High drama in the title fight: Just two points separate Paffett and Di Resta

Paul Di Resta is runner-up in second race at Nürburgring

• Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) secured his sixth podium at the Nürburgring, his sixth of the season and the 37th of his DTM career
• Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) and Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) finished fifth and ninth respectively
• Mercedes-AMG Motorsport lead the drivers’, team and manufacturers’ standings after eight race weekends: Gary (206 points) and Paul (204 points) are separated by only two points in the drivers’ standings
• Paul Di Resta: “After the disappointment of yesterday, these are very important points for me today”
• Ulrich Fritz: “As far as pace goes, we were certainly quicker today than yesterday. Unfortunately, we lost some vital positions with Gary’s pit stop”

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport achieved another podium in this weekend’s second race at the Nürburgring. Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) in second place secured crucial points in his battle for the title. This was his sixth podium at the Nürburgring, his sixth of the season and the 37th of his DTM career. For the team, this was the 26th podium in the 16th race of the season.

Championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) finished the race in fifth place and is two points ahead of his team-mate Paul in the run-up to the last two race weekends of the season at Spielberg and Hockenheim.

Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS) crossed the line in ninth place and also finished in the points. Edoardo Mortara (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) was fourteenth. Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS) retired with a puncture shortly before the end of the race.

From fifth on the grid, Lucas Auer (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport) made a strong start and was second after the first turn. Shortly afterwards, though, BMW driver Timo Glock caused him to spin and drop back to the rear of the field. Lucas had to retire his car to the pits with a braking problem a few minutes before the end.

After 16 of this season’s 20 races, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport continue to lead the drivers ‘, team and manufacturers’ championships. While Gary and Paul are having an exciting fight for the top spot in the standings, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS (306 points) head the team rankings. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS (262 points) are second and SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (248 points) third. In the manufacturers’ championship, Mercedes-AMG (801 points) are in first place with a lead of 270 points on BMW (531 points).

The next race weekend: The penultimate race weekend of the 2018 DTM season will take place in Spielberg, 21 – 23 September.

Comments after the race

Paul Di Resta (32, Scotland):

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

“After the disappointment of yesterday, these are very important points for me today. I was in fourth place yesterday and might well have made it onto the podium. But unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Things didn’t go all that well in qualifying today, but in the race itself, I was able to make up ground and advance to P2. I’m now looking forward to the next race weekend at Spielberg. The championship remains completely open.”

Gary Paffett (37, England):

• P5
• Car number: 2
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts. I had a bit too much wheel spin and lost a place to Lucas. After that, Timo Glock forced me off the track in turn five. After Glock had spun Lucas around, I was back in second place and felt OK there. I had good pace and was faster than René Rast, but I was unable to get past him. Unfortunately, we had a bad pit stop and then there was traffic in the pit lane, so I had to wait until the other cars had gone past. This dropped me down from second to seventh place. After that, I gave it everything I’d got and managed to regain two places. But towards the end, my tyres were starting to degrade, and I was unable to catch up with Bruno Spengler.”

Pascal Wehrlein (23, Germany):

• P9
• Car number: 94
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“My whole race was determined by the bad start I made today. I’v e been having trouble with the clutch all weekend, and today I stalled the engine at the start. We have to find a solution to this before the next race weekend at Spielberg. If I’d got off to a decent start, I could certainly have been among the lead group. But instead, I dropped back to 12th and came into contact with a couple of other cars. My car was damaged as a result, and towards the end of the race, I had to defend my position with everything I had. It’s obviously disappointing to start from Row 3 and drop back so far on the first lap.”

Edoardo Mortara (31, Italy):

• P14
• Car number: 48
• Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“Unfortunately that was a weekend to forget as far as I’m concerned. I never had the pace to attack the front-runners. That’s very disappointing, of course. We had a small problem in qualifying today, which meant I couldn’t finish my second run. And then it was very tough in the race, starting out from 18th on the grid. In the circumstances, eleventh place was not too bad, but I collided with Nico Müller, who spun, and I got a drive-through penalty.”

Daniel Juncadella (26, Spain):

• retired (classified 17th)
• Car number: 23
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“That was a tough race for me. I got away to a good start again but had a contact with another car after a few turns. I almost spun as a result and dropped back to the back of the field. The first stint was very difficult for me after that. The car felt pretty good during my second stint, and I was heading for a points-scoring finish. Unfortunately, I had the smallest of contacts with Loïc Duval just two laps from the end and punctured the left front tyre, which led to my early retirement.”

Lucas Auer (23, Austria):

• retired (classified 18th)
• Car number: 22
• Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
• Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

“I had a fantastic start today and moved up to second where I was matching René Rast for pace. I was even inside his DRS window. Then I got hit and spun round while exiting a corner, and after that, my car was damaged. Later on, I got brake problems and decided to pit. First, I’m going to mentally digest this race, and then I’m really looking forward to my home race in Austria.”

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM:

“As far as pace goes, we were certainly quicker today than yesterday. Unfortunately, we lost some vital positions with Gary’s pit stop. He drove superbly after that and limited the damage as a result. Paul, though, was able to collect important points towards the championship by finishing second. We must now carefully analyse the data for the two races and find solutions for Spielberg in order to return stronger once again.”

Race results: Top Ten

Drivers‘ Championship

Manufacturers‘ Championship

Teams‘ Championship