With a dominant lights-to-flag victory for Brit Gary Paffett at Lausitzring, Mercedes-Benz makes a strong comeback in the battle for the DTM title. After 52 laps, the 2005 DTM champion crossed the finish line as the buoyant winner and already collected the winner’s trophy for the 20th time in the DTM. In the drivers’ standings, Paffett moved up to third place behind Bruno Spengler (BMW) and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), who are jointly in the lead.
Mike Rockenfeller also showed a very strong race and turned sixth place on the grid into a second-place finish thanks to a good performance and the right tyre management. The driver in third place also was very happy with his race. Christian Vietoris, who had claimed his maiden pole position on Saturday, already finished on the podium for the second time this season. In the season opener at Hockenheim, the 24-year old had also come third.
In total, 65,000 fans came to watch the fourth race weekend of the DTM. On Sunday, they got to see a race that was marked by tactics. Particularly the timing of the use of the option tyres determined the teams’ strategies. Gary Paffett had a perfect start and immediately took the lead of the 22-strong field. The Brit didn’t make any mistakes, had the right strategy and didn’t lose the lead until the finish. Behind him in the field, there were plenty of overtaking manoeuvres and position fights.
Behind the trio in front, Canadian Robert Wickens (Mercedes-Benz) finished third. Jamie Green (Audi) and Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes-Benz) scored their first points of the season in fifth and sixth place respectively. In the battle for seventh place, the spectators got to see a heart-stopping finale. Spengler fiercely defended his position against Mattias Ekström (Audi) and crossed the finish line in seventh only centimetres ahead of the Swede. In the points’ standings, Rockenfeller and Spengler each have 59 points. Paffett is following in third place with 47 points, Vietoris is fourth with 40 points. The fifth season round takes place at the Norisring, July 14th.
