Paul di Resta heads the DTM standings as we head to the final stage of the season
The DTM heads to the Nürburgring this weekend for the eighth round of a season which has been dominated by Mercedes-AMG, with Paul di Resta leading Team HWA team-mates Gary Paffett and Edoardo Mortara in the championship classification.
The DTM races on the 3.629km layout of the track located by the Eifel mountains, which often provides unpredictable weather. The circuit features a combination of fast corners, including the last chicane, and also slow hairpins as well as a long straight and low grip tarmac.
Di Resta had a profitable weekend during the last round at Misano to overtake Paffett at the top of the standings, with three victories and 186 points to his account. “My focus currently is on being as consistent as possible. The car was fantastic in both the wet and dry last time out at Misano, and conditions could be similar at the Nürburgring. As we all know, the Eifel always has a few surprises in store, but I feel very comfortable in the car and can’t wait to see what the weekend brings.”
Paffett had a dreadful weekend at Misano, with incidents with team-mates Mortara and Daniel Juncadella ruining his races and left him leaving Italy without having scored any points. The Briton, now nine points behind di Resta, won at the Nürburgring back in 2004 and is determined to turn his luck around this weekend: “We were fast and on the pace at Misano. I’m very familiar with the Nürburgring and have already won there in the past. I’m now going to try to reclaim the championship lead there.”
Slowly but surely, Mortara has climbed his way up the championship and now lies third, 48 points behind di Resta and is looking forward continuing to show his competitive form at the Eifel: “I’m usually very competitive at the Nürburgring and hope that will be the case again this year. The Nürburgring weekend marked a turning point for me last season.”
BMW Team RMG’s Marco Wittmann is the “first of the rest” in the championship in fourth place, 74 points behind di Resta, and René Rast is the best-placed Audi driver in seventh position, 93 points adrift but had made progress following his victory at Zandvoort.
The Eifel race will be a milestone for both BMW Motorsport and Mike Rockenfeller. The Bavarian manufacturer will compete in their 100th DTM race since their return to the series six years ago, whilst the Nürburgring will be the 150th race for the 2013 champion.
Rockenfeller has never won at the Nürburgring, despite it being his and his team’s (Team Phoenix) home track and is ready to change that this weekend: “My jubilee would be a perfect occasion for a victory. The most recent races have shown that nothing’s impossible in the DTM.”
Mercedes-AMG leads the manufacturers’ championship on 761 points, holding a 319-point advantage over BMW Motorsport and 466 points head of Audi Sport.
Ulrich Fritz, DTM boss for the Stuttgart-based outfit that will leave the series at the end of the current season, hopes for a worthy departure from the Nürburgring in the DTM: “The Nürburgring is a track with a lot of history for Mercedes. We’ve experienced pretty much everything there is to experience in motor racing at the Ring, and not just in the DTM. And so, it’s very important for us all to make our final appearance at the Ring in the DTM really memorable. So far, we’ve managed at least one win every race weekend. We intend to continue in the same vein at the Nürburgring and extend our lead in all three championships.”
Timetable
Friday 7th September
16:45 – Free Practice 1
Saturday 8th September
8:30 – Free Practice 2
11:15 – Qualifying for Race 1
13:30 – Race 1 (55 minutes plus 1 lap)
Sunday 9th September
8:30 – Free Practice 3
11:15 – Qualifying for Race 2
13:30 – Race 2 (55 minutes plus 1 lap)
