With the title ceremony for the new DTM champion, René Rast, on Sunday afternoon, the 2017 season reached its climax. The drivers representing the Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG camps can look back on nine varying race weekends, with each of the 18 races held at seven racetracks in five countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Russia) creating their individual stories. Furthermore, the season provided figures for countless stats that underline the outstanding competitiveness of the most popular touring-car series and describe the path to the finale in figures.
The 2017 DTM season created not less than 11 different race winners. Three races each were won by the new champion René Rast as well as by his Rosberg team-mate Jamie Green and Mercedes ace Lucas Auer. Paul Di Resta, Mattias Ekström, Maro Engel, Timo Glock, Maxime Martin, Mike Rockenfeller, Bruno Spengler, Robert Wickens and Marco Wittmann won one race each. A special success was Engel’s race win at Moscow. Thanks to this success, all the 18 drivers that contested the 2017 DTM season now have got at least one race win under their belts.
All the 18 drivers racing for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG made it to the points in the races of the 2017 season, with 16 of them also making it to the podium. The biggest number of podiums was secured by the Audi aces Ekström and Rockenfeller (six each). Both René Rast and Marco Wittmann made it to the podium in five races while Lucas Auer, Maxime Martin, Robert Wickens, Timo Glock and Jamie Green all made it to the top three four times. The only drivers who failed to secure a podium were Tom Blomqvist and Augusto.
The championship lead was held by just three drivers: Lucas Auer, Mattias Ekström and the new champion, René Rast, with the three drivers alternating as race leader seven times. Sweden’s Ekström held the lead for nine races, Auer for the first five races and Rast – who also secured the unofficial half-time championship – for four races. The three-point lead Rast won the title with was one of the closest finish in the DTM history. Only twice in the history of the sport to date, the title also was won with a three-point lead. In 1987 Eric van de Poele (BMW) prevailed with this lead against Manuel Reuter (Ford) and in 2007, Bruno Spengler (Mercedes) was pipped in the battle for the title by Mattias Ekström (Audi).
The points awarded to the fastest three drivers in the qualifying session (3, 2, 1) – a new regulation introduced for the 2017 season – were an important component on René Rast’s way to the title. The driver from Minden secured a total of 17 qualifying points, thus slightly outscoring Marco Wittmann (15 points) and Jamie Green (11 points). While Mattias Ekström who lost his championship lead only in the season finale added just five qualifying points to his tally.
The biggest number of pole positions was clinched by René Rast, Lucas Auer and Timo Glock. All the three drivers were the pole sitters in three races. Jamie Green and Tom Blomqvist both started from pole in two races, while Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin, Bruno Spengler, Robert Wickens and Marco Wittmann secured the pole for one race each.
All the 18 drivers temporarily were race leaders, in 2017. The biggest number of laps as race leader was completed by Jamie Green (111), followed by René Rast (101) and Bruno Spengler (82). Over the course of his 111 laps, Audi’s Green covered 492 kilometres in the lead, while Rast was the race leader for 408 kilometres. Lucas Auer’s 71 laps in the lead represented a distance of 302 kilometres. The second race of the Spielberg race meeting was the one with the biggest number of different race leaders (nine). And in race one at Moscow, René Rast celebrated the only lights-to-flag win in the year.
The DTM crowds at Zandvoort, Netherlands, witnessed the closest finish. In the Saturday race, his only race win of the season, Timo Glock crossed the finish line just 0.178 seconds before Marco Wittmann.
Another interesting comparison is provided by the stats regarding the points scored
on Saturday and Sunday. Timo Glock scored 103 of his 133 points on the Saturdays. Consequently, the BMW driver holds the lead in the Saturday ranking, followed by Lucas Auer (100) and Mike Rockenfeller (92). On the Sundays, Mattias Ekström proved to be the best driver with 106 points, with Jamie Green (97) and René Rast (96) holding second and third positions. The new champion’s performances were rather consistent, as he scored 83 points on the Saturdays. Meanwhile, Loïc Duval is the only driver who scored all his points (22) in the Sunday races.
Press release DTM
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