2014 Nürburgring Race

2014 Nürburgring Race
The Nürburgring Short Circuit in 2003
Race Information
Date	17 August 2014
No.	176
Event	DTM Nürburg 2014
Location	Nürburgring Sprint Strecke Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Format	Championship Race
Lap length	3.629 km (2.255 mi)
Distance	49 laps / 177.821 km (110.493 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Marco Wittmann
Team	BMW Team RMG
Time	1:22.780
Fastest Lap
Driver	Marco Wittmann
Team	BMW Team RMG
Time	1:23.175 on lap 2
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Marco Wittmann	Mike Rockenfeller	Edoardo Mortara
Winner Team	BMW Team RMG
Time	1:09:42.802
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2014 Spielberg Race		2014 Lausitzring Race

The 2014 Nürburgring Race, formally known as DTM Nürburg 2014, was the seventh round of the 2014 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Nürburgring Sprint Strecke in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany on 17 August 2014. The race would see Marco Wittmann continue his march to the 2014 title with an impressive victory, resisting a late charge from Mike Rockenfeller.

Qualifying had seen Wittmann sweep to pole position, beating Edoardo Mortara of Audi by over a tenth of a second. Mike Rockenfeller was next up ahead of Jamie Green, while Daniel Juncadella would lead the Mercedes charge from seventh.

The start of the race would see Wittmann charge into the lead, while Rockenfeller scrambled ahead of Mortara to claim second. Behind, Jamie Green and Miguel Molina would tumble down the field, with Molina stopping at the end of the opening tour for a new steering wheel, while the rest of the field managed to get away cleanly.

Wittmann would sprint clear during the early stages, setting the fastest lap of the race on the second tour as Rockenfeller tried to give chase. Mattias Ekström, meanwhile, would pit and retire on lap four after picking up suspension damage, with Molina likewise retiring with a suspected electrical issue.

Battles further down the field proved to be the main source of entertainment, with Timo Glock and Gary Paffett engaging in a brutal battle. Elsewhere, Vitaly Petrov spun himself to the back, Timo Scheider fought a desperate rearguard action to try and remain in the top ten on hard tyres, only for Robert Wickens to smack into the #2 Audi with enough force it to smash into Nico Müller.

The pitstop phase began at the start of the middle-third of the race, although everyone would stay out until the halfway mark. Indeed, such was the advantage of the softer Option Hankook tyre over the harder Prime that all of the field sought to maximise its use, with those whom had started on the option well clear of those to start on Primes when they made their stops.

As a result, Wittmann would retain a healthy lead, although Rockenfeller would begin to close onto the back of the #23 BMW as dark clouds gathered around the Eifel Mountains. With ten laps to go rain began to lightly patter across the circuit, resulting in Rockenfeller taking more time out of his compatriot, although time was running out.

Ultimately time would run out for the #1 Audi to catch the #23 BMW, with Wittmann sweeping to victory a second ahead of Rockenfeller to leave him on the verge of the title. Mortara, meanwhile, would fend off a late challenge from Paul di Resta to claim fourth, with Juncadella claiming fifth ahead of Vietoris. Maxime Martin, Martin Tomczyk, Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein completed the scorers.

Background

Ahead of the annual visit to Nurburg all of the attention was on Marco Wittmann, who came to the infamous Nürburgring with a 39 point lead. Although 100 points remained on the table ahead of the weekend in Nurburg, few thought that the German could be defeated before the end of the season, with the BMWs thought to be in with another strong result. Mattias Ekström led the counter charge from second, yet he seemed more likely to have to defend second from Bruno Spengler and Edoardo Mortara, while Christian Vietoris fell to eighth as the best placed Mercedes.

BMW Team RMG continued to stretch their legs at the head of the Teams' Championship in Austria, now holding a 46 point lead over Audi Team Abt Sportsline. The second Abt entry sat in third ahead of the second Bavarian outfit in BMW Team Schnitzer. Audi Team Phoenix came to their home circuit in fifth, leading the first Mercedes backed team in OT Mercedes AMG, as the Stuttgarters fell ever behind in the Manufacturers' Championship. BMW led that battle, having overtaken Audi in Austria.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2014 Nürburgring Race is displayed below:

2014 Nürburgring Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine
1	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
2	Timo Scheider	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
3	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
4	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
5	Christian Vietoris	Original-Teile Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	AMG C-Coupé DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
6	Paul di Resta	Original-Teile Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	AMG C-Coupé DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
7	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
8	Miguel Molina	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
9	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
10	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
11	Gary Paffett	Thomas Sabo/Free Man's Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	AMG C-Coupé DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
12	Robert Wickens	Thomas Sabo/Free Man's Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	AMG C-Coupé DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
15	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
16	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
17	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
18	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
19	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
20	Vitaly Petrov	Petronas Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
21	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
22	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 14	Audi 4.0l V8
23	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
24	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8
25	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix Mercedes AMG	Mercedes	AMG C-Coupé DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
Source:

Qualifying

Championship leader Marco Wittmann enjoyed another successful Saturday as he claimed pole position, and the fastest lap of the entire session, to give himself the strongest possible chance of victory. Having topped the times in every session, he also benefitted from the fact that nearest rival Mattias Ekström failed to make it through the first session, and would start from 22nd. Joining the German on the front row would be Edoardo Mortara, who led a strong charge by Audi despite the absence of their talisman.

Wittmann, as it turned out, was the only Bavarian backed driver in the entire Q3 session, with the next highest placed Beemer in twelfth. Mike Rockenfeller, Jamie Green, Timo Scheider and Miguel Molina secured the rest of the top six, ahead of the first Mercedes driver in Daniel Juncadella. Scot Paul di Resta completed the Q3 runners, with Christian Vietoris missing out on the session by just one thousandth of a second.

Preventing Ekstrom from starting last was Gary Paffett, who was unable to set a time without any issues as his poor season continued. Vitaly Petrov continued his run of falling at the first hurdle by claiming 21st, while Joey Hand and rookie António Félix da Costa missed out by just fractions of a second.

Post-Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2014 Nürburgring Race are outlined below:

2014 Nürburgring Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1st	23	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG		2nd	1:26.171		1st	1:22.504		1st	1:22.780	1
2nd	15	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt		15th	1:27.323		5th	1:23.277		2nd	1:22.925	2
3rd	1	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix		12th	1:27.052		4th	1:23.087		3rd	1:22.951	3
4th	21	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg		11th	1:27.038		2nd	1:22.948		4th	1:22.996	4
5th	2	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix		10th	1:26.982		7th	1:23.286		5th	1:23.048	5
6th	8	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		7th	1:26.667		8th	1:23.337		6th	1:23.163	6
7th	19	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes AMG		9th	1:26.742		6th	1:23.284		7th	1:23.221	7
8th	6	Paul di Resta	OT Mercedes AMG		14th	1:27.289		3rd	1:23.079		8th	1:23.354	8
9th	5	Christian Vietoris	OT Mercedes AMG		5th	1:26.458		9th	1:23.338				9
10th	22	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg		18th	1:27.414		10th	1:23.405				10
11th	16	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt		16th	1:27.369		11th	1:23.421				11
12th	24	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG		4th	1:26.382		12th	1:23.495				12
13th	12	Robert Wickens	TS/FM Mercedes AMG		17th	1:27.405		13th	1:23.565				13
14th	3	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM		13th	1:27.176		14th	1:23.592				14
15th	25	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix Mercedes AMG		8th	1:26.670		15th	1:23.593				15
16th	17	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK		3rd	1:26.340		16th	1:23.691				16
17th	9	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer		6th	1:26.579		17th	1:23.770				17
18th	10	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer		1st	1:26.067		18th	1:23.841				18
19th	18	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team MTEK		19th	1:27.479							19
20th	4	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM		20th	1:27.568							20
21st	20	Vitaly Petrov	Petronas Mercedes AMG		21st	1:27.714							21
22nd	7	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline		22nd	1:28.504							22
23rd	11	Gary Paffett	TS/FM Mercedes AMG		23rd	1:29.612							23
Source:

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

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Marco Wittmann	2
	______________	Edoardo Mortara
Row 2	3	______________
	Mike Rockenfeller	4
	______________	Jamie Green
Row 3	5	______________
	Timo Scheider	6
	______________	Miguel Molina
Row 4	7	______________
	Daniel Juncadella	8
	______________	Paul di Resta
Row 5	9	______________
	Christian Vietoris	10
	______________	Nico Müller
Row 6	11	______________
	Adrien Tambay	12
	______________	Maxime Martin
Row 7	13	______________
	Robert Wickens	14
	______________	Augusto Farfus
Row 8	15	______________
	Pascal Wehrlein	16
	______________	Timo Glock
Row 9	17	______________
	Bruno Spengler	18
	______________	Martin Tomczyk
Row 10	19	______________
	António Félix da Costa	20
	______________	Joey Hand
Row 11	21	______________
	Vitaly Petrov	22
	______________	Mattias Ekström
Row 12	23	______________
	Gary Paffett	24
	______________

Race

The seventh race of the season was held in dry conditions, although the temperatures were a little lower than at the end of qualifying. However, as the start time approached, clouds drifted over the circuit, prompting the DMSB, under the advice of radar reports, to abandon the pit window. That said, drivers would still have to make a mandatory pitstop, and the 50% limit to the soft tyres still applied.

Report

Marco Wittmann shot off the line to take the lead from pole, with Mike Rockenfeller also hooking up a good start to hold second. Backwards went Jamie Green and Miguel Molina, both making poor starts to drop down the order, with Molina ultimately pitting for a new steering wheel at the end of the lap. With no major issues or collisions down the order, the order remained stable in the opening stages, as Wittmann romped away to set the fastest lap of the race on lap two.

There was drama at the back of the field as Mattias Ekström pitted with an issue, later revealed to be suspension damage after contact. The Swede was released back into the race after an initial inspection, although, as Wittmann completed another hot lap to pull ever further ahead, Ekstrom's race, and title ambitions, came to an end. Timo Scheider, meanwhile, was falling out of the lead pack, losing ground to the soft shod cars from the first lap, but remained the highest placed "prime" car.

DRS became active on lap four as Molina limped back to the pits to retire. Wittmann continued to pull ahead of the field at the front, while Vitaly Petrov spun all on his own ahead of Timo Glock and Gary Paffett swapped places, the latter having to surrender the position after an illegal manouevre. Timo Scheider, in the mean time, was continuing his rear guard action at the back of the top ten, Nico Müller the latest to try his hand at passing. Robert Wickens, however, proved to be the decisive factor, as the Canadian came steaming into the battle, collected Scheider, and put the German out.

Muller also suffered from the incident, retiring with damage after Scheider slid into him, while Wickens escaped without punishment. The BMWs, meanwhile, were scrapping in the midfield, Maxime Martin slinging past Augusto Farfus into the chicane for sixth, as Wittmann held his lead at two seconds. Moments later and Farfus had Jamie Green glued to his rear, the Brit having misjudged the braking into the first hairpin, before pushing the Brazilian through the Mercedes Arena.

The incident between them immediately went to the stewards, with Farfus spinning after the contact while Green continued unimpeeded. Paul di Resta and Daniel Juncadella swapped places for fourth and fifth, as Green and Farfus were told to report to the stewards after the race. The next laps saw di Resta begin his assault on the podium places, taking on Edoardo Mortara through the Arena as the first of the compulsory stops were made.

Vitaly Petrov was enjoying his best race of the season, taking Martin Tomczyk for ninth before his stop, while the order remained jumbled as cars trickled into the pits. Joey Hand, meanwhile, was put under investigation after his stop, having been released into the path of António Félix da Costa in the pitlane. Da Costa was also placed into the books of the stewards after his stop for a possible infringement as the final cars made their stops on lap 32.

The advantage of the soft starters had been such that by the time they stopped the hopes of those who opted for the harder tyre had all but vanished. That said, the temperature was falling, highlighted by Wittmann, who made his first mistake of the race by running wide at the chicane. Rockenfeller was slowly catching him, as the darkening skies finally broke to drop light rain over the circuit for the final ten laps.

Paffett battled with Glock for sixteenth as Green put up a strong defence against Tomczyk, who seemed to be the only man on a late charge. The German snatched eighth from the Brit, with the orange Audi suddenly faltering, falling to Pascal Wehrlein, Wickens and Tambay before the end of the next lap. Meanwhile, at the front, Rocky broke the two second barrier to Wittmann on the penultimate lap, meaning he could use DRS against him.

Unfortunately for the defending Champion, time was against him, and as Green fell a further three places, Wittmann crossed the line to take his fourth win of the season and all but secure his crown. Behind Rockenfeller was Mortara, whom managed to sustain a strong defence to deny Paul di Resta the first podium of his return. There was also big news for Mücke Motorsport, as Daniel Juncadella secured fifth to score their first points of the season.

Results

The final classification of the 2014 Nürburgring Race is displayed below:

2014 Nürburgring Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Time	Strat.	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	23	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	49	1:09:42.802	-	1:23.175	25
2nd	1	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	49	+1.286s	-	1:23.273	18
3rd	15	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt	49	+12.019s	-	1:23.362	15
4th	6	Paul di Resta	OT Mercedes AMG	49	+12.815s	-	1:23.688	12
5th	19	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes AMG	49	+13.717s	-	1:23.697	10
6th	5	Christian Vietoris	OT Mercedes AMG	49	+24.918s	-	1:23.835	8
7th	24	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	49	+28.921s	-	1:23.740	6
8th	10	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	49	+38.521s	-	1:23.743	4
9th	12	Robert Wickens	TS/FM Mercedes AMG	49	+43.197s	-	1:23.661	2
10th	25	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix Mercedes AMG	49	+45.377s	-	1:23.800	1
11th	16	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	49	+48.071s	-	1:23.260
12th	9	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team Schnitzer	49	+49.834s	-	1:23.355
13th	18	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team MTEK	49	+50.150s	-	1:23.631
14th	21	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	49	+52.771s	-	1:23.883
15th	11	Gary Paffett	TS/FM Mercedes AMG	49	+57.056s	-	1:23.348
16th	17	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	49	+58.557s	-	1:23.459
17th	4	Joey Hand	BMW Team RBM	49	+1:20.955	-	1:23.321
18th	20	Vitaly Petrov	Petronas Mercedes AMG	48	+1 Lap	-	1:24.680
Ret	3	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	35	Damage	-	1:23.596
Ret	22	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg	10	Retired	-	1:25.291
Ret	2	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	8	Retired	-	1:25.235
Ret	8	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	4	Retired	-	1:26.252
Ret	7	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	3	Suspension		1:36.010
Source:

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

Standings

Victory for Marco Wittmann meant he had all but secured the title at the Eifel circuit, leading Mattias Ekström by 64 points, with only 75 available until the end of the season. Edoardo Mortara levelled Ekstrom's score on 56, with Mike Rockenfeller climbing to fourth and maintaining a mathematical chance of retaining his title. Bruno Spengler was the first of those officially out of the title fight in fifth, ahead of the first Mercedes backed driver in Christian Vietoris.

Like their driver Wittmann, BMW Team RMG pulled a significant lead in the Teams' Championship at the Nürburgring, now leading by 67 points. Audi Team Abt Sportsline retained their 10 point advantage over their sister team Audi Team Abt, while Audi Team Phoenix climbed to fifth. OT Mercedes AMG remained the best placed Mercedes team down in sixth, while Mücke Motorsport secured their first points of the season to get on the board. BMW, meanwhile, built a small lead over Audi in the Brands' Championship, with Mercedes finally breaking the 100 point barrier.

 

2014 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Marco Wittmann 120 ◄0 2nd Mattias Ekström 56 ◄0 3rd Edoardo Mortara 56 ▲1 4th Mike Rockenfeller 53 ▲2 5th Bruno Spengler 42 ▼2 6th Christian Vietoris 41 ▲2 7th Maxime Martin 39 ◄0 8th Adrien Tambay 36 ▼3 9th Augusto Farfus 33 ◄0 10th Timo Glock 33 ◄0 11th Jamie Green 28 ◄0 12th Robert Wickens 27 ▲1 13th Miguel Molina 26 ▼1 14th Paul di Resta 24 ▲3 15th Martin Tomczyk 24 ▼1 16th Timo Scheider 19 ▼1 17th Pascal Wehrlein 15 ▼1 18th Nico Müller 10 ◄0 19th Daniel Juncadella 10 ▲3 20th Joey Hand 6 ▼1 21st António Félix da Costa 4 ▼1 22nd Gary Paffett 4 ▼1 23rd Vitaly Petrov 0 ◄0

2014 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW Team RMG 159 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Abt Sportsline 92 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Abt 82 ◄0 4th Audi Team Phoenix 72 ▲1 5th BMW Team Schnitzer 66 ▼1 6th OT Mercedes AMG 65 ◄0 7th BMW Team RBM 39 ◄0 8th Audi Team Rosberg 38 ◄0 9th BMW Team MTEK 37 ◄0 10th TS/FM Mercedes AMG 31 ◄0 11th gooix Mercedes AMG 15 ◄0 12th Petronas Mercedes AMG 10 ◄0 2014 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st BMW 302 ◄0 2nd Audi 294 ◄0 3rd Mercedes 121 ◄0

References

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