2017 Spielberg Race 1

2017 Spielberg Race 1
The Red Bull Ring in 2017
Race Information
Date	23 September 2017
No.	210
Event	DTM Spielberg 2017
Location	Red Bull Ring Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Format	55 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.326 km (2.688 mi)
Distance	40 laps / 173.040 km (107.522 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Jamie Green
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:21.973
Fastest Lap
Driver	Jamie Green
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:23.742 on lap 7
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mattias Ekström	Jamie Green	Nico Müller
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	57:00.812
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2017 Nürburgring Race 2		2017 Spielberg Race 2

The 2017 Spielberg Race 1, otherwise known as the DTM Spielberg 2017 Race 1, was the fifteenth race of the 2017 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, on 23 September 2017. The race would see Mattias Ekström score his first victory of the season, having moved past stablemate Jamie Green in the closing stages.

For the fourth race weekend in succession the issue of success ballast would dominate the paddock talk, with all three manufacturers having finally agreed to scrap the system with immediate effect. The DMSB duly agreed and the ballast system was dropped, much to the acclaim of the bosses of the manufacturers, with all cars reset to the standard minimum weight of 1,125 kg. The three manufacturers also agreed to standardisation of several aerodynamic parts for the 2018 rulebook, a move made in preparation for the eventual switch to Class One regulations.

Qualifying with the freshly re-ballasted field resulted in an unsurprising domination for Audi, who had proved to be the fastest car throughout the season. Green duly emerged on pole position ahead of Nico Müller and Ekström, while Marco Wittmann led the BMW charge from fourth, and Robert Wickens was the top Mercedes pilot in seventh.

The start of the race saw formation flying at the head of the field, with Green leading Müller and Ekström away cleanly to claim the initiative. Behind, Wickens would storm up the field from seventh to secure fourth ahead of Wittmann, with the rest of the field making it through the first corner without too much drama.

After Gary Paffett and Tom Blomqvist made their stops at the end of the opening tour the race order settled down, although Ekström was waved past Müller for second. Indeed, it was only on lap nine that the order was significantly revised, with Lucas Auer moving past Paul di Resta for ninth, while René Rast lunged at Wittmann for fifth but ultimately had to back off.

Wickens, Wittmann and Maxime Martin would stop at the end of lap twelve, the first of the lead group to stop, and would rejoin ahead of Paffett, the first of those to have stopped. Auer was in a lap a later and rejoined behind the Brit, while Ekström completed his stop a lap after that and rejoined ahead of Wickens.

Rast and Müller were the next drivers to stop, with Rast jumping Wickens while Müller emerged ahead of Ekström. However, Wickens would be able to attack Rast as the German racer had cold tyres, but the pair would collide when the Canadian tried a lunge, resulting in the #6 Mercedes suffering tyre damage.

As that battle was unfolding Green stopped from the lead, and would rejoin ahead of Ekström, who had been waved through by Müller, in-spite of a suspiciously slow stop. They duly shuffled back to the head of the pack once the rest of the field made their stops, with Ekström easing past Green for the lead with seven minutes to go. Behind a lunge from Rast on Martin, who had slipped behind both Wittmann and Martin after his contact with Wickens, would result in Rast hitting the back of the #36 BMW and spinning himself.

With that the race was run, with Ekström sweeping across the line ahead of Green to claim victory, and hence enhance his Championship lead. Müller completed the podium ahead of Wickens, while Wittmann and Martin finished nose-to-tail in the Canadian's wake. Mike Rockenfeller was next up ahead of Auer, with Edoardo Mortara and Timo Glock completing the scorers.

Background

Mattias Ekström had retained the lead at the head of the Championship hunt as the Nürburgring weekend came to a close, despite the fact that he had still yet to claim a race win in 2017. His lead was, however, a vulnerable one, with Lucas Auer just nine behind in second, while René Rast was a further three behind in third. Marco Wittmann was also a major title pretender in fourth on 115 points, with Jamie Green and Mike Rockenfeller also above 110 points.

In the Teams' Championship it was still Audi Team Rosberg who led the charge, having moved 52 points clear at the head of the hunt. Audi Team Abt were their closest challengers in second, while BMW Team RBM had moved up to third on 176 points, a tally shared with Mercedes-AMG Me. Audi, meanwhile, headed the Manufacturers' Championship with 550 points to their credit, 52 ahead of Mercedes and exactly 100 ahead of BMW.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2017 Spielberg Race 1 is displayed below:

2017 Spielberg Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine
2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Me	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG SILBERPFEIL Energy	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Me	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
15	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMR	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RMR	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
33	René Rast	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
48	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
51	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
53	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
63	Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG SILBERPFEIL Energy	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
77	Loïc Duval	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
Source:

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2017 Spielberg Race 1 are outlined below:

2017 Spielberg Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:21.973	—	189.633 km/h	1
2nd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	1:21.994	+0.021s	189.584 km/h	2
3rd	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt	1:22.046	+0.073s	189.464 km/h	3
4th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:22.054	+0.081s	189.445 km/h	4
5th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:22.095	+0.122s	189.351 km/h	5
6th	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	1:22.246	+0.273s	189.003 km/h	6
7th	6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes-AMG Me	1:22.292	+0.319s	188.898 km/h	7
8th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	1:22.392	+0.419s	188.668 km/h	8
9th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMR	1:22.441	+0.468s	188.556 km/h	9
10th	15	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RMG	1:22.442	+0.469s	188.554 km/h	10
11th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	1:22.502	+0.529s	188.417 km/h	11
12th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG BWT	1:22.531	+0.558s	188.351 km/h	12
13th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team RBM	1:22.532	+0.559s	188.348 km/h	13
14th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG BWT	1:22.554	+0.581s	188.298 km/h	14
15th	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Me	1:22.598	+0.625s	188.198 km/h	15
16th	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RMR	1:22.638	+0.665s	188.107 km/h	16
17th	77	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	1:22.711	+0.738s	187.941 km/h	17
18th	63	Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	1:22.905	+0.932s	187.501 km/h	18
Source:

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

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Jamie Green
	Nico Müller	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Mattias Ekström
	Marco Wittmann	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Mike Rockenfeller
	René Rast	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Robert Wickens
	Maxime Martin	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Timo Glock
	Augusto Farfus	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Paul di Resta
	Lucas Auer	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Bruno Spengler
	Edoardo Mortara	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Gary Paffett
	Tom Blomqvist	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Loïc Duval
	Maro Engel	______________

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2017 Spielberg Race 1 is displayed below:

2017 Spielberg Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt	40	57:00.812	1:23.890	251
2nd	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	40	+0.398s	1:23.742	183
3rd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	40	+0.602s	1:23.936	152
4th	6	Robert Wickens	Mercedes-AMG Me	40	+21.625s	1:24.382	12
5th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	40	+22.118s	1:24.366	10
6th	36	Maxime Martin	BMW Team RBM	40	+22.748s	1:24.399	8
7th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	40	+23.067s	1:24.039	6
8th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG BWT	40	+23.452s	1:24.445	4
9th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG BWT	40	+23.761s	1:24.510	2
10th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMR	40	+25.559s	1:24.106	1
11th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	40	+25.938s	1:24.601
12th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team RBM	40	+26.447s	1:24.373
13th	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	40	+26.788s	1:24.142
14th	77	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	40	+27.096s	1:24.160
15th	63	Maro Engel	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	40	+27.514s	1:24.316
16th	31	Tom Blomqvist	BMW Team RMR	40	+32.951s	1:24.341
17th	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Me	40	+1:15.721	1:24.149
Ret	15	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RMG	28	Retired	1:24.402
Source:

• ³ Indicates a driver was awarded points for qualifying in the top three.
• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

• 25th and final victory for Mattias Ekström.

Standings

A first victory of the season for Mattias Ekström enhanced the Swede's Championship lead to 28 points, making him the favourite for the crown with three races to go. Jamie Green, meanwhile, had moved into second with 134 points, while Lucas Auer had dropped to third on 131. Marco Wittmann was still in the hunt in fourth on 125 points, while René Rast had dropped to fifth with 124.

In the Teams' Championship Audi Team Rosberg still headed the charge on 258 points, although sister team Audi Team Abt had closed the gap to 30 points. Behind, Mercedes-AMG Me had moved into third ahead of BMW Team RBM, while Mercedes-AMG BWT completed the top five. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had moved closer to the title with 620 points, and hence opened out a 104 point lead.

2017 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mattias Ekström 162 ◄0 2nd Jamie Green 134 ▲3 3rd Lucas Auer 131 ▼1 4th Marco Wittmann 125 ◄0 5th René Rast 124 ▼2 6th Mike Rockenfeller 116 ◄0 7th Robert Wickens 112 ▲2 8th Maxime Martin 110 ◄0 9th Timo Glock 109 ▼2 10th Paul di Resta 97 ◄0 11th Gary Paffett 76 ◄0 12th Bruno Spengler 74 ◄0 13th Nico Müller 66 ▲1 14th Maro Engel 51 ▼1 15th Edoardo Mortara 49 ◄0 16th Augusto Farfus 29 ◄0 17th Tom Blomqvist 22 ◄0 18th Loïc Duval 18 ◄0

2017 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Rosberg 258 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Abt 228 ◄0 3rd Mercedes-AMG Me 188 ▲1 4th BMW Team RBM 184 ▼1 5th Mercedes-AMG BWT 180 ◄0 6th BMW Team RMG 154 ▲1 7th Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil 148 ▼1 8th Audi Team Phoenix 134 ▲1 9th BMW Team RMR 131 ▼1 2017 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 620 ◄0 2nd Mercedes 516 ◄0 3rd BMW 469 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

References: