2015 Norisring Race 1

2015 Norisring Race 1
The Norisring was unchanged for 2015.
Race Information
Date	27 June 2015
No.	184
Event	DTM Nuremburg 2015
Location	Norisring Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
Format	40 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	2.300 km (1.429 mi)
Distance	46 laps / 112.700 km (70.029 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Christian Vietoris
Team	gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG
Time	50.640
Fastest Lap
Driver	Jamie Green
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	49.297 on lap 35
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Pascal Wehrlein	Robert Wickens	Gary Paffett
Winner Team	gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG
Time	41:02.170
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2015 Lausitzring Race 2		2015 Norisring Race 2

The 2015 Norisring Race 1, formally known as the DTM Nuremburg 2015 Race 1, served as the third round of the 2015 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, held at the "Monte Carlo of Germany", the Norisring, in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, on 27 June 2015. Pascal Wehrlein would secure an impressive victory at the head of a hoard of Mercedes, after being one of several drivers to gamble on slick tyres in damp conditions.

Qualifying would see Christian Vietoris sweep to pole position, edging out stablemate Gary Paffett by 0.039s. Championship leader Jamie Green was next up in third for Audi, while Wehrlein would start in fifth ahead of the first of BMWs in the form of Augusto Farfus.

The field would be split on what tyres to start with, for rain between qualifying and the race had left the circuit wet, but with dry patches after the FIA Formula 3 European Championship race. Green, Wehrlein and Farfus would be the only drivers amongst the leaders to gamble on the slick tyres, while several of those at the back of the field would also opt for slicks over wets.

The start of the race saw Green make the best getaway, although he would slide wide at Grundig Kehre after braking off the dry-line. He duly slipped back as Paul di Resta also ran wide, allowing Wickens to slip ahead of both, while Wehrlein and Farfus also able to slip past the Englishman.

Behind there was chaos as Lucas Auer spun Miguel Molina, resulting in the pair blocking the circuit facing the wall. The rest of the field had to squeeze inside the pair to continue, with Tom Blomqvist the main loser as the Brit slid into Molina and got caught.

The debris from that trio triggered a Safety Car, a blessing for Wehrlein and co. on the slicks as it prevented them from losing ground. Indeed, when the race resumed three laps later the circuit was still not ready for slick tyres, although after the restart the slicks would slowly come into play.

Indeed, as Wickens moved past Paffett, Wehrlein, who had stubbornly held onto a spot in the top ten, would match Vietoris' time, prompting Paffett to stop at the end of the lap. With that the rest of the lead group would sweep into the pits, leaving Wehrlein in the lead, while Wickens and Paffett were left right on the tail of Vietoris.

The closing stages saw both Wickens and Paffett slip past Vietoris and close onto Paffett, although Mercedes intervened to prevent any further battling. That meant that Wehrlein ran to the chequered flag unopposed to claim victory ahead of the Canadian and the Brit, while Vietoris dropped back to prevent a charging Bruno Spengler from joining the fight. Elsewhere, Martin Tomczyk claimed sixth from Green late on, Farfus claimed eighth with worn tyres, while Marco Wittmann and Daniel Juncadella rounded out the scorers.

Background

The entry list remained the same for the Norisring, with António Félix da Costa foregoing his Team Aguri seat for the Formula E season finale in order to take part. Likewise, the Norisring was unchanged from the race last season, while there was big news for Marco Wittmann, as he enjoyed his first test of a Formula One car for the first time during the test.

The Championship battle was in Jamie Green's favour post Lausitzring, as he brought three race wins and a healthy seventeen point lead over Mattias Ekström. Edoardo Mortara had slipped to third at the Lausitzring, but his tally was enough to keep Pascal Wehrlein out of the top three, with Audi laying claim to the four of the top five, and accounting for all four race victories.

That also left Audi at the top of the Teams and Brands Championships, with Audi Team Rosberg at the summit of the Teams, and Audi flying high with 264 points. In contrast, Mercedes-Benz were yet to break the 100 point barrier, with gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG their best placed team in fourth. But even they were fairing better the BMW, who only had half Mercedes' tally of points, were yet to get a podium, and only had one car, Maxime Martin in the top ten of the Championship.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2015 Norisring Race 1 is displayed below:

2015 Norisring Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Weight
1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
2	Gary Paffett	Euronics/BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,137.5 kg
6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
10	Timo Scheider	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,135 kg
12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
17	Miguel Molina	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,135 kg
18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
22	Lucas Auer	Euronics/BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,130 kg
31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,107.5 kg
48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,140 kg
51	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,135 kg
53	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,137.5 kg
77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,105 kg
84	Maximilian Götz	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
94	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,140 kg
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying for the first race was held on Saturday morning in wet conditions, although it soon became clear during the 20 minute session that the circuit was drying quickly.

Report

Christian Vietoris used the drying conditions to their fullest to take pole in the dying seconds, having started his final lap just moments before the flag dropped, and therefore was the last man to set a lap. He therefore beat Gary Paffett and Jamie Green to pole by under half a tenth of a second, as a second covered all 24 cars.

Paul di Resta looked set to take pole before the final laps, and may have taken pole but for a lock up on his last attempt ruined his chance. With Pascal Wehrlein and Robert Wickens also in the top ten, it was advantage Mercedes for the afternoon race, with seven cars in the top half of the field. Augusto Farfus was the best placed BMW driver in sixth, as Marco Wittmann and Martin Tomczyk also forced their way into the top ten.

Audi had not produced their best display  during the session, with only two cars in the top ten and five in the bottom six. Rookie-wise, Lucas Auer claimed twelfth to be the best of the three, with Tom Blomqvist seventeenth, despite BMW's struggles to this point. Maximilian Götz, meanwhile was among the Audi stragglers, finishing the session twentieth.

Post Qualifying

The final qualifying result for the 2015 Norisring Race 1 are outlined below:

2015 Norisring Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/OT Mercedes AMG	50.640	—	163.507 km/h	1
2nd	2	Gary Paffett	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	50.679	+0.039s	163.381 km/h	2
3rd	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	50.687	+0.047s	163.355 km/h	3
4th	3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	50.751	+0.111s	163.149 km/h	4
5th	94	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix/Mercedes-AMG	50.807	+0.167s	162.969 km/h	5
6th	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	50.876	+0.236s	162.748 km/h	6
7th	6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	50.938	+0.298s	162.550 km/h	7
8th	1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	50.965	+0.325s	162.464 km/h	8
9th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	51.069	+0.429s	162.133 km/h	9
10th	77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	51.088	+0.448s	162.073 km/h	10
11th	12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	51.090	+0.450s	162.066 km/h	11
12th	22	Lucas Auer	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	51.126	+0.486s	161.952 km/h	12
13th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	51.152	+0.512s	161.870 km/h	13
14th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	51.198	+0.558s	161.725 km/h	14
15th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	51.236	+0.596s	161.605 km/h	15
16th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt	51.262	+0.622s	161.523 km/h	16
17th	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	51.283	+0.643s	161.457 km/h	17
18th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	51.326	+0.686s	161.321 km/h	18
19th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg	51.327	+0.687s	161.318 km/h	19
20th	84	Maximilian Götz	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	51.381	+0.741s	161.149 km/h	20
21st	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	51.404	+0.764s	161.076 km/h	21
22nd	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	51.517	+0.877s	160.723 km/h	22
23rd	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	51.524	+0.884s	160.701 km/h	23
24th	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	51.539	+0.899s	160.655 km/h	24
Source:

Grid

The starting grid for the 2015 Norisring Race 1 is outlined below:

		27	Adrien Tambay	51.524			5	Mattias Ekström	51.404			51	Nico Müller	51.327			31	Tom Blomqvist	51.283			16	Timo Glock	51.236			7	Bruno Spengler	51.152			12	Daniel Juncadella	51.090			17	Miguel Molina	51.069			6	Robert Wickens	50.938			94	Pascal Wehrlein	50.807			53	Jamie Green	50.687			8	Christian Vietoris	50.640
	10	Timo Scheider		51.539		99	Mike Rockenfeller		51.517		84	Maximilian Götz		51.381		13	António Félix da Costa		51.326		48	Edoardo Mortara		51.262		36	Maxime Martin		51.198		22	Lucas Auer		51.126		77	Martin Tomczyk		51.088		1	Marco Wittmann		50.965		18	Augusto Farfus		50.876		3	Paul di Resta		50.751		2	Gary Paffett		50.679

Race

Another rain cloud arrived at the Norisring in between qualifying and the race on Saturday, although, like qualifying, the skies were clearing as the start approached. With the speed at which the circuit dried earlier in the day, the field was split on what to try at the start, with some opting for the slicks, although the majority went for wets. Jamie Green and Pascal Wehrlein were the ones to look out for at the sharp end of the field, with both starting on slicks.

Report

Green was, initially the best of the starters off the line, but would ultimately lose out into the braking for turn one, as his slicks, with little grip, carried him wide and down the order. Admittedly, Paul di Resta was on the inside of the Englishman, with the Scot managing to run wide also, allowing Robert Wickens through on the inside. Christian Vietoris, meanwhile, was able to defend from Gary Paffett for the lead through the hairpin, before braving it around the outside of the Schöller Esses to keep the Brit from gaining the lead later on.

Although the leaders made it through cleanly, the mid-pack did not, as Lucas Auer touched Miguel Molina and put the Spaniard into a spin. As Molina came round, Auer was then collected by the Audi, forcing him into a similar slide, with both ending up perpendicular to the track facing the inside wall. In the resulting bottle neck, Mike Rockenfeller gained a handful of places, while Tom Blomqvist lost out heavily. The young Brit was forced onto the inside of the curb through the hairpin, and emerged right behind the spinning duo when he rejoined.

The slick shod cars continued to struggle in the early stages, as the safety car emerged to allow the debris from the start to be cleared, although it was in within three laps. Only Wehrlein and Augusto Farfus stayed in the top ten on their dry tyres, with Green losing out after running wide again at the hairpin at the restart. Further back, Blomqvist pitted for slicks and repairs, although he would retire a few laps later, while Maxime Martin suffered a suspension failure and was out.

As the race passed the ten lap/ten minute mark, Robert Wickens became the man on the move, with the Canadian hunting down Paffett for second. He shot past the Brit into the Dutzendteichkehre on lap eleven, before beginning a charge to the back of Vietoris in the lead. But, as the Canadian began to push, the slick shod cars began to set times just a second off those on the wets, with DRS enabled on lap 14, prompting Paffett to pit.

One lap later, and the rest of the leaders were in, but Vietoris, Wickens and co. ultimately slipped behind Wehrlein, who leapt from eighth to first in the space of two laps. Paul di Resta stayed out a lap longer, before emerging just ahead of Green. Unfortunately for the Scot, Green clipped the back of his Mercedes as they went through the Scholler Esses, (di Resta having been on the outside of Bruno Spengler) sending him into a spin, which the Scot caught impressively, but the damage was done, with di Resta retiring as a result.

Wickens rediscovered his pre-stop form over the following laps, lining up a move on Vietoris into the Grundig Kehre which he completed successfully. Paffett pulled a similar move at the final hairpin on the German later in the lap, as Wickens begun the hunt for Wehrlein. Unfortunately for the Canadian, Paffett was immediately on his tail and attacking throughout the lap, allowing Wehrlein some breathing room for the time being.

Green and Spengler, meanwhile, were working together to catch the leaders, with Green going unpunished for the di Resta incident. Spengler slung a move down the inside of Farfus into the Grundig Kehre for fifth, with Green using the move to his advantage to snatch sixth. In response, Vietoris dropped off the lead trio to defend the potential one-two-three for Mercedes, with Wehrlein, Wickens and Paffett told to hold station.

With the Mercedes train at the front now an official stalemate, the action was to be had further down, as Green lost out to Martin Tomczyk while the fastest lap swapped between almost every car in the field as the track dried. Mattias Ekström lost time after locking up into the Grundig Kehre on the penultimate lap, leading him down in seventeenth. But while he toiled, the Mercedes train completed an impressive race, with Wehrlein taking his second career win, with Audi off the podium for the first time in 2015.

Result

The final classification of the 2015 Norisring Race 1 is displayed below:

2015 Norisring Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	94	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	46	41:02.170	49.718	25
2nd	6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	46	+0.356s	49.564	18
3rd	2	Gary Paffett	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	46	+0.742s	49.488	15
4th	8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	46	+1.362s	49.515	12
5th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	46	+2.784s	49.507	10
6th	77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	46	+4.902s	49.333	8
7th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	46	+5.279s	49.297	6
8th	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	46	+8.572s	49.750	4
9th	1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	46	+8.943s	49.603	2
10th	12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	46	+9.262s	49.673	1
11th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt	46	+11.482s	49.641
12th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	46	+13.318s	49.554
13th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	46	+15.990s	49.566
14th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	46	+17.695s	49.694
15th	22	Lucas Auer	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	46	+17.935s	49.588
16th	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	46	+20.717s	49.698
17th	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	46	+21.469s	49.787
18th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg	46	+25.638s	49.736
19th	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	46	+40.423s	49.425
20th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	46	+47.794s	49.764
Ret	3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	17	Damage	53.213
Ret	84	Maximilian Götz	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	17	Retired	53.353
Ret	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	10	Damage	58.501
Ret	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	5	Suspension	1:02.902
Source:

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

Milestones

• Second career victory for Pascal Wehrlein.

Standings

Jamie Green would head into the Sunday Race having maintained the lead in the Championship, having moved onto 81 points for the campaign. Mattias Ekström had retained second on 58, while Edoardo Mortara had likewise held station in third. Pascal Wehrlein, meanwhile, had retained fourth but had closed onto the lead group, while Robert Wickens had leapt into fifth after his first podium of the campaign.

In the Teams' Championship it was still Audi Team Rosberg who led the charge, having eased into a six point lead ahead of sister squad Audi Team Abt Sportsline. gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG were next up in third, having moved ahead of Audi Team Abt, while Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG had moved into fifth. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, it was still Audi who held the initiative, 109 ahead of Mercedes-AMG in second.

2015 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Jamie Green 81 ◄0 2nd Mattias Ekström 58 ◄0 3rd Edoardo Mortara 58 ◄0 4th Pascal Wehrlein 57 ◄0 5th Robert Wickens 32 ▲6 6th Gary Paffett 30 ▲3 7th Miguel Molina 27 ▼2 8th Mike Rockenfeller 21 ▼2 9th Martin Tomczyk 20 ▲3 10th Christian Vietoris 18 ▲6 11th Maxime Martin 16 ▼3 12th Timo Scheider 16 ▼4 13th Paul di Resta 15 ▼3 14th Marco Wittmann 14 ▼1 15th Bruno Spengler 12 ▲3 16th Nico Müller 10 ▼2 17th Daniel Juncadella 10 ▼2 18th Timo Glock 5 ▼1 19th Augusto Farfus 5 ◄0

2015 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Rosberg 91 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Abt Sportsline 85 ◄0 3rd gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG 75 ▲1 4th Audi Team Abt 58 ▼1 5th Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG 47 ▲1 6th Audi Team Phoenix 37 ▼1 7th ART Grand Prix 30 ▲1 8th BMW Team RMG 30 ▼1 9th BMW Team Schnitzer 20 ◄0 10th BMW Team MTEK 17 ▲1 11th Petronas Mercedes-AMG 10 ▼1 12th BMW Team RBM 5 ◄0 2015 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 271 ◄0 2nd Mercedes-AMG 162 ◄0 3rd BMW 72 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

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