DTM: 2018 Zandvoort – Race 1

Ninth race of season at the Circuit Zandvoort: Four Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM drivers in the Top Four

• Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) secured his 14th pole position in the DTM and his 23rd win – his fourth at Zandvoort and third this season
• Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) finished in second place to claim the 33rd podium of his DTM career – his second at Zandvoort and second this season
• Lucas Auer (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) finished third on the podium, achieving his third podium finish this season and the ninth of his DTM career
• Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) took fourth place, rounding off a superb team performance by Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
• Gary extended his lead in the drivers’ championship (127) points with his win. Paul (106 points) is now second in the overall standings. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport lead both the team (184 points) and the manufacturers’ standings (497 points)
• Gary Paffett: „It’s been a fantastic day for me. 28 points in one day is just perfect.“
• Ulrich Fritz: „Congratulations to the entire team on this superb result. Monopolising the first four positions on a track as demanding as Zandvoort is a remarkable achievement.“

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport got this weekend that marks the half-way point in the season off to a terrific start by taking the top four positions in this ninth race of the season at the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) took his fourth win (2005, 2009, 2010 and now 2018) from his 18th start at Zandvoort. Earlier today, the 2005 DTM champion had secured his 14th DTM pole and 133rd in the DTM for the brand with the three-pointed star – the seventh so far this season. This was Gary’s third win of the year and the 23rd victory of his DTM career, enabling him to draw level with Mattias Ekström on the list of all-time winners in the DTM. Only Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig have taken more wins; Schneider holds the record with 43 wins, followed by Klaus Ludwig on 37.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport have won at least one race at each of the five race weekends held so far this season, taking at least the top two positions in four of those events. Overall, this was the brand’s 187th victory in the DTM – the sixth so far this year and seventh at the Circuit Zandvoort.

Team-mates Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) and Lucas Auer (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) finished alongside Gary on the podium, so in the first nine races of the season, the squad has now notched up 15 podiums between them. All in all, following their podium lock-out at Zandvoort, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport have achieved 551 podiums during 30 years of contesting the DTM.

Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) in fourth place rounded off the team’s strong performance. Edoardo Mortara (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) had a technical problem in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. He was unable to set his brake balance properly and had to start from 18th on the grid. However, he soon shot up into 13th place which is where he finished this ninth race of the season. Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) booked P16.  

Gary (127 points) extended his lead in the drivers’ championship with his second pole and third win of the season. Paul is now in second place overall with 106 points. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (497 points) are in first place in the manufacturers’ championship. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS (184 points) have pulled out a small lead on SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (180 points) in the team competition.

Looking ahead to race 2: The tenth round of the 2018 DTM season starts on Sunday at 13:30 CEST (live on SAT.1 at 13:00 CEST). Third practice will take place before that at 09:15 CEST followed by the second qualifying at 11:20 CEST. During each race weekend, we will provide live timing data, live commentary, fan voting and exclusive behind-the-scenes videos of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Team on our website at: www.mercedes-amg-motorsport.com/dtm.

Comments after the race

Gary Paffett (37, England):

• P1
• Car number: 2
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“It’s been a fantastic day for me. 28 points in one day is just perfect. We’ve had a great car all season, and it was the same again today in qualifying and the race. I got off to a really good start and subsequently controlled the race, which allowed us to pull out a lead. The strategy was also very good, and the pit stop was mega. The guys put in a great performance today. When the safety car came out, the situation got tricky again. After all, you never know what’s going to happen in an Indy restart. But it all worked out brilliantly, and I got my 23rd victory. I’m tied with Mattias [Ekström] on the third most DTM victories – incredible! Many thanks to Mercedes for all the support over the years.”

Paul Di Resta (32, Scotland):

• P2
• Car number: 3
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“That was a productive day. I improved from third on the grid to finish second. I would obviously have liked to come in ahead of Gary, because this has allowed him to extend his lead. But in the championship, consistency eventually pays off. So I’ll keep fighting, because nothing is settled until the end of the season. Up to then, you have to make sure you stay in contention.”

Lucas Auer (23, Austria):

• P3
• Car number: 22
• Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“I’m really proud of my performance in qualifying today. We still have to analyse the race in some detail, but I’m obviously happy about the podium. My crew executed a superb pit stop, which gained me some time. I’m usually quite good in the restarts after a safety car deployment – making a flying start on cold tyres is fine by me. That enabled me to gain a position. All in all, I feel good, and if we can just up our game slightly, tomorrow should be another good day.”

Pascal Wehrlein (23, Germany):

• P4
• Car number: 94
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“You can’t blame anyone for the pit stop, but it cost me second place and maybe even the victory, because I was faster than Gary in the first stint. I’m obviously annoyed about that, but there’s nothing to be done after the event. The main thing for me is that today’s race went much better than at the Norisring. There was no comparison. And in the races before that, I had been relatively competitive. The car is back to feeling the way it should.”

Edoardo Mortara (31, Italy):

• P13
• Car number: 48
• Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“What a frustrating day that was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t manage any more today. In qualifying, we had a problem with the brake balance setting. Then in the race itself, I had difficulties with the brakes. We now have to try to fix the problems by tomorrow.”

Daniel Juncadella (26, Spain):

• P16
• Car number: 23
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“That was a very strange race. I stalled the engine just before the start. Fortunately, I was able to restart the car quickly and get away normally. Nevertheless, I still lost two places as a result. I had an excellent pit stop after that on Lap 2 where our guys did a great job, putting me in points contention. I was directly behind Marco Wittmann when Bruno [Spengler] came out of the pits and left me with practically nowhere to go in Turn 3. That led to a contact, and Jamie [Green] was able to overtake. The same thing happened to me with Philipp Eng two laps later. My car was badly damaged in the incidents and my pace was not good enough to finish higher up the field. But I’ll be back on the attack again tomorrow!”

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM:

“Congratulations to the entire team on this superb result. Monopolising the first four positions on a track as demanding as Zandvoort is a remarkable achievement. The first two thirds of the race went according to plan as Gary, Paul and Pascal pulled out a comfortable lead. Then came the safety car and the IndyCar restart. Fortunately, this situation also had a good outcome, allowing us to take the victory without complications. Congratulations also to Gary on his 23rd DTM win. He now has as many victories under his belt as Mattias Ekström. What a magnificent achievement!”

Race results: Top Ten

Drivers‘ Championship

Manufacturers‘ Championship

Teams‘ Championship