BMW and Marco Wittmann were in total control when round 3 of DTM was held at Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Wittmann had driven his BMW to Pole Position and defended that position throughout the whole race. Only during the first few laps, he got under a bit of pressure from his teammate, Tom Blomqvist, but it wasn’t really close.
Edoardo Mortara started 4th but was 3rd before turn one, and kept that position to the checkered flag.
Photo: JJ Media
Behind them there was more drama. Mattias Ekström was turned around in turn 1 by Maxime Martin, but to his defence, he already got a push from Antonio Felix da Costa.
Felix da Costa brought himself into the negative limelight again later in the race. First with a very aggressive overtaking manouvre and contact with Paul Di Resta, and then later overtaking Adrien Tambay under yellow flag. Race control awarded him for the latter with a drive-through.
Mercedes teammates Christian Vietoris and Daniel Juncadella had contact at the back of the field, and both had to retire with damage to their cars.
Photo: JJ Media
The line from Race Control with no or limited penalties for contact continued this weekend. There were several overtakings with a lot of contact between the cars, there either wasn’t investigated or found as “no further action”. But at least they keep a constant line. But more and more drivers are unhappy with that, and more drivers were added to that club today.
Race 4 of the season will be run tomorrow. After 1 win for each of the brands, it will be interesting to see who will be the first to score their second win.
