DTM is returning to Germany. After foreign racing weekends in the Netherlands, the UK and Italy, the drivers return to the legendary Nurburgring where the 15th and 16th race of the championship will be held.
On Saturday the best in the qualification was Rene Rast showing the time 1m 22,203sec. Last year's performances of the champion on this track were not too successful both in qualification and in races, but this time the incumbent champion has already secured three points in the standings of the pilots. Following him on the starting grid in the first race of the championship took Gary Paffett (1m 22.231 seconds) and Bruno Spengler (1m 22.281 seconds.). Gary Paffett continues his struggle for the championship, last weekend was extremely unfortunate for him and now he needs to do his best. For Bruno Spengler this third place in the qualification became the second in the season.
On Saturday, the champion of 2017, DTM continued its upward trend. The first half of the season turned out to be very unsuccessful for the German, but then things went well with him: in the 15th race of the championship, Rene Rast won his second victory of the season. The first day of the weekend was fantastic for Rene Rast, he scored the maximum points (28) and in addition set the fastest lap time. Thanks to this victory Rast rose from seventh place to fifth in the standings. Also on Saturday was an occasion for joy at Bruno Spengler. The Canadian won the second place and this is his first major success in the season of 2018. The last time Bruno Spengler was on the pedestal in 2017 in Moscow. Another pilot, for whom the first race also developed very well - Gary Paffett. The contender for the championship improved his position in the championship, finishing third in the 15th championship race. During the race, the Briton was fighting for the second line with Bruno Spengler, but as a result at the end of the race he had to defend his place in the fight against Timo Glock. As a result, he managed to defend his position leaving the German driver in fourth place. Paul Di Resta as a result of a collision with Philipp Eng was knocked out of fourth place and the results of the race did not score points. The Scot was furious during the pit stop, race management punished the newcomer to the championship, but in the end, Paul Di Resta lost precious points at the decisive stage of the championship.
In Sunday's qualification, Renee Rast again became the best. Having won the second consecutive pole position, it was only six thousandths of a second faster than Gary Paffett. The third place on the grid was taken by Philipp Eng. The fourth place was taken by Timo Glock. One of the best racer of Saturday Bruno Spengler this time qualified eighth. In general, the Sunday qualification was surprisingly militant, even Eduardo Mortar, who finished 18th, was only 0.785 seconds. from the leader.
On Sunday Rene Rast wrote a story with his own hands. The champion of 2017 for the first time in history was able to score the maximum number of points, 56 points for one weekend. Rene Rast was the undisputed leader having won two pole positions and two wins, of course, for the victory in the championship this is not enough, but by this he confirmed his status. The second place in Sunday's race was taken by Paul Di Resta, who had to break out from the eleventh position. The third place on the podium was taken by Marco Wittmann. As a result, as on Saturday, all three manufacturers were represented on the podium. Strongly unlucky in the second weekend race, Gary Paffett, after an unsuccessful pit stop that lasted 11.1 seconds. he returned to track number six. Timo Glock after a collision with Lucas Aouer received a fine, which did not allow him to fight for a place in the top ten.
That's it, it's pretty full weekend at Nuremburgring. The next weekend will be held on Spielberg on September 21-23.
Photos taken from the official site of DTM - www.dtm.com
