DTM enters the home straight by starting at high speed into the final third of the 2017 season. This weekend, the Nürburgring will stage the 13th and 14th rounds of the year and despite the typical wet and cold Eifel weather that has been forecasted, the action certainly will be hot. Eight drivers still have got the chance of securing the title in the famous touring-car series. Audi want to defend their lead in all the three rankings, BMW travels to the Eifel with massively boosted confidence, following the race meeting at Zandvoort – and Mercedes-AMG want to strike back, after the disappointment they had to cope with at the Dutch North Sea coast.
Five wins, three poles and nine fastest race laps. For Audi, the season couldn’t run much better. With Mattias Ekström (128 points), René Rast (114) and Mike Rockenfeller (110), three Audi drivers hold the three top positions in the drivers’ championship. The Audi Sport Teams Rosberg and Abt Sportsline are the leaders in the team ranking and in the manufacturers’ championship, Audi are dominating with 518 points on their tally, followed by BMW (405) and Mercedes-Benz (361). Nonetheless, the Ingolstadters aren’t regarded as favourites in the races at the 3.629-kilometre sprint circuit. « The qualifying sessions in particular will be extremely difficult for us, » admits championship leader Mattias Ekström. « But those who know me are aware that I never give in and keep on fighting to the finish line. I travel to the Nürburgring with a 14-point lead and also want to defend my lead. »
To do so won’t be easy as the BMW pairing Timo Glock (104 points) und Maxime Martin (102) follows close behind. In addition, the Nürburgring proved to be a good place for BMW, in the past five years. Since their comeback in 2002, Bruno Spengler, Maxime Martin and Marco Wittmann – twice – made it to the Nürburgring record books as race winners. « I hope that we will have another good weekend and will score continuously. The Nürburgring uses to come up with weather surprises and I’m curious to find out what we will have to cope with this weekend, » says Glock, with fellow BMW driver Augusto Farfus adding: « It’s the Nürburgring as a whole that is so special. It simply is the temple of motor racing and being there always is great. I just love the Nürburgring. Our pace at Zandvoort was amazing and we want to take this momentum to the Eifel to add more important points to our tally. »
Despite having had to leave Zandvoort empty-handed, Lucas Auer (99 points) still is the Mercedes-AMG spearhead and sixth in the championship. The race meeting at the Nürburgring comes at the perfect point in time for the Austrian. After all, he was the fastest in three of the four qualifying sessions held there recently. An outstanding achievement in consideration of the level of competitiveness on the DTM grid. « It seems as if the corners in the Eifel suit me particularly well, » says Auer. « The two past weekends differed to the max. At the Moscow Raceway we were slow but scored in fine style, nevertheless – while we also were slow at Zandvoort but didn’t score at all. And now, at the Nürburgring it’s time to push again to take a bigger number of Mercedes-AMG vehicles to the top six. And the fact that I always was among the fastest at this circuit represents a great precondition for doing so. »
At the end of the day, the visitors may look forward to a thrilling race weekend with an entertaining support programme. In addition to DTM, the Formula 3 European Championship, the ‘Tourenwagen Classics’, the Audi Sport TT Cups and the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany also will provide exciting motor racing. And within the framework of the ‘ARD Chartshow’, the globally renowned singer Anastacia will entertain the crowds with her outstanding voice. In the pit view, fans with paddock tickets can watch the teams working at close range and the fan terrace on the pit roof as well as the fan village also will be opened again. Germany’s German TV partner ARD covers the two DTM races on Saturday from 14:30hrs CEST (13:30hrs BST) and on Sunday from 15:00hrs CEST.
Press release DTM
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