2013 Norisring Race

2013 Norisring Race
The Norisring was unchanged in 2013.
Race Information
Date	14 June 2013
No.	144
Event	DTM Nuremberg 2013
Location	Norisring Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
Format	Championship Race
Lap length	2.300 km (1.429 mi)
Distance	82 laps / 262.400 km (163.048 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Robert Wickens
Team	STIHL/AMG Mercedes
Time	48.384
Fastest Lap
Driver	Christian Vietoris
Team	STIHL/AMG Mercedes
Time	48.572 on lap 9
Race Result
First	Second	Third
None	Robert Wickens	Christian Vietoris
Winner Team	None
Time	1:12:17.344
Race Guide
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2013 Lausitzring Race		2013 Moscow Raceway Race

The 2013 Norisring Race, formally known as the DTM Nuremberg 2013 Race was the fifth round of the 2013 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Norisring in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany on 14 June 2013. The race would be the first to be officially classified without a race winner, after Mattias Ekström was disqualified from the race result for breaking Parc Fermé conditions while celebrating his victory.

Qualifying for the battle of Nuremberg had seen Robert Wickens emerge on pole position for the first time, defeating compatriot of Norisring master Bruno Spengler by 0.059s. Gary Paffett was next up in third ahead of Edoardo Mortara, the best of the Audi drivers, while Ekström would start from ninth.

The start of the race saw Wickens sprint into the lead unopposed, with Spengler instead having to keep an eye on Paffett on the run into Grundig Kehre. At the back, meanwhile, there would be some minor chaos as Timo Scheider stalled, with the rest of the field fortunately managing to miss the stranded #10 Audi.

With Scheider stranded the Safety Car was deployed, allowing the officials to investigate the start and rule that Paffett had jumped the lights. He would have to wait to serve his stop after the restart, with several drivers deciding to complete the first stops a lap after the SC was withdrawn.

The rest of the field steadily made their way into the pits over the following laps, as Spengler challenged Wickens for the lead after the #10 Mercedes failed to break clear. However, the younger Canadian racer would fend off the defending Champion's attentions through to their stops, moments before the Safety Car was deployed for a second time.

The cause was Martin Tomczyk, whose lunge at Jamie Green at Grundig Kehre ended with the #15 smashing into the outside wall. Fortunately the German's ruined car was dragged away without issue, with the race resuming on lap twenty.

Ekström was the man to watch at the restart, passing both Spengler and Wickens, before challenging Mortara for the lead as the field began to stretch out. Indeed, the order would eventually stabilise before the second round of stops, with Mortara just able to keep Ekström at bay to maintain the lead.

The final third of the race would see Ekström increase the pressure on Mortara, with a successful lunge carrying him past the Italian before both dived into the pits. Ekström subsequently assumed the lead once the rest of the field had stopped, as behind Mortara tapped Paffett and allowed Wickens and Christian Vietoris to sneak onto the podium.

With that the race was run, with Ekström sweeping across the line to secure victory ahead of Wickens and Vietoris. Daniel Juncadella was next up ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, while Spengler eased ahead of Roberto Merhi late on to secure sixth. Joey Hand was next up ahead of Andy Priaulx, while Marco Wittmann rounded out the scorers in tenth.

However there would be a late twist to the final classification, as Ekström was sprayed with water in Parc Fermé by his team, soaking his racesuit. This was deemed to be a breach of the Parc Fermé rules, for it effectively increased Ekström's weight, and resulted in him being excluded. The DMSB later ruled that there would be no race winner, after Audi appealed against the disqualification.

Background

Ahead of the Norisring meeting the DMSB announced a partnership with both Super GT in Japan and IMSA in the United States of America that would bring a unified set of regulations to all three series. All three were expected to be running under the same set of rules by 2017, although the Super GT and the DTM would start the process in 2014, with IMSA organising a new Championship for the United States. The announcement followed a meeting held in the winter of 2012 between the organisers of the DTM and Super GT.

Lausitz Revisions

As the future of the DTM was slowly revealed, the Championship stood with Mike Rockenfeller at the head of the field, level on points with Bruno Spengler. Gary Paffett had won Mercedes' first race since the previous visit to the Norisring in the previous round to sit in third, with Christian Vietoris sat in fourth. Five drivers were yet to score at all in 2013, and were all hoping to get on the board before the summer break.

The Teams' battle, meanwhile, was beginning to hot up as BMW Team Schnitzer were being drawn back into the pack by STIHL/AMG Mercedes. Audi Team Phoenix also made ground in the previous round, while the second HWA Team sat in fourth. Every team bar BMW Team RMG had scored by this point in the season, as Audi slipped to third in the Brands' Championship. BMW remained well ahead of their rivals, despite only securing six points in the previous round.

Entry List

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

2013 Norisring 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

Another warm day in Germany played host to DTM qualifying on Saturday, with the times from practice suggesting another tight quali session ahead. The ever familiar knock out format returned once again, with Q1, Q2 and Q3 seeing six drivers eliminated from qualifying in each session, before the final four had one shot at setting a time good enough for pole.

Q1

Straight onto the circuit was Miguel Molina, whose flight from the pitlane signalled the start of the session. Joey Hand set a promising time that was quickly beaten by Robert Wickens, with the times from practice immediately being flattened in the early stages of qualifying. By the halfway mark, Wickens had found a further three tenths to remain ahead of Bruno Spengler, whom had briefly topped the session.

Wickens continued to shave time off of his best lap as Q1 came to a close, Edoardo Mortara leaping into second from the relegation zone. The final moments, however, saw a stalemate with times so close that minor mistakes prevented any movement. Martin Tomczyk joined Hand and Dirk Werner from BMW to drop out, alongside Roberto Merhi from Mercedes. Also out were Molina and, surprisingly, Mike Rockenfeller, who struggled to get a perfect lap together in the fifteen minute session.

Q2

Pascal Wehrlein was the first man on the circuit for Q2, although his first lap was immediately toppled by Wickens, who himself was beaten by Mattias Ekström. Spengler then went top, having had Christian Vietoris briefly best his times, as Ekstrom put himself into a spin while trying to extract as much time as possible. Andy Priaulx suddenly launched himself to the top of the times, and remained there when the session came to an end.

Out of qualifying went Adrien Tambay, Timo Scheider and Jamie Green for Audi, the latter another surprise given Green's reputation as Mr. Norisring. Also out were Marco Wittmann, Timo Glock and Augusto Farfus, with the five Mercedes that survived Q1 all going through into Q3.

Q3

Wehrlein shot onto the circuit first at the start of Q3, although it was Vietoris who set the early pace, swapping times with Spengler at the top of the session. Wickens and Wehrlein were the next to get to the summit of qualifying, before Paffett forced his way into the top four, muscling out Wehrlein. The order then shuffled constantly in the final moments, with Wickens, Spengler, Paffett and Mortara all appearing in the top four in the final seconds to get into the Shootout.

Pole Shootout

Paffett, as the slowest of the quartet went first and, like every quali session so far in 2013, could not best his times from the earlier sessions. His time was, however, quick enough to beat Mortara, before both were edged out by Wickens, now on for his maiden pole position if Spengler made a mistake. As it happened, Spengler was only just able to best Paffett and Mortara, handing a first ever pole position to his countryman.

Post-Qualifying

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

2013 Norisring Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3			Q4		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1st	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		1st	48.335		7th	48.310		2nd	48.281		1st	48.384	1
2nd	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer		3rd	48.401		2nd	48.238		1st	48.162		2nd	48.443	2
3rd	3	Gary Paffett	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		7th	48.457		6th	48.304		4th	48.339		3rd	48.460	3
4th	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg		2nd	48.351		8th	48.365		3rd	48.321		4th	48.490	4
5th	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes		5th	48.433		3rd	48.247		5th	48.356				5
6th	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG		11th	48.523		1st	48.221		6th	48.406				6
7th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes		10th	48.509		9th	48.365		7th	48.410				7
8th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg		16th	48.592		10th	48.371		8th	48.454				8
9th	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		12th	48.526		5th	48.293		9th	48.456				9
10th	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes		4th	48.416		4th	48.250		10th	48.485				10
11th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt		9th	48.501		11th	48.443							11
12th	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK		6th	48.445		12th	48.446							12
13th	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt		13th	48.531		13th	48.459							13
14th	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		8th	48.460		14th	48.465							14
15th	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM		14th	48.578		15th	48.628							15
16th	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK		15th	48.583		16th	48.724							16
17th	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG		17th	48.632										17
18th	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM		18th	48.636										18
19th*	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix		19th	48.644										21*
20th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer		20th	48.656										19
21st	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG		21st	48.848										20
22nd*	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix		22nd	48.874										22*
107% Time: 51.718
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Rockenfeller and Molina were hit with ten place grid penalties for a breach of parc fermé rules.

Race

Temperatures were on the rise on Sunday, hitting 35°C ahead of the race and continuing upwards as the cars set off on their formation lap. With over 126.000 spectators crowded into the Norisring for the race another exciting race was hoped for, with a maiden pole sitter for the second race in succession, and several quick drivers out of position.

Report

Robert Wickens lit up his car off the line to launch himself into the lead of the race, ahead of Bruno Spengler as yellow flags were thrown at the back of the field. Timo Scheider stalled on the grid, leaving cars to scatter around his stricken Audi RS5 DTM, fortunately with no one managing to hit him. The rest of the field also managed to get through the tight first hairpin without any problems, before the safety car was called so that Scheider's car could be removed.

It was only a short period, however, as Scheider managed to drag his car to one side as the field formed up behind the safety car. In the meantime, Gary Paffett was hit with a drive through penalty for jumping the start, with the Brit having to wait until the restart to serve it. Miguel Molina also had to come through the pit lane for jumping the start, as Edoardo Mortara, Christian Vietoris and Dirk Werner all made their first stops.

Their early stops signalled the familiar trickle of cars into the pits, as Spengler began to make clear his intentions to pass Wickens for the lead. Jamie Green, meanwhile, was having to defend his excellent start which had seen him leap up to fifth in the early stages, coming under pressure from Marco Wittmann. The German was successful in passing the Brit down the outside of the Grundig Kehre, also opening the door for Augusto Farfus to try to get past. Green just managed to hold on, rubbing against the Brazilian on the exit of the hairpin, although he remained under pressure from behind.

As Spengler tried another unsuccessful attack on Wickens Green was forced to surrender sixth and seventh to Farfus and Roberto Merhi after locking up into the Grundig. Martin Tomczyk was the next man to try to get by Green, running side-by-side with the Brit into the Grundig, before trying to run down the outside of the Brit through the hairpin. It was not the best move to be made by the German, as he ran into the wall on the exit of the hairpin, smashing his suspension and leaving him out of the race.

With the safety car emerging for a second time the majority of the field, including the leaders, although, as the pit chaos settled, Mortara was left in the lead of the race, ahead of Wickens. By lap 20 the safety car was back into the pits, allowing Mattias Ekström to pounce on Spengler, before proceeding to take Wickens for second. Timo Glock, meanwhile, was on the warpath, claiming Filipe Albuquerque and team mate Wittmann in short order to climb into the top ten.

Merhi was battling with Andy Priaulx for sixth, although his attempts were being hampered by frequent lock ups into the hairpins. As they battled the slow trickle into the pits continued as the laps counted down, while Wittmann was placed under investigation for a suspected unsafe release. The next man on the rise was Mike Rockenfeller, who claimed eighth place from Glock and seventh from Priaulx in short order, the latter move also allowing Paffett to move up as well. Glock, meanwhile, tangled with Daniel Juncadella out of the second hairpin, although both escaped with minor damage.

Wickens and Spengler had stopped within a lap of each other as the race entered its final third, and were now working through the field to catch Ekstrom, who was now on the back of Mortara for the lead. Shortly after Merhi fell to Wickens, Ekstrom forced Mortara into a mistake at the Grundig, putting himself into the lead of the race, with both still needing to complete their second stops. Pascal Wehrlein, meanwhile, made his fourth visit to the pits to retire on lap 65, with Green following him in to retire his damaged Audi.

The closing stages of the race saw Ekstrom and Mortara pit, the Swede coming out ahead of Paffett with the Italian slipping behind the Brit. Wickens meanwhile, had dropped his Spengler tail, and was now closing on Mortara, who immediately launched an attack on Paffett with three laps to go. Unfortunately for the Italian, he misjudged the braking into the Grundig hairpin and tapped the back of the Brit, forcing the Mercedes wide. Wickens and Vietoris took advantage to get onto the podium, with Mortara just managing to get by Paffett too as he rejoined.

Paffett took revenge on Mortara during the penultimate lap, slamming the door on Mortara and causing them to collide. Both were out with heavy damage, also causing the final lap of the race to be run under yellow flags. Ekstrom therefore won the race ahead of Wickens and Vietoris, although there was one final twist to the tale.

The Swede was celebrating his 35th birthday, and as he celebrated in parc fermé had water sprayed across his racesuit by a member of his team. That was deemed a breech of parc fermé conditions, meaning that Ekstrom was excluded from the result, not disqualified, a significant phrasing by the DMSB. By excluding Ekstrom the DMSB declared that no one had won the race, with Wickens opting not to challenge their decision, despite the potential for him to get his first DTM victory.

Results

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

2013 Norisring Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Strat.	Fastest lap	Pts.
DSQ*	11	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	83	Disqualified	--	48.598
2nd	10	Robert Wickens	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	83	1:12:17.344	--	48.710	18
3rd	9	Christian Vietoris	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	83	+3.636s	--	48.572	15
4th	17	Daniel Juncadella	Stern/AMG Mercedes	83	+4.393s	--	48.612	12
5th	19	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	83	+5.765s	--	48.916	10
6th	1	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	83	+14.437s	--	48.676	8
7th	4	Roberto Merhi	Eur/TS Mercedes AMG	83	+15.948s	--	48.770	6
8th	8	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	83	+28.552s	--	48.972	4
9th	16	Andy Priaulx	BMW Team RMG	83	+32.263s	--	48.691	2
10th	21	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team MTEK	83	+32.949s	--	48.822	1
11th	2	Dirk Werner	BMW Team Schnitzer	83	+37.780s	--	48.726
12th	6	Filipe Albuquerque	Audi Team Rosberg	83	+40.029s	--	48.674
13th	22	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	83	+40.221s	--	48.708
14th	20	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Phoenix	83	+41.922s	--	48.984
15th	24	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	83	+51.445s	--	48.862
16th	7	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	82	+1 Lap	--	48.947
17th	5	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Rosberg	81	+2 Laps	--	48.629
18th	3	Gary Paffett	STIHL/AMG Mercedes	81	+2 Laps	--	48.598
19th†	12	Jamie Green	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	65	Retired	--	49.246
20th†	18	Pascal Wehrlein	Stern/AMG Mercedes	65	Retired	--	48.668
Ret	15	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team RMG	11	Accident	--	48.869
Ret	23	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Abt	0	Gearbox	--	—
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Ekstrom excluded from the result for a parc fermé infringement after the race.
• ^† Green and Wehrlein were still classified despite retiring as they had completed 75% of the race distance.

Milestones

• This was the only race in DTM history not have a winner declared.

Standings

Mike Rockenfeller pulled two points clear of Bruno Spengler at the top of the DTM Championship, as Christian Vietoris climbed into third, twelve points behind. Gary Paffett and Robert Wickens completed the top five, as Augusto Farfus continued to slide down the order despite the pace he had shown throughout the first half of the year. Andy Priaulx, meanwhile, became the latest man to add his name to the point scoring board, although he remained near the foot of the table.

Significant changes occurred in the Teams' Championship, as STIHL/AMG Mercedes managed to secure top spot from BMW Team Schnitzer. Audi Team Phoenix remained in third but lost ground to the leaders, while at the bottom of the table, BMW Team RMG finally secured some points. BMW continued to slip into the grips of Mercedes in the Brands' Championship, with Audi falling 66 points behind their rivals after Ekstrom's disqualification.

2013 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mike Rockenfeller 69 ◄0 2nd Bruno Spengler 67 ◄0 3rd Christian Vietoris 55 ▲1 4th Gary Paffett 47 ▼1 5th Robert Wickens 45 ▲2 6th Augusto Farfus 33 ▼1 7th Marco Wittmann 33 ▼1 8th Dirk Werner 22 ◄0 9th Daniel Juncadella 20 ▲5 10th Joey Hand 20 ◄0 11th Mattias Ekström 20 ▼2 12th Timo Glock 15 ▼1 13th Jamie Green 10 ▼1 14th Timo Scheider 10 ▼1 15th Roberto Merhi 8 ▲2 16th Pascal Wehrlein 2 ▼1 17th Edoardo Mortara 2 ▼1 18th Andy Priaulx 2 ▲1 19th Adrien Tambay 0 ◄0 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 100 ▲1 2nd BMW Team Schnitzer 89 ▼1 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 69 ◄0 4th Eur/TS Mercedes AMG 55 ◄0 5th BMW Team RBM 53 ◄0 6th BMW Team MTEK 48 ◄0 7th Audi Team Abt Sportsline 30 ◄0 8th Stern/AMG Mercedes 22 ▲1 9th Audi Team Abt 10 ▼1 10th Audi Team Rosberg 2 ◄0 11th BMW Team RMG 2 ◄0 2013 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW 192 ◄0 2nd Mercedes 177 ◄0 3rd Audi 111 ◄0

References

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