Gary Paffett ends five-year win drought with victory at Hockenheim
Mercedes AMG driver Gary Paffett drove a solid race from pole position at Hockenheim to start his 2018 account with victory, the first for the Briton since the Lausitzring back in 2013.
At the start, Paffett made the most of his pole position count to hold the lead followed by BMW’s Marco Wittmann. Mercedes’ Lucas Auer overtook Timo Glock for third at the end of the first lap, and then went past Wittmann on the second lap to take second behind his team-mate.
Auer then charged to close the gap with Paffett, overtaking the Briton for the lead at Turn 6 on lap four. At the same time, Glock made his way past Wittmann for third, with Pascal Wehrlein closing on the BMW duo.
The pit stops started with Audi’s Jamie Green, who had been at the back of the pack since the start, and was the first to change tyres on lap six. René Rast was obliged to exchange positions with fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller after overtaking the 2013 champion outside of track limits on lap one. Rast attacked Rockenfeller at Turn 12 on lap eight, with the reigning champion running wide and losing a position to Mercedes’ Paul di Resta.
On lap ten, Wehrlein and team-mate Edoardo Mortara overtook Marco Wittmann, with the 2015 champion gaining another position as Glock, together with Wittmann, made their pit stops at the end of lap 11.
Wehrlein was the first of the Mercedes to change tyres at the end of lap 13 from third position on the race, rejoining the track just behind Wittmann and losing a further position to Rockenfeller as his tyres weren’t up to temperature yet. Paffett pitted on the following lap managing to rejoin ahead of Glock despite a slight problem with his front right tyre.
Race leader Auer was next to pit with an even slower stop. The Austrian rejoined ahead of Paffett, but was soon passed by the Briton at Turn 6 and came under pressure from Glock. Both had an exciting scruff for second place, coming side-by-side several times, but with the Austrian managing to prevail.
Rast and Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella pitted together, with the Mercedes’ mechanics changing tyres rapidly. Rast was released as Juncadella was passing by, with both exiting the pitlane side-by-side. The incident will be investigated by the stewards after the race.
Juncadella set the fastest lap of the race, overtaking Rast and closing the gap to Eriksson, taking ninth from the Swede on lap 30. On the following lap, Mortara went past Wehrlein for fourth position at Turn 6.
The positions remained stable at the front, but in the pack di Resta overtook Wittmann for seventh position with two minutes to go, with Juncadella following suit soon after.
At the chequered flag, Paffett took his first DTM win in five years and 21st of his DTM career, ahead of Auer and Glock.
Mercedes’ Mortara and Wehrlein followed, with BMW’s Bruno Spengler in sixth. Di Resta and Juncadella were next, with Rast and Audi’s Loïc Duval completing the points’ positions in a slim consolation for Audi Sport.
