Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class Driver, Bruno Spengler, was the best Mercedes-Benz driver in the sixth race of the season at the Nürburgring in second place. The Canadian driver extended his lead in the DTM drivers’ standings to 47 points, and leads the table by seven points.
Three AMG Mercedes C-Class drivers finished in the Top Ten: After 49 laps, Spengler’s team-mate Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home in sixth place, securing three championship points. Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class) moved up five positions from 13th place on the grid to finish the race in eighth place.
Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) missed the Top Ten by a whisker; the DTM rookie came home in eleventh place. Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class), Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished in P13, 14 and 15. David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) had to make an extra pit stop after a collision, and was 17th at the finish. Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired on the first lap of the race.
Coulthard posted the fastest lap, 1:25.588 minutes, his second in DTM and the 29th for Mercedes-Benz at the circuit in the Eifel. Since 2006, Mercedes-Benz drivers have secured the fastest race lap four times at the Nürburgring.
Across the race weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a total of 86,500 spectators visited the Nürburgring circuit to watch the DTM race.
Race summary
The start: Bruno Spengler moves up one position to third place. Gary Paffett goes up from P13 to P9. Maro Engel up three places to finish the first lap in 14th place.
Lap 1: Ralf Schumacher retires after a collision.
Lap 5: David Coulthard pits for a new front engine cover after a collision.
Lap 9: Renger van der Zande wins an exciting scrap with fellow Mercedes-Benz driver, Paffett, and moves up into P10.
Lap 12: The pit stop window is now open. Paffett is the first Mercedes-Benz driver to pit. Van der Zande also comes in for fresh tyres.
Lap 13: Jamie Green and Susie Stoddart make their first mandatory pit stop.
Lap 15: Spengler comes into the pits in third place for his first stop. Fresh tyres also for Christian Vietoris.
Lap 20: Four Mercedes-Benz drivers in the Top Ten: Spengler third, Green seventh. Paffett and van der Zande in P9 and 10.
Lap 23: Green is the first driver to make his second and final pit stop of the race.
Lap 25: Van der Zande pits for a second time for fresh tyres. Coulthard also comes into the pit lane.
Lap 27: Vietoris pits for a second time and then overtakes Rahel Frey (Audi).
Lap 28: Gary Paffett and Stoddart pit for fresh tyres. Coulthard posts the fastest race lap so far.
Lap 30: Third-placed Spengler comes into the pit lane for the second time, and subsequently maintains his position in the race.
Lap 35: Coulthard makes his final mandatory pit stop.
Lap 39: Spengler reels in Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) in the fight for second place. The Mercedes-Benz driver is just 0.3 seconds down on Rockenfeller.
Lap 47: Rockenfeller misjudges his braking in the Mercedes Arena und Spengler sails past to secure second place two laps before the finish.
Finish (Lap 49): After 49 laps and a total distance of 177.821 km, Spengler is best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver, securing a podium place in P2. Green comes home in P6, Paffett in P8.
Comments after the race:
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) – Second:
“I’m happy with my second place. I overtook Mike Rockenfeller just two laps before the finish. My C-Class was very fast today, but I couldn’t use all the speed, as I couldn’t find a way past Mike for quite a time. Many thanks to the team for a great, consistent car.”
Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Sixth:
“I had intended to be challenging for victory today. I started the race from second on the grid but lost a couple of positions straightaway. Then, a less than perfect pit stop cost me additional time. It was a bit frustrating because I got stuck in heavy traffic for quite a while, which meant I wasn’t able to use the excellent pace of my C-Class to best advantage.”
Gary Paffett (AMG Mercedes C THOMAS SABO-Class) – Eighth:
“Considering I started from 13th on the grid, a P8 finish is quite an achievement. I made good five positions today – the field was so tightly bunched, that there was scope to have done even better. I really enjoyed the race. My C-Class was fast and I made good progress through the field.”
Renger van der Zande (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) – Eleventh:
“Unfortunately, I just missed out on the Top Ten. That’s annoying, because I know I could have done better today – my car had excellent pace. The target for this race was to get into a points position, but on the first couple of laps, I got into a few scrapes with other cars and sustained damage to my C-Class. Anyway, I’ll be pushing hard again in the next race and trying to score points.”
Christian Vietoris (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 13th:
“Unfortunately, I was forced into a spin during the jockeying for position at the start and was placed last after the first round, so we had to change strategy a bit and adapt to conditions. I was nevertheless able to pass a few cars in the remaining part of the race and was very satisfied with lap times in my C-Class.”
Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 14th:
“That wasn’t an easy race for me. I got into a lot of scraps and made many attempts at overtaking on the first few laps. Oliver Jarvis collided with my C-Class just as he was exiting the pit lane. My car was damaged and proved difficult to drive afterwards, which probably prevented me from finishing higher up the field.”
Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 15th:
“Of course, I’m not at all satisfied with 15th place. I hope that in future races, I can once again show the speed of my C-Class. The incident with Christian Vietoris was unfortunate – I think I just got a little too close to him.”
David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 17th:
“I’d like to thank my team for delivering such a powerful C-Class for me to drive today. Sadly, I had an unfortunate collision right at the start of the race and then lost a lot of time on an unscheduled pit stop. From last in the field, it was difficult to make progress and get into a points-scoring position. I hope that things go better for me next time.”
Ralf Schumacher (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) – retired:
“It’s a pity that I had to retire early. I had a scrap with David, each of us seeing an opportunity. I braked a bit too late perhaps and made contact with him. It was a fair fight; we both wanted to maintain position. As fellow Mercedes drivers, we did everything we could, though, and gave no quarter, but it’s no big deal, in a close-run race, these things happen.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“The race result was decided by the grid positions from qualifying when the weather conditions kept changing. Bruno Spengler got the worst of it yesterday, but the main thing is finishing second in the race has increased his championship lead by a further four points. So from that aspect, he can claim to be one of the winners on the day.”
