2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1

2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1
Back home: The Hockenheimring
Race Information
Date	7 May 2016
No.	178
Event	DTM Hockenheim Opening 2016
Location	Hockenheimring Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Format	40 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.574 km (2.842 mi)
Distance	25 laps / 114.350 km (71.054 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Nico Müller
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:33.876
Fastest Lap
Driver	Robert Wickens
Team	Mercedes DTM Team HWA I
Time	1:35.465 on lap 13
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Edoardo Mortara	Robert Wickens	Nico Müller
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	42:11.606
Race Guide
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2015 Hockenheim Finale Race 2		2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 2

The 2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1, otherwise known as the DTM Hockenheim Opening 2016 Race 1, was the first race of the 2016 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, held at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 7 May 2016. The race would see Edoardo Mortara storm to victory for Audi, in a race filled with incidents.

There had been some changes to the field over the winter, as reigning Champion Pascal Wehrlein moved to Formula One, leaving a vacant seat at Mercedes-Benz. That seat was taken by Mercedes Junior Esteban Ocon, with the Frenchman subsequently placed in the customer ART Grand Prix squad, while Audi and BMW retained their 2015 entries.

Qualifying had seen Nico Müller sweep to his maiden pole position, beating Mortara with a late charge to the top of the time sheets. Robert Wickens was the best of the Mercedes-Benz drivers in third, while Marco Wittmann was the best of the BMW drivers in tenth.

The start of the race saw Mortara gain the upper hand, sprinting past stablemate Müller to secure the lead into the first corner. Behind, Jamie Green would get the jump on Wickens to secure third, while Wittmann remained at the back of the top ten for BMW.

Wickens would retaliate later on the opening tour to reclaim third, as Mortara fended off Müller's attempts to claim the lead. Further around, Green was elbowed out of the top ten after slipping wide at turn eleven, Timo Scheider picked up damage via an unseen collision with António Félix da Costa, while Tom Blomqvist spun into retirement towards the end of the lap.

More incidents were to follow, as on lap three Daniel Juncadella and Timo Glock spun into the gravel at turn eleven, triggering a Slow Zone. Moments after that was cleared another SZ was required when Maximilian Götz spun out while avoiding Augusto Farfus, while Ocon's debut came to a premature end with damage.

The next incident would see Mike Rockenfeller smash his suspension via contact with Bruno Spengler, the pair having been fighting as they braked for the Götz SZ. Elsewhere, Mattias Ekström caused damage to Gary Paffett with a lunge at the hairpin, while, almost unseen, Wickens swept past Müller to move into second.

With that the race was over, with Mortara keeping Wickens at bay to secure victory by a second and a half, while Wickens himself had sprinted clear of Müller. Behind then would be Paul di Resta, triumphing from a fight with teammate Christian Vietoris, while Spengler secured sixth. da Costa was next up ahead of Maxime Martin and Ekström, while Miguel Molina elbowed his way past Paffett in the closing stages to secure the final point.

Background

The winter of 2015 saw Mercedes release their new C63 DTM model, while also finding a replacement for Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein, together with Mercedes, arranged a deal to drive with Manor Racing in Formula One, leaving a vacant seat in the Stuttgart squad for the new season. They opted to call up their reserve driver Esteban Ocon, with FIA European Formula 3 Champion Felix Rosenqvist taking over the testing and reserve role.

Ocon would join Gary Paffett at ART Grand Prix amid a wave of changes to their teams, with only Paffett, Paul di Resta and Robert Wickens staying with their teams. Mücke Motorsport took on Lucas Auer and Christian Vietoris, while Daniel Juncadella and Maximilian Götz joined the factory backed Team HWA efforts.

BMW and Audi opted to retain all eight of their respective drivers, although there was movement among their teams. BMW Team RMG adopted Timo Glock, while Maxime Martin moved to BMW Team RBM in response. Augusto Farfus was therefore placed with BMW Team MTEK, while Audi had Nico Müller and Adrien Tambay swap seats.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 is displayed below:

2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Weight
2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes DTM Team ART	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes DTM Team HWA II	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes DTM Team HWA I	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
8	Christian Vietoris	Mercedes DTM Team Mücke BWT	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
10	Timo Scheider	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
12	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes DTM Team HWA I	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	BMW 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
17	Miguel Molina	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team MTEK	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes DTM Team Mücke BWT	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
34	Esteban Ocon	Mercedes DTM Team ART	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
51	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
53	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
84	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes DTM Team HWA II	Mercedes	Mercedes C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	Audi RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8	1,120 kg
100	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW	BMW M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8	1,112.5 kg
Source:

Qualifying

Report

Mike Rockenfeller led the field onto a hot Hockenheim circuit at midday on Saturday, the German quick to get his #99 Audi RS5 DTM up to speed. His first flying lap, however, would be a poor one, with the green and yellow Audi flashing across the line with a lap in the 1:35.000s, Rockenfeller citing Esteban Ocon as the reason for his delay. His lap was quickly beaten by Christian Vietoris for Mercedes before he was toppled by Augusto Farfus in the earliest exchanges of the session. Elsewhere, Mercedes were forced to concede defeat in their attempts to rebuild Lucas Auer's car before qualifying, the Austrian having crashed heavily during first practice.

As Gary Paffett went for a bounce through the gravel trap at the Sud Kurve, Jamie Green went fastest overall for Audi, holding the lead until the fifteen minute mark. Moments later Paffett put a lap together to go fastest, before he was toppled by Robert Wickens, the Canadian setting a 1:34.105 as Mattias Ekström set his first time of the day in the mid-pack. Wickens remained fastest through the halfway point in the session, with the majority of the field in the pits until the final three minutes.

Nico Müller had shown stunning pace throughout the practice sessions, and so there was little surprise that the Swiss driver was sat in second before the final runs. Yet, predictions for pole would prove fruitless as the field suddenly shifted as the cars completed their fastest laps in the dying seconds of the session. Edoardo Mortara was the first to topple Wickens, besting the Canadian by just 0.004s, before Green saw a quick lap destroyed by traffic up ahead. Then, stunningly, it was Muller on pole, the Swiss driver breaking into the 1:33.000s for the first time all weekend to take pole. It was to be a maiden pole for Muller, who was joined by Mortara on the front row, with Wickens the best of the Mercedes down in third, sharing with Green who put together a strong last lap to claim fourth. Marco Wittmann led BMW's contingent down in tenth, the Munich manufacturer largely disappointed at their display.

Qualifying Results

The final qualifying result for the 2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 are outlined below:

2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	1:33.876	—	175.405 km/h	1
2nd	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:34.101	+0.225s	174.986 km/h	2
3rd	6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes Team HWA I	1:34.105	+0.229s	174.979 km/h	3
4th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:34.106	+0.230s	174.977 km/h	4
5th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:34.131	+0.255s	174.930 km/h	5
6th	8	Christian Vietoris	Mercedes BWT Mücke	1:34.149	+0.273s	174.897 km/h	6
7th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes Team HWA II	1:34.157	+0.281s	174.882 km/h	7
8th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt	1:34.206	+0.330s	174.791 km/h	8
9th	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:34.209	+0.333s	174.785 km/h	9
10th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:34.266	+0.390s	174.680 km/h	10
11th	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes ART Grand Prix	1:34.302	+0.426s	174.613 km/h	11
12th	34	Esteban Ocon	Mercedes ART Grand Prix	1:34.327	+0.451s	174.567 km/h	12
13th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	1:34.333	+0.457s	174.556 km/h	13
14th	12	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team HWA I	1:34.338	+0.462s	174.546 km/h	14
15th	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team MTEK	1:34.350	+0.474s	174.524 km/h	15
16th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	1:34.357	+0.481s	174.511 km/h	16
17th	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	1:34.369	+0.493s	174.489 km/h	17
18th	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	1:34.491	+0.615s	174.264 km/h	18
19th	84	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HWA II	1:34.548	+0.672s	174.159 km/h	19
20th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	1:34.607	+0.731s	174.050 km/h	20
21st	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	1:34.703	+0.827s	173.874 km/h	21
22nd	100	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	1:34.705	+0.829s	173.870 km/h	22
23rd	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Rosberg	1:34.784	+0.908s	173.725 km/h	23
NC*	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes BWT Mücke				24
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * Auer failed to set a time due to damage but was allowed to start at the stewards' discretion.

Grid

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

Race

A warm afternoon in Germany greeted the field for the first race of 2016, as Nico Müller pulled onto the pole position grid slot for the first time in his DTM career. He would hope to turn his maiden pole into a maiden victory, but he would have to try and beat the four time race winner off the line. Jamie Green, meanwhile, would be a threat from fourth, many tipping the Brit as the favourite for the DTM Championship in 2016.

Result

The full result from the 2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 is displayed below:

2016 Hockenheim Opening Race 1 Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	48	Edoardo Mortara	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	25	42:11.606	1:35.805	25
2nd	6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes Team HWA I	25	+1.657s	1:35.465	18
3rd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	25	+4.454s	1:35.591	15
4th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes Team HWA II	25	+8.818s	1:35.487	12
5th	8	Christian Vietoris	Mercedes BWT Mücke	25	+10.192s	1:35.593	10
6th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team MTEK	25	+20.097s	1:35.822	8
7th	13	António Félix da Costa	BMW Team Schnitzer	25	+30.882s	1:35.684	6
8th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	25	+41.360s	1:36.624	4
9th	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Abt Sportsline	25	+47.189s	1:37.055	2
10th	17	Miguel Molina	Audi Team Abt	25	+47.198s	1:36.761	1
11th	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes ART Grand Prix	25	+52.832s	1:36.779
12th	100	Martin Tomczyk	BMW Team Schnitzer	25	+55.137s	1:37.081
13th	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RBM	25	+55.530s	1:36.999
14th	18	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team MTEK	25	+1:08.466	1:37.698
15th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	25	+1:09.184	1:35.986
16th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	25	+1:10.496	1:38.059
Ret	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes BWT Mücke	20	Retired	1:36.185
Ret	84	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HWA II	6	Damage	1:39.077
Ret	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	4	Damage	1:36.547
Ret	34	Esteban Ocon	Mercedes ART Grand Prix	3	Retired	1:43.413
Ret	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	2	Collision	1:38.305
Ret	12	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team HWA I	2	Collision	1:39.894
Ret	27	Adrien Tambay	Audi Team Rosberg	2	Damage	1:55.807
Ret	10	Timo Scheider	Audi Team Phoenix	1	Damage	—
Source:

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

Milestones

• Début for Esteban Ocon.
• First race since the 2011 Hockenheim Finale Race that the defending Champion did not take part.
• Maiden pole position for Nico Müller
• Fourth career win for Edoardo Mortara.
• Maiden podium for Müller.

Standings

Edoardo Mortara ended the opening day of the season at the head of the Championship, holding 25 points to his name and a seven point lead over Robert Wickens in second. Nico Müller was next up after his maiden podium finish, while Paul di Resta and Christian Vietoris completed the opening day top five. Bruno Spengler, António Félix da Costa, Maxime Martin, Mattias Ekström and Miguel Molina completed the first day scorers.

In the Teams' Championship it was Audi Team Abt Sportsline who led the charge, courtesy of a double score from Mortara and Ekström. Mercedes Team HWA I were next up in second ahead of Audi Team Abt, while BMW Team MTEK were the best placed of the Bavarian manufacturer's teams in sixth. In the Manufacturers Championship itself it was Audi who led the way, with a three point lead over Mercedes.

 

2016 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Edoardo Mortara 25 ◄0 2nd Robert Wickens 18 ◄0 3rd Nico Müller 15 ◄0 4th Paul di Resta 12 ◄0 5th Christian Vietoris 10 ◄0 6th Bruno Spengler 8 ◄0 7th António Félix da Costa 6 ◄0 8th Maxime Martin 4 ◄0 9th Mattias Ekström 2 ◄0 10th Miguel Molina 1 ◄0

2016 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt Sportsline 27 ◄0 2nd Mercedes Team HWA I 18 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Abt 16 ◄0 4th Mercedes Team HWA II 12 ◄0 5th Mercedes BWT Mücke 10 ◄0 6th BMW Team MTEK 8 ◄0 7th BMW Team Schnitzer 6 ◄0 8th BMW Team RBM 4 ◄0 2016 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 43 ◄0 2nd Mercedes 40 ◄0 3rd BMW 18 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

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