Timo Glock takes victory in breathtaking race at Hockenheim

BMW Motorsport driver Timo Glock took the victory in one of the most thrilling races in DTM history as he, Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller, Mercedes’ Gary Paffett and BMW’s Joel Eriksson fought until the last corner of the race.

Bruno Spengler (BMW) received a five-place grid drop penalty after found responsible for blocking in qualifying, starting from last on the grid, while Audi’s Jamie Green had to start from the pit lane due to a fuel issue.

Mercedes drivers Edoardo Mortara and Daniel Juncadella both stalled at the start and were narrowly avoided by the pack. The Italian retired from the race after a couple of laps with an engine problem, while the Spaniard receiving a five-second penalty for a jump start. Team-mate Lucas Auer suffered a similar fate, climbing to third from fifth behind Glock and Rast, but was also penalised for a jump start.

Auer continued fighting, taking second place from Rast on the third lap. Further behind, Paffett, who had started from tenth on the grid, was already up to fifth position and pushing fellow Mercedes AMG driver Paul di Resta to close the gap to Rast. With a better overall performance, Paffett overtook di Resta on lap eight at Turn 8.

Juncadella was the first to change tyres, also completing his time penalty, at the end of the eighth lap. A lap later, Paffett would take third place from Rast at Turn 6. Mike Rockenfeller was also on a charge, up to fifth position after overtaking BMW’s Joel Eriksson and di Resta, who was in the pits. Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein also went past Eriksson for sixth position.

Glock pitted from the lead at the end of lap 14, just as Paffett closed the gap to Auer within DRS distance. The Briton overtook his team-mate on the following lap, to change tyres at the end of the lap, leaving the pits as Glock and di Resta came through Turn 1, letting his team-mate through to pursue the BMW.

Rast and Rockenfeller came to the pits together at the end of lap 13, with the 2013 champion overtaking his fellow Audi driver in the pit lane.

Seeing that di Resta couldn’t close the gap to Glock, Paffett overtook the Scot on lap 19, as Auer came into the pits to fulfil his penalty and change tyres. The Briton continued pushing and, three laps later, was within DRS distance. Both came up to Mattias Ekström, who hadn’t pitted yet, with Glock stuck behind the Swede through Turns 2 and 3, allowing Paffett to get within a second and a half of Glock, now back to the lead after all drivers had completed thir pit stops. Both came out of the Hairpin side-by-side, with Paffett taking first place at Turn 7 on lap 23.

The scruff between the two leaders continued, with both going side-by-side several times as Glock tried to recover first place. The BMW got ahead at Turn 7 on lap 25, but the Mercedes would take the lead back again a lap later.

Further back, Eriksson was also on a good run on his second stint, taking third place from di Resta on lap 28.

The battle between the leaders continued, allowing Eriksson and Rockenfeller to make contact with them. The last five minutes of the race started with the top four separated by little over a second.

But the race was far from over and the Briton had run out of DRS, with Rockenfeller now attacking the Mercedes. The Audi driver attacked but Paffett prevailed as Rockenfeller hit some debris on the track. Both continued side-by-side until the last lap, when Rockenfeller managed to take second place.

Glock scored his fifth career victory, with Rockenfeller in second and Paffett completing the podium.

Eriksson was fourth, followed by Audi’s Loïc Duval, Wehrlein, Rast and Spengler, who had recovered from the back of the grid. Di Resta was ninth and BMW’s Augusto Farfus completed the top ten. Audi Sport’s Mattias Ekström finished his farewell race in 16th position.