Maro Engel takes maiden DTM victory at Moscow Raceway

Mercedes AMG driver Maro Engel drove a strategic race to take his first victory in the DTM at Moscow Raceway, ahead of Audi’s Mattias Ekström and BMW’s Bruno Spengler.

BMW’s Tom Blomqvist was excluded from the qualifying results after the stewards could not extract a kilo of fuel after the session. The Briton was allowed to take the start from the back of the grid, with Spengler and Ekström sharing the front row.

At the start, Ekström challenged for the lead, but Spengler managed to stay ahead. Audi’s Loïc Duval made contact with BMW’s Maxime Martin at Turn 1, with the Belgian falling to the back of the pack.

Mercedes’ Engel, BMW’s Marco Wittmann and Tom Blomqvist and Audi’s Loïc Duval pitted at the end of the first lap, a move that would be key to the final results.

Martin had to retire due to a fire in the front of his BMW M4 DTM on lap six, as a result of the damage suffered in the first corner collision. The Belgian was trying hard to get a fire extinguisher, with the safety car being called into action.

The safety car went back in at the end of lap nine, with the cars aligning in a two-row formation. Spengler kept the lead ahead of Ekström, Mercedes’ Paul di Resta and Audi’s René Rast. Ekström overtook Spengler for the lead at Turn 15 on lap 11, with both touching and bodywork parts flying around.

Blomqvist overtook Duval for fourth position at Turn 15 on lap 28, with the Frenchman letting Ekström through. Duval went wide at Turn 1 and collected di Resta as he returned to the track, with the Scot suffering a puncture and receiving a warning for the collision.

Ekström overtook Blomqvist for fourth position at Turn 15 on lap 31, with the Swede targeting a podium finish and attacking Wittmann at the same point a lap later. The duo came together several times, with the Swede managing to complete the move at Turn 1 on lap 35.

Ekström closed the gap to race leader Engel at the very end of the race, but could not stop the German crossing the line in first position to take his first win in the DTM. Spengler completed the podium in third.

Rast and Green followed in fourth and fifth, with Wittmann in sixth position. Rockenfeller completed a fighting race to finish seventh, ahead of Blomqvist and Auer. Robert Wickens completed the top ten.

Ekström is back at the top of the standings on 113 points, just one ahead of Rast. Auer is third on 97 points, with Green in fourth, ten points behind.

The next round of the DTM takes place at Zandvoort in four weeks’ time.