2015 Spielberg Race 2

2015 Spielberg Race 2
The Red Bull Ring was unchanged in 2015.
Race Information
Date	2 August 2015
No.	189
Event	DTM Spielberg 2015
Location	Red Bull Ring Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Format	60 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.326 km (2.688 mi)
Distance	34 laps / 147.084 km (91.394 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Mattias Ekström
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:42.010
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mattias Ekström
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:41.547 on lap 31
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mattias Ekström	Gary Paffett	Edoardo Mortara
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:01:47.136
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2015 Spielberg Race 1		2015 Moscow Raceway Race 1

The 2015 Spielberg Race 2, otherwise known as the DTM Spielberg 2015 Race 2, was the tenth race of the 2015 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, on 2 August 2015. The race would see Mattias Ekström claim a dominant victory ahead of Gary Paffett, although that was overshadowed by the antics of Timo Scheider and Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Qualifying for the second race in Austria had been held in wet conditions, with Ekström easing to pole position by 0.005s ahead of Mike Rockenfeller. Gary Paffett was next up at the head of a trio of Mercedes, while Martin Tomczyk was a depressingly low fourteenth to lead the BMW challenge.

The rain remained hanging in the Styrian Mountains as the field gathered on the grid, resulting in the DMSB deciding to start the race behind the Safety Car. The SC duly led the field away from the grid as the rain began to ease, before releasing the field to make a rolling start at the end of lap six.

Unsurprisingly Ekström would jet into the lead at the start, having been the only man with clear sight ahead of him. Behind, a number of drivers would lock-up their brakes into turn one, resulting in a series of minor bumps, while Christian Vietoris slid into the gravel at turn four.

The field quickly spread itself out, with Ekström easing clear of Rockenfeller, while the #99 Audi came under serious pressure from Paffett. Behind them, Edoardo Mortara and Robert Wickens would duel for fourth, exchanging blows at almost every turn, with the circuit drying rapidly once the field were up to speed.

Indeed, the drier conditions seemed to benefit Paffett and Mortara, who eventually overcame their opponents and broke clear. Ekström, meanwhile, was working to preserve his wet tyres long enough to switch to slicks, although as the pit window opened the rain would return to the Red Bull Ring.

As a result everyone would bolt a fresh set of wet Hankook tyres to their car during the stops, with Ekström maintaining the lead ahead of Paffett, while Mortara jumped Rockenfeller. Behind, Timo Scheider had emerged behind sixth placed Wickens, while Pascal Wehrlein gained a lot of ground and would lap as quickly as Ekström after the stops.

The closing stages would be all about the Wickens/Scheider/Wehrlein fight, with Wickens making a mistake and sliding behind the #10 Audi. The Canadian would then elbow his way past Scheider to reclaim sixth, before deliberately holding the German racer up to allow Wehrlein to pass.

Wehrlein caught them at the start of the final tour, and as Wickens drew Scheider out wide at turn three, the #94 Mercedes slipped ahead of both. It was at this point that Dr. Ullrich intervened, with Scheider instructed to "Schieb ihn raus!", literally "Push him out" on the run to turn four. Scheider duly broke later than usual and tapped the back of Wickens, who then tapped into Wehrlein to send both Mercedes spinning into the gravel and out.

Out front, meanwhile, Ekström was left to cruise to victory, five seconds clear of Paffett while Mortara was a distant third. Rockenfeller was next ahead of Nico Müller, while Lucas Auer secured sixth ahead of Maximilian Götz, Christian Vietoris, Paul di Resta and António Félix da Costa.

After the race the DMSB launched an investigation into the Scheider/Wickens/Wehrlein incident, and duly issued a verdict of "gamesmanship". As a result Scheider received a two race ban, Dr. Ullrich a ban until the end of the season, while Audi had all of their points from the 2015 Spielberg Race 2 revoked and handed a €200,000 fine.

Background

Pascal Wehrlein had shuffled to the head of the Championship after the first race in Spielberg, having moved onto 94 points for the campaign. Mattias Ekström had held station in second, while victory for Edoardo Mortara had seen him move into third, eleven off the lead. Former leader Jamie Green had therefore tumbled to fourth after his retirement, while Robert Wickens had lost ground in fifth.

gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG had enhanced their lead in the Teams' Championship as the season hit its halfway point, having claimed their 146th point of the season. Audi Team Abt Sportsline had held station in second but lost ground to the leaders, while Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG had risen to third ahead of Audi Team Rosberg. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had enhanced their lead, while Mercedes-AMG had moved back ahead of BMW.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2015 Spielberg Race 2 is displayed below:

2015 Spielberg Race 2 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Weight
1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
2	Gary Paffett	Euronics/BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,122.5 kg
5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,127.5 kg
6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
10	Timo Scheider	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
17	Miguel Molina	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
22	Lucas Auer	Euronics/BWT Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG	C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,122.5 kg
27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,117.5 kg
31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,115 kg
48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
51	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
53	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	M4 DTM	P66 4.0l V8	1,110 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	1,127.5 kg
99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM 15	Audi 4.0l V8	1,125 kg
Source:

Qualifying

Unlike Saturday, Sunday was a rather wet affair, with the Hankook wet tyres dusted off and bolted to the cars, although there were no other changes. As a result, all twenty-four drivers would take to the circuit for twenty minute session as usual, and would be allowed to set as many fastest laps as possible throughout.

Report

The conditions proved to be the best for Mattias Ekström, as he beat stablemate Mike Rockenfeller by just 0.005s to make an all Audi front row. The rest of the top five saw Gary Paffett beat Pascal Wehrlein and Robert Wickens, as a poor display by BMW meant they failed to get a single car in the top half of the field.

With Audi and Mercedes sharing the top ten evenly between them, as Saturday winner Edoardo Mortara and Timo Scheider claimed sixth and seventh. With Christian Vietoris and Paul di Resta beating the fifth Audi of Adrien Tambay, a BMW fan would still need to look down a further four places to see their first car. Nico Müller, Maximilian Götz and Daniel Juncadella took the eleventh to thirteenth slots, before Martin Tomczyk led the BMW charge in fourteenth.

Tomczyk and his BMW stablemates were off the pace significantly in the wet, with the German qualifying slower by almost twice the margin that covered the entire field on Saturday. With BMW also left to pick up the bottom five places, only joined by one Mercedes and two Audis in Lucas Auer, Jamie Green and Miguel Molina. With almost three and a half seconds covering the field, and the rain set to continue for the rest of the day, BMW did not look in the best position.

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2015 Spielberg Race 2 are outlined below:

2015 Spielberg Race 2 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:42.010	—	152.667 km/h	1
2nd	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:42.015	+0.005s	152.659 km/h	2
3rd	2	Gary Paffett	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	1:42.155	+0.145s	152.450 km/h	3
4th	94	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	1:42.422	+0.412s	152.053 km/h	4
5th	6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	1:42.566	+0.556s	151.839 km/h	5
6th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt	1:42.659	+0.649s	151.702 km/h	6
7th	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	1:42.849	+0.839s	151.421 km/h	7
8th	8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	1:42.853	+0.843s	151.416 km/h	8
9th	3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	1:43.064	+1.054s	151.106 km/h	9
10th	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	1:43.155	+1.145s	150.972 km/h	10
11th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg	1:43.251	+1.241s	150.832 km/h	11
12th	84	Maximilian Götz	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	1:43.604	+1.594s	150.318 km/h	12
13th	12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	1:43.651	+1.641s	150.250 km/h	13
14th	77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	1:43.743	+1.733s	150.117 km/h	14
15th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	1:43.772	+1.762s	150.075 km/h	15
16th	22	Lucas Auer	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	1:44.110	+2.100s	149.587 km/h	16
17th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:44.192	+2.182s	149.470 km/h	17
18th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	1:44.251	+2.241s	149.385 km/h	18
19th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:44.419	+2.409s	149.145 km/h	19
20th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	1:44.509	+2.499s	149.016 km/h	20
21st	1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:44.707	+2.697s	148.735 km/h	21
22nd	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	1:44.830	+2.820s	148.560 km/h	22
23rd	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	1:44.983	+2.973s	148.344 km/h	23
24th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	1:45.348	+3.338s	147.830 km/h	24
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2015 Spielberg Race 2 is outlined below:

		18	Augusto Farfus	1:44.983			1	Marco Wittmann	1:44.707			17	Miguel Molina	1:44.419			53	Jamie Green	1:44.192			36	Maxime Martin	1:43.772			12	Daniel Juncadella	1:43.651			51	Nico Müller	1:43.251			3	Paul di Resta	1:43.064			10	Timo Scheider	1:42.849			6	Robert Wickens	1:42.566			2	Gary Paffett	1:42.155			5	Mattias Ekström	1:42.010
	16	Timo Glock		1:45.348		31	Tom Blomqvist		1:44.830		7	Bruno Spengler		1:44.509		13	António Félix da Costa		1:44.251		22	Lucas Auer		1:44.110		77	Martin Tomczyk		1:43.743		84	Maximilian Götz		1:43.604		27	Adrien Tambay		1:43.155		8	Christian Vietoris		1:42.853		48	Edoardo Mortara		1:42.659		94	Pascal Wehrlein		1:42.422		99	Mike Rockenfeller		1:42.015

Race

If qualifying was wet, the build up to the second race of the weekend was a swim in the ocean, with the start delayed initially for ten minutes. The officials also announced that the pit window would be removed, although teams would still have to complete mandatory pit-stops. The DMSB then decided to start the race with the rain easing, although they decided that the safety car should lead them off the grid at the very least.

Report

The safety car stayed on circuit for the first ten minutes of the race, coming in at the end of lap six, releasing Mattias Ekström who was the only man to react. Christian Vietoris went for a bounce through the gravel early on, as did several other drivers as they misjudged their braking zones in the poor visibility. That said, the track was beginning to improve, with several drivers opting to pit to get some valuable clear running.

Gary Paffett completes an impressive move on Mike Rockenfeller.

Ekstrom, in the mean time, was well away at the front, building a steady gap of 3.6 seconds over Mike Rockenfeller, who soon fell to Gary Paffett. Pascal Wehrlein and Paul di Resta were the latest men to enjoy a trip through the gravel, with the German's second trip dropping him from sixth to ninth a few minutes later. Robert Wickens and Edoardo Mortara were duelling over fourth, the position swapping between them numerous times.

As Daniel Juncadella forced to make another stop as his first was judged to have been under the safety car (having stopped on the lap that the safety car came in), Mortara broke away from Wickens and began to push Rockenfeller. With rain beginning to increase once again, Paffett was closing on Ekstrom for the lead, while Rockenfeller lost out to Mortara in their stops. Wehrlein, meanwhile, was making his comeback, passing Lucas Auer for eighth, with Ekstrom just starting to counter Paffett's charge.

As the final drivers made their mandatory stops (António Félix da Costa concluding the regulation pitstop action), Ekstrom was left in the lead with Paffett second and Mortara third. di Resta and da Costa were the main attraction, with the Mercedes driver instructed to hand back twelfth to the BMW youngster after an illegal overtake. But, this was a minor incident compared to what was just about to happen, with Wehrlein catching Scheider and Wickens for sixth.

With a few minutes to go, the Canadian ran wide to allow the German through, before making up for his mistake by snatching sixth back from Scheider. Wehrlein's charge meant he caught up to the back of them, and, with the young German a team mate of Wickens and at the pointy end of the Championship, the Canadian tried to help him out. On the last lap, Wickens placed his car in the middle of the track to block, and slow, Scheider, which allowed Wehrlein to snatch seventh from the Audi.

"PUSH HIM OUT!" - Scheider vs. Wickens & Wehrlein - "Schieb ihn raus!" - DTM Spielberg 2015

"A snooker move" by Timo Scheider.

With Wickens then opening the door for Wehrlein on the exit, before seamlessly cutting in front of Scheider to block him once again, a furious outburst from the Audi resulted in a costly series of events for the Ingolstadt manufacturer. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich told Schedier to hit the back of Wickens in retaliation, and with minimal margins between him and Wehrlein, the tap by Scheider had a double effect in the braking zone at turn three. Wickens was powerless to avoid Wehrlein, and the pair spun into the gravel and out of the race, with Scheider continuing on for sixth.

Ekstrom, meanwhile, had escaped from Paffett after the stops and won by almost five seconds, one of the biggest margins of the season. Mortara had been well off their pace but took third, with Rockenfeller fourth and Nico Müller in fifth, ahead of Scheider. Auer made a late pass on Maximilian Götz for seventh, with the latter securing his first points with eighth, as Vietoris and di Resta completed the points, the Scot having cleanly passed da Costa at the second attempt.

Post-Race

But, the result was in dispute, and the race organisers disqualified Scheider from the result moments after the podium celebrations. In the break that followed until the Moscow round, the DMSB reviewed the incident and punished Audi on a charge of 'Gamesmanship'. Their investigation highlighted Dr. Ullrich's radio message, and resulted in a two race ban for Scheider, a ban from the pitlane until the end of the season for Ullrich and all of Audi's points from race two being rescinded.

Fortunately, the latter punishment was only to affect Audi's points haul in relation to the Manufacturers' Championship, with an additional fine of €200,000 to be paid to the DMSB.

Results

The final classification of the 2015 Spielberg Race 2 is displayed below:

2015 Spielberg Race 2 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	34	1:01:47.136	1:41.547	25
2nd	2	Gary Paffett	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	34	+4.334s	1:41.830	18
3rd	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt	34	+23.555s	1:41.666	15
4th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	34	+25.445s	1:42.148	12
5th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Rosberg	34	+29.964s	1:41.974	10
6th	22	Lucas Auer	ART Grand Prix Mercedes	34	+43.726s	1:42.047	8
7th	84	Maximilian Götz	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	34	+44.620s	1:42.346	6
8th	8	Christian Vietoris	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	34	+1:00.668	1:42.610	4
9th	3	Paul di Resta	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	34	+1:01.506	1:42.072	2
10th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	34	+1:05.663	1:42.690	1
11th	1	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	34	+1:06.995	1:43.064
12th	77	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	34	+1:07.700	1:42.835
13th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	34	+1:10.505	1:43.241
14th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team MTEK	34	+1:11.638	1:43.020
15th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	34	+1:13.669	1:42.502
16th	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Abt	34	+1:15.250	1:42.041
17th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	34	+1:22.362	1:42.910
18th	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RBM	34	+1:26.870	1:42.846
19th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RMG	34	+1:40.397	1:42.760
20th*	6	Robert Wickens	Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG	33	Collision	1:42.751
21st*	94	Pascal Wehrlein	gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG	33	Collision	1:42.856
22nd*	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team Schnitzer	28	Retired	1:46.386
23rd*	12	Daniel Juncadella	Petronas Mercedes-AMG	27	Spin	1:42.713
DSQ†	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	34	Disqualified	1:42.835
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Wickens, Wehrlein, Blomqvist and Juncadella all classified despite retiring.
• ^† Scheider disqualified for causing a collision.

Milestones

• 23rd victory for Mattias Ekström.
• Maiden points finish for Maximilian Götz.

Standings

Mattias Ekström jumped to the top of the Drivers' Championship, as Jamie Green tumbled to fourth. Edoardo Mortara and Pascal Wehrlein were the others to jump in front of him, although the German remained in third through Mortara's efforts. Gary Paffett was now in fifth, as Mercedes made huge progress in the Brands' battle, levelling Audi's score.

gooix/Original-Teile Mercedes-AMG remained atop the Teams' Championship, their tally of 150 points keeping them twelve ahead of Audi Team Abt Sportsline. BMW lost their only top five team from the summit of the Championship, as the second Audi Team Abt and HWA teams made gains in the battle. ART Grand Prix Mercedes were another team on the move, leaping up into the top ten, as Petronas Mercedes-AMG remained at the foot of the table.

2015 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mattias Ekström 111 ▲1 2nd Edoardo Mortara 98 ▲1 3rd Pascal Wehrlein 94 ▼2 4th Jamie Green 81 ◄0 5th Gary Paffett 61 ▲6 6th Robert Wickens 57 ▼1 7th Christian Vietoris 56 ▼1 8th Bruno Spengler 52 ▼1 9th Marco Wittmann 51 ▼1 10th António Félix da Costa 44 ▼1 11th Augusto Farfus 43 ▼1 12th Mike Rockenfeller 41 ▲2 13th Paul di Resta 40 ▼1 14th Maxime Martin 32 ▼1 15th Miguel Molina 27 ◄0 16th Timo Glock 25 ◄0 17th Nico Müller 22 ▲3 18th Martin Tomczyk 20 ▼1 19th Timo Scheider 16 ▼1 20th Daniel Juncadella 14 ▼1 21st Lucas Auer 10 ▲2 22nd Tom Blomqvist 6 ▼1 23rd Maximilian Götz 6 ▲1 24th Adrien Tambay 3 ▼2

2015 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st gooix/OT Mercedes-AMG 150 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Abt Sportsline 138 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Rosberg 103 ▲1 4th Audi Team Abt 101 ▲1 5th Silberpfeil Mercedes-AMG 97 ▼2 6th BMW Team RMG 83 ◄0 7th BMW Team MTEK 77 ◄0 8th ART Grand Prix Mercedes 71 ▲2 9th BMW Team Schnitzer 64 ▼1 10th Audi Team Phoenix 57 ▲1 11th BMW Team RBM 49 ▼2 12th Petronas Mercedes-AMG 20 ◄0 2015 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG 338 ▲1 2nd Audi 337 ▼1 3rd BMW 248 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

Videos and Images:

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