2013 Lausitzring Race

2013 Lausitzring Race
The infield version of the Lausitzring
Race Information
Date	16 June 2013
No.	143
Event	DTM Lausitz 2013
Location	Lausitzring Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany
Format	Championship Race
Lap length	3.478 km (2.161 mi)
Distance	52 laps / 180.964 km (112.442 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Christian Vietoris
Team	STIHL/AMG Mercedes
Time	1:17.715
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mike Rockenfeller
Team	Audi Sport Team Phoenix
Time	1:18.268 on lap 7
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Gary Paffett	Mike Rockenfeller	Christian Vietoris
Winner Team	Euronics/Thomas Sabo Mercedes AMG
Time	1:09:58.562
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2013 Spielberg Race		2013 Norisring Race

The DTM Lausitz 2013 Race, otherwise known as the 2013 Lausitzring Race, was the fourth round of the 2013 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Lausitzring in Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany on 16 June 2013. The race, which was held on the in-field circuit designed specifically for the DTM, would see Gary Paffett claim Mercedes' first win of the campaign.

It was Paffett's stablemate Christian Vietoris who won the battle in qualifying, as the Stuttgart manufacturer claimed three of the four spots for the shootout. Paffett himself would claim second, 0.225s off, while Jamie Green was the lone interloper for Audi in third ahead of Robert Wickens.

The start of the race would see Paffett rocket past Vietoris of the lead, while Green managed to move across and block the attentions of Wickens. Behind, Dirk Werner would be tipped into a spin by Miguel Molina as the field poured into the tight first corner, although fortunately the #2 BMW would not get collected by anyone else.

The order would quickly stabilise, although not before Spengler had elbowed his way past Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein had moved ahead of Filipe Albuquerque. Indeed, it was only when DRS came on-line that the order was further revised, although it would also coincide with Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider making their first stops.

A slow trickle of drivers would enter the pits over the following laps as, at the back of the field, a clumsy combination of manoeuvres saw Martin Tomczyk and Andy Priaulx collide. Elsewhere, Daniel Juncadella and Edoardo Mortara engaged in a firey battle in the midfield, while Marco Wittmann was the last driver to complete his first mandated stop on lap 27.

Out front, meanwhile, Paffett would lead without too much interference, and would only briefly lose the lead during the stops. Vietoris, meanwhile, would enhance his hold on second over Spengler, while behind Wickens was having to defend from Mike Rockenfeller was the race entered its final phase.

Indeed, Rockenfeller would be the man to watch in the closing stages, as he used soft tyres to close in on the leaders. After dealing with Wickens shortly before the final stops the German racer would ease past Vietoris to claim second, prior to hunting down Paffett to challenge for the lead.

However, Paffett had a significant advantage and duly swept across the line still with a healthy margin over Rockenfeller to secure victory. Vietoris was next up to complete the podium ahead of Wickens, while Jamie Green and Juncadella rounded out the top six. Spengler was next up ahead of Ekström, while Mortara and Roberto Merhi rounded out the scorers.

Background

The major news stories to emerge during the break between the Red Bull Ring and Lausitzring meetings was the charity work organised by the DTM in the wake of flooding in Eastern Germany. €100,000 was granted to three towns from the organisers of the Series and handed out by Timo Scheider, Timo Glock and Christian Vietoris in the town of Meissen.

Spielberg Styling

Championship concerns, meanwhile, saw Bruno Spengler take over control of the title hunt in Austria after taking his first victory of the season. Mike Rockenfeller sat in second, now twelve points off of the Canadian, while Augusto Farfus remained in third a further eight points back. Marco Wittmann found himself in fourth in the early stages of his début season, ahead of the first Mercedes driver in Christian Vietoris.

The Brands' Championship was being dominated by BMW, who now sat over 100 points ahead of Audi in second. Likewise, it was BMW Team Schnitzer who forged ahead in the Teams' Championship, their tally almost twice that of the first non-BMW team in Audi Team Phoenix, back in fourth. STIHL/AMG Mercedes sat a point off their Ingolstadt based rivals as the best of the Mercedes teams, with Audi Team Rosberg and BMW Team RBM still yet to score.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2013 Lausitzring Race is displayed below:

2013 Lausitzring Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:SPE 13 Livery.png
2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:WER 13 Livery.png
3	Gary Paffett	Euronics/Thomas Sabo Mercedes AMG	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:PAF 13 Livery.png
4	Roberto Merhi	Euronics/Thomas Sabo Mercedes AMG	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:MEH 13 Livery.png
5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:MOR 13 Livery.png
6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:ALB 13 Livery.png
7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:FAR 13 Livery.png
8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:WER 13 Livery.png
9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:VIE 13 Livery.png
10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:WIC 13 Livery.png
11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:EKS 13 Livery.png
12	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:GRE 13 Livery.png
15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:TOM 13 Livery.png
16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:PRI 13 Livery.png
17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:JUN 13 Livery.png
18	Vitaly Petrov	Stern/AMG Mercedes	AMG Mercedes	C-Coupé 12	File:PET 13 Livery.png
19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:ROC 13 Livery.png
20	Miguel Molina	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:MOL 13 Livery.png
21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:WIT 13 Livery.png
22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M3 DTM 12	File:GLO 13 Livery.png
23	Timo Scheider	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:TSC 13 Livery.png
24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 12	File:TAM 13 Livery.png
Source:

Qualifying

A hot afternoon in East Germany saw temperatures almost hit 35°C on the track ahead of qualifying, the highest temperature seen so far. The now familiar qualifying format for 2013 was again to be used at the Lausitzring, with six cars being eliminated in the first three sessions. The final Pole Shootout was to involve the fastest four cars from Q3, with each driver having one shot at taking pole position for the race.

Q1

First man out in qualifying was Mike Rockenfeller, who went on to set the fastest time of the session, before immediately being toppled by Adrien Tambay. Rockenfeller briefly returned to the top only to see Roberto Merhi set the fastest time, before the Spaniard was beaten by Jamie Green. Robert Wickens was the next man to go fastest, before Gary Paffett broke the 1:18.000 barrier just after the halfway point in the session.

As ever, the final moments of Q1 saw a mad scramble to avoid elimination, with all six Mercedes drivers escaping, the first time the Stuttgart squad had managed to do so. That left Marco Wittmann, Joey Hand, Andy Priaulx and Martin Tomczyk to all fall for BMW, while Audi lost stalwarts Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider.

Q2

The shorter Q2 session saw Green head onto the circuit first, although it was Paffett who set the pace early on, until Wickens set the fastest time of the weekend so far. Paffett then smashed that time to go fastest, as Vietoris pushed himself up to third, while Wehrlein snuck into the top ten. Unfortunately for Wehrlein, he was displaced by Adrien Tambay a few moments later, meaning both he and Daniel Juncadella were out for Mercedes. Joining them were Dirk Werner and Timo Glock for BMW and two Audi drivers in Filipe Albuquerque and Miguel Molina.

Q3

Rockenfeller lit up his car as he left the pitlane to signal the start of Q3, although his first time was immediately beaten by Paffett. Wickens and Vietoris were quick to join him in the top four slots, with Tambay holding onto fourth for the majority of the season. But, as Paffett set another fastest lap of the weekend, Tambay slipped to seventh, displaced by Rockenfeller, Bruno Spengler and finally Green, who just beat Spengler's time by 0.010s to get into the Pole Shootout.

Pole Shootout

The Pole Shootout began with Green first out on circuit, but could only manage to get within a tenth of his previous time. Vietoris went next and beat Green's time, also setting his best lap of the entire qualifying session, before Wickens failed to beat either of the previous times. Paffett then made his way onto the circuit, but a small mistake on his final lap cost him two tenths, and meant that Vietoris had his maiden pole position, and the honour of being the first Mercedes driver to take pole in 2013.

Post-Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2013 Lausitzring Race are outlined below:

2013 Lausitzring Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3			Q4		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1st	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		5th	1:18.106		6th	1:18.045		2nd	1:17.841		1st	1:17.715	1
2nd	3	Gary Paffett	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		2nd	1:17.920		1st	1:17.618		1st	1:17.463		2nd	1:17.940	2
3rd	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		11th	1:18.341		9th	1:18.131		4th	1:17.957		3rd	1:18.028	3
4th	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		3rd	1:17.991		2nd	1:17.904		3rd	1:17.844		4th	1:18.133	4
5th	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer		1st	1:17.901		8th	1:18.052		5th	1:17.967				5
6th	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix		4th	1:18.001		4th	1:17.914		6th	1:18.134				6
7th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt		6th	1:18.197		10th	1:18.219		7th	1:18.161				7
8th	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg		8th	1:18.212		7th	1:18.048		8th	1:18.205				8
9th	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		10th	1:18.234		3rd	1:17.908		9th	1:18.335				9
10th*	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM		7th	1:18.199		5th	1:17.950		10th	1:18.383				15*
11th	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes		14th	1:18.453		11th	1:18.225							10
12th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer		15th	1:18.476		12th	1:18.361							11
13th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg		13th	1:18.357		13th	1:18.421							12
14th†	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK		16th	1:18.509		14th	1:18.485							17†
15th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes		12th	1:18.353		15th	1:18.502							13
16th	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix		9th	1:18.229		NC	—							14
17th	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt		17th	1:18.596										16
18th	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		18th	1:18.742										18
19th‡	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK		19th	1:18.777										19‡
20th‡	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM		20th	1:18.909										20‡
21st‡	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG		21st	1:19.065										21‡
22nd‡	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG		22nd	1:19.137										22‡
107% Time: 1:23.572
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Farfus was awarded a five place grid penalty.
• ^† Glock handed a three place grid penalty for obstructing Juncadella.
• ^‡ Wittmann, Hand, Priaulx and Tomczyk were all handed ten place grid penalties for work carried out under parc fermé conditions.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Christian Vietoris
	Gary Paffett	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Jamie Green
	Robert Wickens	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Bruno Spengler
	Mike Rockenfeller	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Adrien Tambay
	Edoardo Mortara	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Roberto Merhi
	Pascal Wehrlein	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Dirk Werner
	Filipe Albuquerque	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Daniel Juncadella
	Miguel Molina	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Augusto Farfus
	Timo Scheider	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Timo Glock
	Mattias Ekström	______________
Row 10	______________	19
	20	Marco Wittmann
	Joey Hand	______________
Row 11	______________	21
	22	Andy Priaulx
	Martin Tomczyk	______________

Race

Slightly cooler than Saturday, Sunday afternoon was also dry and warm, and with a maiden polesitter leading the field, many were expecting an exciting race. Mercedes had enjoyed their best qualifying session since the return of BMW in 2012, and now had their best shot at winning their first race in 2013.

Report

A good start for Gary Paffett saw him slip by Christian Vietoris off the line, as Jamie Green fended off a challenge from Robert Wickens into turn one. There was drama in the mid-pack as Dirk Werner went for a spin, caused by a slight touch from Miguel Molina, although the German was not collected by anyone else. There were no further incidents during the opening lap, as Paffett established a small lead over Vietoris, with Wickens losing out to Bruno Spengler.

A stalemate emerged at the front of the field as Pascal Wehrlein forced his way into the top ten with a move on Filipe Albuquerque. Wehrlein now laid his sights on Edoardo Mortara as DRS became active on lap four, before Wickens, Mike Rockenfeller, Adrien Tambay, Mortara, Daniel Juncadella and Martin Tomczyk all made their first stops. Andy Priaulx, meanwhile, was judged to have jumped the start, meaning he was sent through the pits to serve a drive through as a second wave of cars entered the pits for their stops.

By lap eight two drivers had completed both of their mandatory stops, namely Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider. Further down two team mates came together, as Priaulx tried to squeeze Tomczyk as the German tried to overtake the Brit, only to clatter into the side of his colleague and spin. The DMSB judged that no one as a fault, although the friendly fire between the BMWs was costing them valuable time.

Juncadella and Mortara were scrapping on the circuit, the Spaniard firing his car down the inside of the Italian into turn one, before running wide and allowing Mortara back past. As they battled the slow trickle of cars into the pits continued, while a scrap between Wickens and Rockenfeller emerged for fifth. Rocky made several attempts to pass the Canadian but found the orange and white Mercedes a stubborn opponent, before finally forcing his way past on lap 25. That prompted Wickens to stop for a second time, as Rockenfeller closed to the back of Paffett, fresh out of the pits.

Juncadella dispatched with Mortara off camera and now attacked Tambay for sixth, as Marco Wittmann stopped for the first time, meaning everyone had completed their first stops. Wehrlein and Werner, meanwhile, were scrapping over eighth place, with several attempts by the latter to get pst, finally succeeding on lap 34. Wehrlein's stop later that lap dropped him back behind Tambay, although the youngster required Roberto Merhi to force his way past the Frenchman before he could get by.

A lap later and Ekstrom came barging past Wehrlein for eleventh, opening the door for Tambay to get back past. The leaders, meanwhile, were making their final stops, although Rockenfeller tried to stay out a few laps later to try to get past Paffett, but to no avail. Ekstrom's late race charge, meanwhile, carried him into the top ten after he forced his way past Merhi, before being promoted to eighth after Werner's second stop. That meant, with five laps to go, all 22 drivers had completed their mandatory stops, leaving all remaining attention on the track.

The final laps saw Juncadella take Spengler for sixth while Ekstrom pounced on Mortara for eighth, as Rockenfeller fell away from Paffett. Paffett ultimately crossed the line over six and a half seconds ahead of Rockenfeller to win a race, the twentieth of his career and the first for Mercedes all season. Rockenfeller claimed second well ahead of Christian Vietoris, who had a last minute scrap with team mate Wickens for the final podium spot. Spengler claimed seventh for BMW to be their best finisher and the only one to score at all at the Lausitzring.

Results

The final classification of the 2013 Lausitzring Race is displayed below:

2013 Lausitzring Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Strat.	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	3	Gary Paffett	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG	52	1:09:58.562	--	1:18.646	25
2nd	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	52	+6.800s	--	1:18.268	18
3rd	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	52	+11.510s	--	1:18.864	15
4th	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	52	+12.790s	--	1:18.708	12
5th	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	52	+14.138s	--	1:18.997	10
6th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes	52	+19.462s	--	1:18.946	8
7th	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	52	+21.592s	--	1:19.014	6
8th	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	52	+21.621s	--	1:19.127	4
9th	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg	52	+24.715s	--	1:19.162	2
10th	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG	52	+25.643s	--	1:18.738	1
11th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	52	+27.968s	--	1:18.797
12th	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	52	+34.178s	--	1:19.366
13th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer	52	+38.000s	--	1:19.318
14th	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	52	+49.305s	--	1:19.878
15th	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	52	+53.321s	--	1:19.226
16th	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix	52	+58.882s	--	1:19.263
17th	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes	52	+59.948s	--	1:18.905
18th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg	52	+1:03.083	--	1:19.013
19th	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG	52	+1:03.107	--	1:18.752
20th	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt	52	+1:08.006	--	1:18.889
21st	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK	51	+1 Lap	--	1:19.055
22nd	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG	51	+1 Lap	--	1:19.946
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

• Maiden pole position for Christian Vietoris.
• Twentieth career win for Gary Paffett.
• First win for Mercedes since the 2012 Norisring Race.
• Maiden points for Daniel Juncadella.

Standings

Mike Rockenfeller returned to the top of the DTM Championship on the basis of previous results, being tied on points with Bruno Spengler. Gary Paffett leapt into third with Mercedes' first victory of the season, Christian Vietoris backing him up in fourth. Augusto Farfus dropped to fifth as a result, despite being competitive in every race, while Marco Wittmann remained in the top six in his first season.

BMW Team Schnitzer remained at the head of the Teams' Championship, although their lead was cut to fourteen points over STIHL/AMG Mercedes. Audi Team Phoenix led Audi's challenge from third place, as both Mercedes and Audi made ground in the Brands' Championship. BMW retained a solid lead in the Championship, but Mercedes jumped into second and cut their advantage in half with Paffett's win, while Audi slipped to third.

2013 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mike Rockenfeller 59 ▲1 2nd Bruno Spengler 59 ▼1 3rd Gary Paffett 47 ▲4 4th Christian Vietoris 40 ▲1 5th Augusto Farfus 33 ▼2 6th Marco Wittmann 32 ▼2 7th Robert Wickens 27 ▲3 8th Dirk Werner 22 ▼2 9th Mattias Ekström 20 ▼1 10th Joey Hand 16 ▼2 11th Timo Glock 15 ◄0 12th Jamie Green 10 ▲3 13th Timo Scheider 10 ▼1 14th Daniel Juncadella 8 ▲1 15th Edoardo Mortara 2 ▲1 16th Pascal Wehrlein 2 ▼3 17th Roberto Merhi 2 ▼3

2013 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW Team Schnitzer 81 ◄0 2nd STIHL/AMG Mercedes 67 ▲3 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 59 ▲1 4th Eur/TS Mercedes AMG 49 ▲2 5th BMW Team RBM 49 ▼3 6th BMW Team MTEK 47 ▼3 7th Audi Team Abt Sportsline 30 ◄0 8th Audi Team Abt 10 ◄0 9th Stern/AMG Mercedes 10 ◄0 10th Audi Team Rosberg 2 ▲1 2013 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW 177 ◄0 2nd Mercedes 126 ▲1 3rd Audi 101 ▼1

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

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