Victory and points’ lead for Robert Wickens

Robert Wickens leads in the rain
Robert Wickens leads in the rain

With a dominant performance, Canadian Robert Wickens won the DTM race at Moscow Raceway in Russia on Saturday and thus also took the lead in the drivers’ standings. After 22 laps, he drove his Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM across the finish line with a margin of over ten seconds from second-placed Paul Di Resta. For Wickens, it is the fifth DTM race win of his career and the second this season. "Conditions were really difficult," race winner Wickens commented at the finish. "Once I had taken the lead from Gary, the better visibility certainly was the key to success."

Gary Paffett, who had started the race from pole position, rounded out the podium after finishing in third place. Classified fourth, Maximilian Götz not only scored his best DTM race result to date, but also rounded out the dominant success for Mercedes-AMG in Moscow. Due to heavy rain, the eleventh DTM race of the season gut underway behind the safety car. Regular racing conditions were in place from the end of lap three.

Mattias Ekstrom was classified as the best-placed Audi driver, finishing fifth from the best BMW driver, Maxime Martin. Jamie Green finished seventh and dropped back from second to third in the drivers’ standings, but reduced his gap in the points the championship leader. Marco Wittmann, who had been leading the drivers’ standings until Saturday, failed to score points today. The BMW driver only finished in 19th position.

The battle for the DTM title remains a thrilling affair: after eleven of this season’s 18 races, Wickens is leading with 108 points from Marco Wittmann (105 points) and Jamie Green (104 points). Edoardo Mortara and Paul Di Resta are next up, both tied at 92 points. In the manufacturers’ standings, the gaps are small, too. Mercedes-Benz is on top with 375 points from Audi (370 points) and BMW (366 points).

The second race at Moscow Raceway will get underway on Sunday, 21 August, 2016, at 12.10 hrs CET. ARD will be broadcasting live from Moscow Raceway. Prior to that, the starting grid positions for the race on Sunday will be determined in qualifying from 9.50 hrs CET (live on EinsFestival).

Results

Pos No. Driver Nat Sponsor/Car Laps Behind
1 3 Robert Wickens (CAN) SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMMercedes-AMG 22 0.000s
2 2 Paul Di Resta (GBR) Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMEURONICS/FREE MEN`S WORLD Merced 22 10.955
3 84 Gary Paffett (GBR) EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMMercedes-AMG 22 12.293
4 5 Maximilian Götz (DEU) Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMAudi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 22 25.270
5 36 Mattias Ekström (SWE) Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTMBMW Team RBM 22 25.874
6 53 Maxime Martin (BEL) SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTMAudi Sport Team Rosberg 22 27.243
7 48 Jamie Green (GBR) Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTMAudi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 22 27.752
8 10 Edoardo Mortara (ITA) Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTMAudi Sport Team Phoenix 22 30.108
9 88 Timo Scheider (DEU) AUTOBILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTMEURONICS/FREE MEN`S WORLD Merced 22 31.671
10 16 Felix Rosenqvist (SWEF) REE MEN`S WORLD Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMBMW Team RMG 22 32.848
11 27 Timo Glock (DEU) DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTMAudi Sport Team Rosberg 22 35.243
12 51 Adrien Tambay (FRA) Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTMAudi Sport Team Abt 22 36.197
13 18 Nico Müller (CHE) Playboy Audi RS 5 DTMBMW Team MTEK 22 38.287
14 7 Augusto Farfus (BRA) Shell BMW M4 DTMBMW Team MTEK 22 42.822
15 99 Bruno Spengler (CAN) BMW Bank M4 DTMAudi Sport Team Phoenix 22 44.030
16 17 Mike Rockenfeller (DEU) Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTMAudi Sport Team Abt 22 44.781
17 22 Miguel Molina (ESP) Teufel Audi RS 5 DTMBWT Mercedes-AMG 22 46.951
18 11 Lucas Auer (AUT) BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTMBMW Team RMG 22 49.944
19 13 Marco Wittmann (DEU) Red Bull BMW M4 DTMBMW Team Schnitzer 22 50.288
20 100 António Félix da Costa (PRT) BMW M4 DTMBMW Team Schnitzer 22 51.313
21 31 Martin Tomczyk (DEU) BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTMBMW Team RBM 22 59.926
22 8 Tom Blomqvist (GBR) Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTMBWT Mercedes-AMG 22 1:02.697
DNF Christian Vietoris (DEU) BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM 22 1:07.259