on a charge, overtaking the Swede and attacking BMW’s Augusto Farfus, who’d changed tyres a lap later. The number 53 Audi soon went past the Brazilian and Marco Wittmann, being the best-placed of the cars with new tyres. Mattias Ekström didn’t wait around, doing a double overtake on Farfus and Wittmann at Turn 1 on lap 12.
René Rast recovered fourth place from Timo Glock on the following lap, with Green already up to Mike Rockenfeller’s rear bumper. Tom Blomqvist pitted for new tyres and, in his outlap, was caught by the pair. The Briton tried to overtake Mercedes AMG’s Paul Di Resta on the outside of Turn 4, with both colliding and spinning out. The incident would be investigated by the stewards, with Di Resta getting a drive through penalty.
Rockenfeller was pulling fellow Audi driver Jamie Green, with both catching Mercedes AMG’s Gary Paffett. Behind them, Mattias Ekström set a new fastest lap of the race, closing the distance, soon overtaking Paffett as the Briton from Team HWA was set to come into the pits.
Maxime Martin changed his tyres on lap 18, quickly followed by Mercedes AMG’s Robert Wickens. Lucas Auer, who had a clear advantage at the front, mirrored the strategy on the following lap. The Canadian overtook Martin, becoming a virtual second in the race.
Timo Glock came for his pit stop, but went wide at Turn 3 on cold tyres, losing several positions. René Rast was leading the race on lap 22, followed by Nico Müller, Mercedes AMG’s Edoardo Mortara and Loic Duvall, who hadn’t pitted yet. The Audi drivers changed tyres soon, with the Mercedes staying out followed by team-mate Maro Engel.
Robert Wickens set the fastest lap of the race, improved by Lucas Auer on the following turn, as the Austrian tried to defend from the Canadian. Auer continued lapping faster than Wickens, increasing the gap.
Mortara paid dearly for his late stop, with the Italian overtaken by Rockenfeller, Paffett, as Ekström and Müller in the two laps his tyres needed to come up to temperature, falling to ninth place.
René Rast set the fastest lap of the race, catching Maxime Martin and making a move on lap 36, as Nico Müller retired with a braking problem.
At the front, Lucas Auer built on his advantage to take his second win of the season, followed by team-mate Robert Wickens and René Rast on the podium.
Maxime Martin was fourth and only man in the points for BMW Motorsport, with Mike Rockenfeller on his tail at the chequered flag. Gary Paffett was next, ahead of Edo Mortara and Mattias Ekström. Maro Engel was ninth, with Jamie Green making the most out of his strategy work out to finish tenth and collect the final point.
