DTM 2015 - Mercedes dominate at the Norisring

Mercedes took control of the Norisring

After a quiet start to their season, Mercedes hit back in style at the Norisring, round three of the DTM championship, taking a 1-2-3-4 in race one there and a 1-2 in race two, with none of the BMW or Audi driver's able to stop the three-pointed star.

Race one

Paffet and Vietoris went side-by-side into turn 1

On Saturday it was Christian Vietoris that took pole position, alongside Gary Paffet. Paffet got away much better than Vietoris in the damp conditions at the start of the race, but couldn't take advantage of his start and slotted into second place behind his Mercedes team-mate. As they completed the first lap though, the safety car was deployed for contact at the turn 2 hairpin.

Auer and Molina ended up facing the wrong way

The contact was caused by Mercedes driver Lucas Auer. He had gone down the inside of Audi's Miguel Molina, but the move hadn't worked out quite as he had hoped, and he clouted the side of Molina's Audi, spinning both and leaving them facing the wall, the debris caused by the accident resulting in the safety car's deployment.

Wehrlein started on slicks rather than wets

The race got underway again shortly after, and this was when things got interesting. Several drivers had started the race on slick tyres, the majority being on wet's but soon it was time for the wet tyre shod runner's to pit and change. Paffet had been passed by Robert Wickens Mercedes and was now 3rd, but as all this went on, slick shod Pascal Wehrlein was closing the gap to the leaders, closing it so much that once the top three had made their pitstop, Wehrlein had taken the lead away from Vietoris!

Di Resta was on for a good result before a clash with Green

Paul Di Resta should have had a strong weekend, who qualified well and was in contention for a podium finish. However, championship leader Jamie Green, who started third on slick tyres but dropped to 11th at the first turn, made contact with the Scott, damaging the rear right suspension and putting Di Resta out of the race, a great shame as Paul was doing a solid job in the tricky early conditions.

Wehrlein drove a fine race and took a superb win

Nothing though could stop Wehrlein, who took his second DTM career victory in fine style, the gamble to start on the dry weather tyres had well and truly paid off, and he was rewarded at the end. Wickens was a strong 2nd place, and Paffet, whilst dissapointed to have lost out to Wickens, was still happy to claim a second podium of the season, in P3.

Race 2

Spengler lead the field away from pole position

Race two began with a BMW on pole for the first time this season, that honor going to Bruno Spengler, a stunning lap put him ahead of Vietoris and Wickens, whilst Lucas Auer impressed as well. At the start Spengler got away well to maintain his lead, but Vietoris lost out to team-mate Wickens, who got around the outside of Vietoris at the hairpin, and he went straight after Spengler.

Robert Wickens snatched the lead from Spengler in the early stages

Wickens dived down the inside of Spengler into turn 1 a few laps later, taking the lead from the BMW driver, and he was immediately passed by Vietoris, Auer and Mattias Ekstrom's Audi, sporting a retro livery in homage to the livery used by Audi sport in the 1990's and 1980's. Auer though had a 5 second time penalty to be served at his pitstop, for being slightly out of position at the start, so Ekstrom was a net P3.

Ekstrom and Spengler had a great battle over third place

Wickens pulled away from Vietoris after the pitstop's, who in turn pulled away from Ekstrom, but Ekstrom couldn't shake Spengler off, the BMW driver was fine with not having the pace to win, but was hoping to at least finish on the podium after qualifying on pole position. As the race entered its latter stages, the BMW dived down the inside of the Audi into turn 1, and after a bit of wheel barging, got past his friend Ekstrom and was up into P3.

Green goes wheel to wheel with Auer, sadly It wasn't a good weekend for the Audi driver

Wehrlein finished a solid 5th, with Di Resta a much happier man in 6th place and Gary Paffet was 7th, however Jamie Green, after recovering to 7th in Saturday's race, really didn't have a good Sunday. He was battling with Auer and BMW's Maxime Martin later in the race, but contact from Martin after an aggressive move by the BMW gave Green a puncture, and whilst he managed to rejoin the race, he could only manage 18th place at the checkered flag.

Wickens celebrates his dominant race two performance

Robert Wickens though was unstoppable, claiming his second career DTM win, just like Wehrlein had done the previous day, putting him fifth in the championship. Full race results and championship standings are below;

The next round of the championship is at Zandvoort, and the gap from Green to Ekstrom in the standings is only 11 points. Can the Swede close the gap even further? Until next time folks, ciao!

Garry Paffet came away with a 3rd and 7th at the Norisring

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