Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller has taken his first win in two years and four days after a commanding victory at Brands Hatch.
"Rocky'' inherited pole after BMW’s Martin Tomczyk was excluded from qualifying and looked unrivalled around the short 1.9 kilometer circuit.
Bruno Spengler finished 7.6 seconds behind in second after benefitting from teammate Augusto Farfus’ misfortune, which saw the Brazilian’s M3 ground to a halt on the Brabham Straight whilst on course for another podium.
Another Canadian, Mercedes’ Robert Wickens, finished third. Never before in the history of the sport has there been two Canadians on a DTM podium.
However, Wickens inherited the position after stablemate Gary Paffett was penalised for now slowing under yellow flags; a decision which dropped the British driver to sixth. Until that point, Paffett had driven an outstanding race which saw him and the HWA team execute a standard-option-standard tyre strategy to perfection.
Joey Hand was another North American to have a good race and despite suffering a poor start which dropped him from third to sixth, the Californian managed to recover to fifth by the end of the race and score his best DTM career result.
Mattias Ekstrom finished seventh from 12th on the grid, ahead of Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris, Audi stablemate Timo Scheider and DTM rookie Pascal Wehrlein.
The race was not without controversy however, with Timo Glock calling for Mercedes’ Roberto Merhi to take a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Spielberg, after the young Spaniard forced the BMW driver onto the grass at the bottom of Graham Hill hill in the opening stages of the race.
Glock was not the only BMW driver who made contact with Merhi, as Martin Tomczyk was spun by the Mercedes driver in exactly the same place later on in the 98 lap race.
Race results – Brands Hatch (DTM)
1 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 98 laps in 1.11'28"719
2 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 7"641
3 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 24"368
4 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M3) - MTEK - 24"964
5 - Joey Hand (BMW M3) - RBM - 26"076
6 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 27"071
7 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 36"523
8 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 38"940
9 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Abt - 39"519
10 - Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke - 40"290
11 - Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 40"853
12 - Dirk Werner (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 1 lap
13 - Timo Glock (BMW M3) - MTEK - 1 lap
14 - Martin Tomczyk (BMW M3) - RMG - 1 lap
15 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1 lap
16 - Roberto Merhi (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 1 lap
17 - Filipe Albuquerque (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1 lap
18 - Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1 lap
19 - Andy Priaulx (BMW M3) - RMG - 2 laps
20 - Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke - 2 laps
Retirements
Lap 87 - Edoardo Mortara
Lap 68 - Augusto Farfus
Championship standings
1.Rockenfeller 29 points; 2.Spengler 28; 3.Farfus 25; 4.Paffett 20; 5.Vietris 19; 6.Werner 18; 7.Hand 16; 8.Wickens 15; 9.Wittmann 14; 10.Scheider 10.
"Rocky'' inherited pole after BMW’s Martin Tomczyk was excluded from qualifying and looked unrivalled around the short 1.9 kilometer circuit.
Bruno Spengler finished 7.6 seconds behind in second after benefitting from teammate Augusto Farfus’ misfortune, which saw the Brazilian’s M3 ground to a halt on the Brabham Straight whilst on course for another podium.
Another Canadian, Mercedes’ Robert Wickens, finished third. Never before in the history of the sport has there been two Canadians on a DTM podium.
 |
| Three manufacturers, two Canadians, one winner on the Brands Hatch podium (Photo: Audi Motorsport) |
However, Wickens inherited the position after stablemate Gary Paffett was penalised for now slowing under yellow flags; a decision which dropped the British driver to sixth. Until that point, Paffett had driven an outstanding race which saw him and the HWA team execute a standard-option-standard tyre strategy to perfection.
Joey Hand was another North American to have a good race and despite suffering a poor start which dropped him from third to sixth, the Californian managed to recover to fifth by the end of the race and score his best DTM career result.
Mattias Ekstrom finished seventh from 12th on the grid, ahead of Mercedes’ Christian Vietoris, Audi stablemate Timo Scheider and DTM rookie Pascal Wehrlein.
The race was not without controversy however, with Timo Glock calling for Mercedes’ Roberto Merhi to take a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Spielberg, after the young Spaniard forced the BMW driver onto the grass at the bottom of Graham Hill hill in the opening stages of the race.
Glock was not the only BMW driver who made contact with Merhi, as Martin Tomczyk was spun by the Mercedes driver in exactly the same place later on in the 98 lap race.
 |
| Mike Rockenfeller, Audi RS 5 DTM (Photo: Audi Motorsport) |
Race results – Brands Hatch (DTM)
1 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 98 laps in 1.11'28"719
2 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 7"641
3 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 24"368
4 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M3) - MTEK - 24"964
5 - Joey Hand (BMW M3) - RBM - 26"076
6 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 27"071
7 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 36"523
8 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 38"940
9 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Abt - 39"519
10 - Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke - 40"290
11 - Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 40"853
12 - Dirk Werner (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 1 lap
13 - Timo Glock (BMW M3) - MTEK - 1 lap
14 - Martin Tomczyk (BMW M3) - RMG - 1 lap
15 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1 lap
16 - Roberto Merhi (Mercedes C-Coupé) - HWA - 1 lap
17 - Filipe Albuquerque (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 1 lap
18 - Adrien Tambay (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1 lap
19 - Andy Priaulx (BMW M3) - RMG - 2 laps
20 - Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupé) - Mucke - 2 laps
Retirements
Lap 87 - Edoardo Mortara
Lap 68 - Augusto Farfus
Championship standings
1.Rockenfeller 29 points; 2.Spengler 28; 3.Farfus 25; 4.Paffett 20; 5.Vietris 19; 6.Werner 18; 7.Hand 16; 8.Wickens 15; 9.Wittmann 14; 10.Scheider 10.