DTM delivered some of the best racing for year, when the second race of the weekend was run at Hockenheim.
Timo Glock had qualified his BMW M4 DTM on Pole Position ahead of Rene Rast in Audi RS5 DTM and the rookie Joel Eriksson in BMW M4 DTM. Edoardo Mortara was the best Mercedes man in P4, while yesterday’s winner Gary Paffett was all the way back in P10.
Jamie Green had to start from the pitlane due to the team having issues refuelling his car ahead of the race.
Bruno Spengler had received a penalty after the qualifying, since he had blocked Daniel Juncadella, so he had to start the race from last position.
Photo: JJ Media
There was a drama at the start when Edoardo Mortara stalled, and the whole field had to avoid him. The same thing happened for Daniel Juncadella, who had to start the race further down the field.
Lucas Auer had been a bit too eager to start, so he received a 5-second pitstop penalty for jump start. Juncadella got the same, although he was already one of the big losers.
Edoardo Mortara had to pit and park the car already after a few laps, since he had technical issues.
Auer made it into second, after an intense battle with Rene Rast. Rast came under pressure from Paul di Resta and Gary Paffett, who had got an amazing start from his 10th starting position.
For the second day in a row we had Joel Eriksson battling at the front of the field, and put several of the more experienced guys under pressure. He was sixth early in the race, but still had 45 minutes of racing to do.
The race got into of a constant face, while the drivers were waiting for the mandatory pitstop.
Gary Paffett had a god pace, since he first overtook his teammate di Resta and then Audi driver Rene Rast. Then he was in P3.
Loic Duval had a good race for the second day in a row, and was once again in the top 10.
Photo: JJ Media
Timo Glock was the first person in the leading group to pit, and then had to warm up his tires while Gary Paffett and Lucas Auer switched positions in the new lead of the race.
Paffett pitted on the following lap, and returned to the track right behind Glock. I didn’t last long before he was overtaken by Paul di Resta, who had pitted earlier in the race.
Mike Rockenfeller made it past Rene Rast in the pits, since the wheel change at Rast took too long.
Lucas Auer had a nightmare of a pitstop. He had the 5 seconds jump start penalty, and then the mechanics had some issues with getting his right front wheel mounted, so he dropped out of the top 10, after being on his way towards a potential podium.
The race really heated up with 20 minutes to go. Gary Paffett had made it past Paul di Resta, and was now less than a second behind Timo Glock.
Glock and Paffett ran side by side through several corners, where it took Paffett several corners until he was past.
The fight was far from over, since the two swapped positions a further 6 times during the rest of the race. Amazing racing between the two drivers from two different brands.
While all the fighting happened out front, the following positions were catching up. There was a train of five cars coming up, who were trying to overtake each other.
Mike Rockenfeller had slowly sneaked into P3, and was actually attacking Paffett which he made it past with just a few minutes to go.
Photo: JJ Media
But it was Timo Glock who won the amazing race ahead of Mike Rockenfeller and Gary Paffett – BMW ahead of Audi Sport and Mercedes-AMG.
Joel Eriksson fought for the podium all the way to the chequered flag, finishing only 0,4 of a second behind Gary Paffett.
That was one of the most amazing races for years – not only in DTM but in general racing.
Timo Glock leads the Drivers Championship ahead of Gary Paffett, while Mike Rockenfeller, Lucas Auer and Pascal Wehrlein are equal on points in P3.
Mercedes leads the Constructors Championship ahead of BMW and Audi, while Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Petronas leads the Teams Championship ahead of BMW Team RMR and Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.
The next round of the DTM 2018 will be run in 14 days at the Lausitzring.
