Hello! Last weekend, DTM went to Misano for the first ever race in the history of the championship. Invited guest on this race weekend was Alessandro Zanardi, who performed quite well in both races. Well, now about everything in more detail.
In qualifying races for the first race pole position was won by Paul Di Resta. His ninth in the account pole Di Resta won by setting the time 1m 46.826 seconds on a wet track. The second on the grid was Edoardo Mortara (1m 47.295). Thus again Mercedes will start from the first starting positions. The third place was won by champion Rene Rast (1m 47.401). The current leader of the championship Gary Paffett qualified fourth again ahead of Timo Glock.
The first race fully justified the expectations of the fans with their spectacular confrontations. In the intense first in the history of the night DTM race, Paul Di Resta won. Thus, the Scottish racer came very close in the table to the leader Gary Paffett. Before the second race they shared only one point. Together with the Scot, the places on the podium were occupied by Robin Frijns and Edoardo Mortara. And if for the Italian this season has already climbed to the podium, then that's for Robin Frijns this is the first podium since 2004. In this race, the Dutch racer started 12th but as a result becoming second for the first time in 13 years rose to the podium. Also in the race Philip Eng himself showed himself well, starting from the 18th place he eventually made his way to the first place, and the toga became the eighth. Rainy weather brought a lot of surprises on the track, for example, as a result of a collision championship leader Gary Puffett left the race ahead of schedule. Several times I had to use a safe deposit box. Excellent guest was a guest DTM, the gold medalist of the Paralympic Games 2012 and 2016, Alessandro Zanardi. The Italian was pleased with himself, in this race he performed in a specially equipped car, which allowed him not to use leg prostheses.
And this was just the beginning. In Sunday qualifying races, it was the turn to surprise Loic Duval. For the first time in his career, the French driver won the pole position. On Sunday, on a wet track in the rain, he showed the best time of 1m 45.766 seconds. However, racing control was canceled because of violations, but as a result, the pole was saved, since his second time in 1m 45.983 seconds. was also the best. Thus, Audi completed a record series of Mercedes from 9 in a row pole positions. However, Mercedes was not so far away. Edoardo Mortara (1m 46.086) and Daniel Juncadella (1m 46.496) were behind the leader.
Well, in Sunday's race, rookie Joel Eriksson finished the race weekend with his first career victory. In the nightmarish weather, in the pouring rain, the Swedish racer won the fight against Edoardo Mortara and René Rast. Almost sensationally completed his second race in the DTM, Alessandro Zanardi becoming the fifth. In this race, the Swedish driver chose a rather risky tire strategy. Only he started on slicks, which as a result threw him to the 18th position. But then, during the appearance of the safe-car, he switched to rain rubber and found himself in a comfortable position. Also based on the results of this race in the table the leader was replaced. Finishing sixth Paul Di Resta walked around Gary Paffett, who again remained without points in this race. The British racer was unbelievably unlucky on Misano, but he will still have time to return to the fight for the title.
In two weeks DTM will return to Germany to Nuremburgring where the 15th and 16th races will be held.
Photos taken from the official site of DTM - www.dtm.com
