Lucas Auer tames the Nürburgring and reignites his challenge for the title

Mercedes AMG driver Lucas Auer scored an important third win of the season at the Nürburgring, jumping to the second place in the standings, only one point behind Audi’s Mattias Ekström.

Auer, who has always been fast at the Eifel track, took pole position in drying conditions earlier in the day, but at the start of the race, Auer fell behind BMW’s Augusto Farfus, staying out in his initial set of wet tyres during the changing weather and track conditions.

While Farfus pitted for slicks on lap 21, this proved to be a mistake for the Brazilian, as the rain fell again which played into Auer’s hands, who pitted for another set of wets on lap 24.

Despite being undercut by team-mate Paul di Resta in the pit stops, di Resta allowed the Austrian through at the end of the race due to the championship situation, handing him his third victory of the year.

“That was a brutal race: rain, a drying track, then rain again. The whole day was very difficult, but the result is incredible,” said Auer. “Congratulations to the entire team – they have done a mega job today. A huge thank-you to everyone who has made this victory possible for me.

“At times, it was a bit confusing out there, because I emerged from the pits in P4 or P5 and I didn’t quite know what was going on. But that was in the heat of battle. Then, towards the end, I once again found I was getting good pace out of the second set of rain tyres.”

Gary Paffett started from 13th place on the grid, among the first to change to slick tyres as the track dried out. The Briton was caught by the rain but, unlike Audi’s Mattias Ekström or BMW’s Augusto Farfus, opted to brave the conditions and stay on his slicks until the chequered flag, crossing the line in tenth place.

“We had just really bad luck. We pitted early for slicks, which was the right call, but then it rained again, destroying my race. We got one point in the end but could have won, so I’m really disappointed,” said Paffett.

Mercedes AMG locked out the first four positions, with all six cars in the points, a much needed boost for the team from Stuttgart after difficult weekends in Moscow and at Zandvoort.

Mercedes DTM boss Ulrich Fritz was relieved after a perfect day for his team: “What an incredible race! Congratulations to Luggi (Auer), Paul, Rob and Maro on taking the top four places, but our best wishes also go especially to everyone in the team. Our strategy was excellent. We kept calm in situations that mattered and made the correct decisions.”

Audi continues to lead the manufacturers’ championship with 536 points, 94 ahead of Mercedes and 123 ahead of BMW Motorsport.