2013 Moscow Raceway Race

2013 Moscow Raceway Race
File:Moscow Raceway Short 2012.png The short layout of the Moscow Raceway.
Race Information
Date	4 August 2013
No.	145
Event	DTM Moskau 2013
Location	Moscow Raceway Volokolamsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Format	Championship Race
Lap length	2.555 km (1.588 mi)
Distance	74 laps / 189.070 km (117.483 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Mike Rockenfeller
Team	Audi Sport Team Phoenix
Time	58.423
Fastest Lap
Driver	Adrien Tambay
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt
Time	58.999 on lap 70
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mike Rockenfeller	Mattias Ekström	Augusto Farfus
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Phoenix
Time	1:14.38.512
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2013 Norisring Race		2013 Nürburgring Race

The 2013 Moscow Rwaceway Race, otherwise known as the DTM Moskau 2013 Race, was the sixth round of the 2013 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Moscow Raceway in Volokolamsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia on 4 August 2013. The race, which marked the first visit of the DTM to Russia using the newly built facility a few miles from the Russian capital of Moscow, would see Mike Rockenfeller enhance his Championship lead with a comfortable victory.

Ahead of the race all of the attention was on Audi after they appealed against the disqualification of Mattias Ekström after the 2013 Norisring Race. Ultimately their appeal failed to get Ekström reinstated, although the DMSB declared that there would be no race winner at all, having deemed that the Swede had done enough to be awarded the race before his Parc Fermé indiscretion.

Qualifying had seen Rockenfeller secure pole position in a truncated session, as the Shootout was cancelled due to the presence of the Russian airforce over the circuit. The German racer would share the front row with fellow Audi pilot Ekström, Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler would lock-out the second row for BMW, while Gary Paffett was the best Mercedes driver in seventh.

The start of the race would see Rockenfeller sprint into an early lead, while Ekström secured second ahead of Farfus. Behind, Spengler had to keep Jamie Green at bay to ensure that he emerged in fourth, with the rest of the field making it through the first corner without issue.

Indeed, an otherwise tame opening lap would see Rockenfeller ease ahead of Ekström, while Farfus joined them in an early break away from the field. Instead, the drama would come on the second lap, with Green elbowing his way past Spengler, and hence allow both Paffett and Adrien Tambay to also slip past, before the Canadian racer was pitched into a spin by Miguel Molina.

Spengler continued at the back of the field, while Molina was forced to stop at the end of the lap to retire. That incident coincided with the first of the drivers making their compulsory stops as, out front, Rockenfeller escaped from Ekström as the Swede defended ferociously from Farfus.

Indeed, Ekström was having to put up a rear-guard action because he was using the harder, Prime, compound Hankook tyres, and hence lacked the overall grip to challenge Rockenfeller. Once Ekström stopped on lap eight Farfus was released to track down Rockenfeller, although that only prompted Rockenfeller to push harder and hence ensured that the #19 Audi kept building its lead.

Farfus would make his first stop shortly before half-distance, although his pace had dropped enough that he slipped back behind a now soft-shod Ekström. Furthermore, Rockenfeller would slip behind Ekström when he made his stop a few moments later, while Adrien Tambay assumed the lead.

The order remained stable through to the completion of the second round of stops, where Rockenfeller would reclaim the lead after a brief second stint on hard tyres. Tambay, meanwhile, would pit last with five laps to go on a new set of softs, rejoining in fourth, and would spend the rest of the race hunting after Farfus.

With that the race was run, with Rockenfeller becoming the first DTM driver to win a race in Russia by over a second from Ekström. Farfus was next up, having just kept Tambay at bay, while Paffett edged out Green late on to claim fifth. The remaining points would be handed to Joey Hand, Dirk Werner, Timo Scheider and Christian Vietoris.

Background

After the historic decision to not award the win at the Norisring after Mattias Ekström's disqualification, the DMSB received an appeal by Audi to reverse the decision. The appeal hearing was held on the 30 July, where the DMSB upheld both the disqualification and the decision not to award the victory. Although Ekström had been disqualified for a breech of Parc Fermé conditions, his conduct and racecraft was deemed good enough to have won the race, hence the DMSB saw fit not to award the victory at all. ABT Sportsline boss Jürgen Abt accepted the decision.

Norisring Normality

The Appeal Court's decision did not affect the Championship standings as the Series headed to Moscow, with Mike Rockenfeller leading Bruno Spengler by two points. Christian Vietoris led the Mercedes challenge in third, Gary Paffett and Robert Wickens in close attendance for the Stuttgart Squad whom had enjoyed better form of late. Andy Priaulx had become the latest name to join the point scorers, leaving four yet to score.

The Teams' Championship had been shaken up in Nuremberg, as HWA Team II led the battle ahead of BMW Team Schnitzer. Audi Team Phoenix sat in third, 20 points back from their BMW and Mercedes rivals, with HWA Team I leading BMW Team MTEK in a battle for fourth. All eleven teams had now scored points in 2013, as Mercedes closed the gap significantly on BMW in the Brands' Championship.

Entry List

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

2013 Moscow Raceway 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

One of the warmest days of the season, with track temperatures peaking at 40°C, played host to the first DTM qualifying session to be held in Russia. The standard four session format introduced for 2013 was again to be used, with six drivers eliminated in the first three sessions, before the final four had one attempt each at setting the fastest lap to take pole position.

Q1

Mike Rockenfeller was the first driver onto the circuit, and managed to set the early pace with a time of 59.000, with Gary Paffett going second just a fraction of a second slower. Adrien Tambay had looked impressive in practice, and showed his potential pace by breaking the 59 second barrier to go fastest. He remained in the lead of the session at the halfway point, with Mattias Ekström in second and Jamie Green in third.

The second, hectic half of the session saw Bruno Spengler go fastest as all of the drivers tried to push their times higher up the board. Roberto Merhi suffered as a result, running wide and into the gravel which ultimately cost him his chance at getting through to Q2. Also out were Timo Glock, Robert Wickens, Martin Tomczyk, Marco Wittmann and Andy Priaulx.

Q2

Rockenfeller again headed out of the pitlane first, although it was Green who set the early pace in the second session. Rockenfeller then responded by going fastest, before the closing stages saw Ekstrom and Dirk Werner both get to the summit of the times. Out went Miguel Molina Tambay, Filipe Albuquerque, Timo Scheider and Edoardo Mortara (all Audi), and BMW driver Joey Hand.

Q3

Pascal Wehrlein had a time reinstated between Q2 and Q3, meaning he took Molina's place in Q3. That said, it was Ekstrom who set the early pace, only to be beaten by Rockenfeller as the session neared its conclusion. They continued to exchange fastest times until Rockenfeller found a tenth Ekstrom could not extract, while Augusto Farfus and Spengler managed to sneak into the final quartet in the dying moments of the session.

Pole Shootout

The final session was abandoned due to the presence of the Russian Air Force in the airspace above the circuit, escorting Russian President Vladimir Putin over the circuit. Their presence meant that the Rescue Helicopter could not take off, causing the DMSB to cancel the final session on safety grounds.

Post-Qualifying

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

2013 Moscow Raceway Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3			Q4		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1st	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix		9th	59.000		3rd	58.654		1st	58.423				1
2nd	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		6th	58.965		2nd	58.633		2nd	58.604				2
3rd	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM		7th	58.967		7th	58.826		3rd	58.677				3
4th	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer		1st	58.791		10th	58.890		4th	58.698				4
5th	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		2nd	58.859		4th	58.727		5th	58.749				5
6th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer		10th	59.003		1st	58.513		6th	58.779				6
7th	3	Gary Paffett	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		11th	59.017		8th	58.827		7th	58.831				7
8th	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes		5th	58.949		5th	58.794		8th	58.843				8
9th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes		13th	59.085		6th	58.794		9th	58.985				9
10th	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		15th	59.124		9th	58.856		10th	59.038				10
11th	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix		16th	59.138		11th	58.907							11
12th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt		4th	58.935		12th	58.910							12
13th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg		3rd	58.906		13th	58.914							13
14th	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt		8th	58.991		14th	58.954							14
15th	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM		12th	59.061		15th	59.013							15
16th	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg		14th	59.105		16th	59.133							16
17th	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK		17th	59.177										17
18th	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		18th	59.285										18
19th	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG		19th	59.286										19
20th	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK		20th	59.400										20
21st	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG		21st	59.442										21
22nd	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		22nd	59.467										22
107% Time: 1:03.130
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid

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

Race

A drop in the temperatures for Sunday was a relief for the teams, who did have concerns that the high temperatures during qualifying and practice would cause high tyre wear. Otherwise, over 45,000 spectators had gathered across the weekend to watch the DTM, which made history when the lights went out 14:00 local time.

Report

A brilliant start for Mike Rockenfeller saw him streak into the lead of the race off the line, with Mattias Ekström slotting neatly into second. Augusto Farfus also made a good start, breaking away with Rockenfeller and Ekstrom, as Bruno Spengler battled with Jamie Green. All 22 cars made it through the first lap, with only minor contact between the drivers further down.

Spengler fell to Green on lap two, with the Brit try to catch the trio at the front of the field. A lap later and Spengler was pushed down again, this time seeing Gary Paffett force his way past, followed soon after by Adrien Tambay. Spengler's day was made worse when he was put into a spin by Miguel Molina, who was trying to follow Dirk Werner past the black BMW. Molina stopped later that lap, ultimately retiring, as Green and Paffett came in to signal the start of the pitlane chaos.

Ekstrom, meanwhile, was putting up a strong defence against Farfus despite using the harder of the two tyres, allowing Rockenfeller to pull over a second ahead. The Swede stopped on lap eight, releasing Farfus, although the gap remained in favour of the German who broke the DRS barrier. Daniel Juncadella and Roberto Merhi, meanwhile, were both penalised for exceeding track limits, hit with one second penalties.

Rockenfeller began to push his car hard at this point, pulling a large lead over Farfus that prompted the Brazilian to pit, before catching, and lapping, Andy Priaulx. Farfus emerged behind Ekstrom as the halfway mark approached. Rockenfeller was left running ahead of Tambay, the pair of the them yet to stop, as Edoardo Mortara pitted to retire his car.

The race was not one of the most exciting of the season, with Rockenfeller continuing until lap 44. Incredibly, his pace dipped enough for the German to emerge behind Ekstrom, although the Swede was using the softer tyres. Tambay continued on at the front of the field, meanwhile, only stopping with 20 laps to go, with Rockenfeller also stopping to complete his second stop.

Ekstrom's stop left his running in third with Farfus slipping away, while Tambay continued on as the laps ticked down. Tambay was the last man to stop with five laps to go, emerging behind Farfus, although the fresh rubber allowed him to pressure the back of the Brazilian until the end of the race. Ekstrom, meanwhile, was drawing in team mate Rockenfeller, but under an agreement at the start of the race, dutifully remained behind the German.

Rockenfeller duly crossed the line to take the first DTM victory in Russia, with Ekstrom and a hard working Farfus completing the podium. Tambay collected his first points of the season by finishing fourth, while Paffett claimed fifth to finish as the best of the Mercedes drivers.

Results

The final classification of the 2013 Moscow Raceway Race is displayed below:

2013 Moscow Raceway Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Strat.	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	74	1:14:38.512	--	59.297	25
2nd	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	74	+1.303s	--	59.037	18
3rd	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	74	+11.393s	--	59.459	15
4th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	74	+12.275s	--	58.999	12
5th	3	Gary Paffett	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG	74	+17.495s	--	59.217	10
6th	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	74	+18.704s	--	59.280	8
7th	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	74	+19.363s	--	59.353	6
8th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer	74	+26.117s	--	59.307	4
9th	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt	74	+34.184s	--	59.172	2
10th	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	74	+41.331s	--	59.806	1
11th	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes	74	+42.029s	--	59.620
12th	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	74	+43.782s	--	59.641
13th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg	74	+44.443s	--	59.728
14th	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG	74	+51.576s	--	59.647
15th	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK	74	+52.941s	--	59.646
16th	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	74	+54.421s	--	59.583
17th	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG	74	+58.460s	--	59.855
18th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes	73	+1 Lap	--	59.747
19th	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	73	+1 Lap	--	59.205
20th	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG	73	+1 Lap	--	59.855
Ret	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg	31	Retired	-	59.797
Ret	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix	5	Damage		1:00.382
Source:

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

Milestones

• First DTM Moskau event to be staged and the first DTM race to be held in Russia.
  • Also the first race to be held at the Moscow Raceway.
• Mike Rockenfeller secured his third DTM victory.
• Adrien Tambay recorded his maiden fastest lap.

Standings

Mike Rockenfeller's victory, combined with Bruno Spengler's failure to score saw the German pull 27 points clear at the top of the table, over a win ahead. Gary Paffett and Christian Vietoris swapped places once again, with Augusto Farfus climbing back into the top five having slipped out of it over the previous three rounds. Adrien Tambay, meanwhile, leapt into the top fifteen with his first points of the season, as three drivers had still failed to score.

STIHL/AMG Mercedes remained in the lead of the Teams' Championship, although the big story was that Audi Team Phoenix overtook BMW Team Schnitzer to claim second, and close to seven points off the lead. BMW Team RBM took over fourth, battling with the first HWA Team, while Audi Team Abt Sportsline climbed ever higher in the table. BMW remained in charge of the Brands' battle, although both Mercedes and Audi were now in contention to challenge the Munich based manufacturer.

2013 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mike Rockenfeller 94 ◄0 2nd Bruno Spengler 67 ◄0 3rd Gary Paffett 57 ▲1 4th Christian Vietoris 56 ▼1 5th Augusto Farfus 48 ▲1 6th Robert Wickens 45 ▼1 7th Mattias Ekström 38 ▲4 8th Marco Wittmann 33 ▼1 9th Joey Hand 26 ▲1 10th Dirk Werner 26 ▼2 11th Daniel Juncadella 20 ▼2 12th Jamie Green 18 ▲1 13th Timo Glock 15 ▼1 14th Adrien Tambay 12 ▲5 15th Timo Scheider 12 ▼1 16th Roberto Merhi 8 ▼1 17th Pascal Wehrlein 2 ▼1 18th Edoardo Mortara 2 ▼1 19th Andy Priaulx 2 ▼1 20th Miguel Molina 0 ◄0 21st Filipe Albuquerque 0 ◄0 22nd Martin Tomczyk 0 ◄0

2013 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st STIHL/AMG Mercedes 101 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Phoenix 94 ▲1 3rd BMW Team Schnitzer 93 ▼1 4th BMW Team RBM 74 ▲1 5th Eur/TS Mercedes AMG 65 ▼1 6th Audi Team Abt Sportsline 56 ▲1 7th BMW Team MTEK 48 ▼1 8th Audi Team Abt 24 ▲1 9th Stern/AMG Mercedes 22 ▼1 10th Audi Team Rosberg 2 ◄0 11th BMW Team RMG 2 ◄0 2013 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW 217 ◄0 2nd Mercedes 188 ◄0 3rd Audi 176 ◄0

References

Videos and Images:

References: