Audis dominated proceedings in the DTM race at Spielberg on Saturday. Mattias Ekström came out on top ahead of his fellow Audi drivers Jamie Green and Nico Müller. The three Audi drivers demoted the opposition by over 21 seconds. For the Swede, it was his first win of the season in his 15th attempt and a major step towards winning his third DTM championship title. The 39-year-old is now 28 points ahead of his fellow Audi driver Green (134). Local hero Lucas Auer, who finished eighth, is following three points down on the Brit. Marco Wittmann (125) is fourth in the standings. In the race at the Red Bull Ring, he was classified fifth as the best-placed BMW driver.
“For me, qualifying was more exciting than the race. At my age, starting from third place on the grid doesn’t happen too often anymore. During the starting grid, I noticed that Marco Wittmann had put on fresh tyres. Therefore, I focussed very much on the start. This was very good, I stayed behind Nico and Jamie, but ahead of all the others,” said Ekström, who overtook Müller on lap two and long-time race leader Green with four laps remaining. The latter didn’t defend and allowed his fellow Audi driver, who is ahead of him in the championship standings, to win. Thanks to Green, Ekström’s margin is now 28 instead of 14 points.
“I don’t think that was an early decision already,” Ekström commented. “There are still many poonts at stake and things can change quickly again as well. I know that all too well from painful experiences in the past. A points’ lead doesn’t mean a thing, it is the title that matters. In between, there are no championship trophies,” Ekström emphasized. Immediately after crossing the finish line, he thanked Green. “It was about the team spirit and this was a very good result for the team,” Green explained his decision during the battle for first place on lap 36.
Robert Wickens led the rest of the beaten field on Saturday. With his Mercedes-AMG, the Canadian improved from seventh on the grid to fourth at the finish. This achievement was all the more remarkable as René Rast had run into the side of his car after the pit stop, as a result of which the underfloor and the entire side of the car got damaged.
Lucas Auer had a rather unpleasant jubilee. In his 50th DTM race, ‘Luggi’ only finished eighth. That could turn out to be too little for the 23-year-old in the battle for the title. He is already 31 points down on Ekström. The Mercedes-AMG driver’s comment was accordingly brief: “It was a difficult day for me. Moving up from twelfth to eighth was good. Like that, I was at least able to score a few points.”
There was also a heavy setback for René Rast. The Audi driver, now fifth in the standings with 124 points, collided with Maxime Martin’s BMW as Rast came out of the pits with cold tyres and spun as a result. For the rookie driver, his 13th place could be the end of his title hopes.
Source : dtm.com
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