2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2

2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2
The Hockenheimring in 2018.
Race Information
Date	14 October 2018
No.	233
Event	DTM Hockenheim Finale 2018
Location	Hockenheimring Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Format	55 min + 1 Lap
Lap length	4.574 km (2.842 mi)
Distance	36 laps / 164.664 km (102.317 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Marco Wittmann
Team	BMW Team RMG
Time	1:32.683
Fastest Lap
Driver	Robin Frijns
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:34.512 on lap 27
Race Result
First	Second	Third
René Rast	Marco Wittmann	Gary Paffett
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	58:03.981
Race Guide
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2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 1		2019 Hockenheim Opening Race 1

The 2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2, otherwise known as the DTM Hockenheim Finale 2018 Race 2, was the twentieth and final round of the 2018 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 14 October 2018. The race would see Gary Paffett, Paul di Resta and René Rast enter a truel for the Championship, as Mercedes made their final appearance in the DTM as a manufacturer and entrant.

Paffett, who was also making his final DTM appearance, held a six point advantage ahead of the finale, with di Resta his closest challenger. Rast, meanwhile, would face a fifteen point deficit, although any number of scenarios and results could leave any of the trio as the Champion.

First blood would go to Rast during qualifying, as he beat Paffett to second on the grid, although both were outpaced by Marco Wittmann. di Resta, meanwhile, would qualify in a lowly eleventh behind Timo Glock, who had been a significant thorn in the sides of both of Mercedes' title protagonists throughout he campaign, while Rast and Paffett were likewise bereft of allies.

The start of the race would see Rast ace his getaway, blasting past Wittmann to leave the #11 BMW to fend off Paffett. Behind, di Resta made a strong start a immediately streaked into eighth, although a quick investigation from the officials declared that he had passed Philipp Eng off track, and hence ruled that he would have to hand the position back to the Austrian.

Unfortunately for di Resta he would have to drop two places in order to let Eng past, and would then find himself stuck behind the #25 BMW in the early laps. Out front, meanwhile, Wittmann would begin to draw Rast back in after the #33 Audi's first lap escape, with Paffett sitting in third with Edoardo Mortara acting as a rear gunner in fourth.

di Resta would opt to make an early stop on lap seven once it became clear that he was unable to pass Eng, and duly began lapping faster than most of the top ten. Paffett would stop five laps later and rejoin ahead, while Mortara and Bruno Spengler came close to contact in the pits after making their stops.

Rast made his stop from the lead two laps later, handing the lead to Wittmann who now had clear air. However, once their tyres were up to temperature both Rast and Paffett would lap a second quicker than the #11 BMW, and hence would both jump ahead of Wittmann when he emerged from the pits.

That left Daniel Juncadella and Pascal Wehrlein in the lead of the race, with both dropping their pace in order to hold up Rast. Taking note of that, Audi would use Jamie Green in a similar role to block Green, with the Brit holding his compatriot up enough that Wittmann was able to catch and pass the #2 Mercedes with ease.

Once Juncadella, Wehrlein and Green made their stops it was all over at the head of the field, with Rast sprinting clear of Wittmann, while Paffett settled into a steady rhythm knowing that third was enough to claim the crown. At the back, meanwhile, di Resta's torrid race would continue, remaining stuck behind Eng after the stops before being one of several drivers mugged by Robin Frijns late on that jumped him out of the points.

With that the race and the Championship was over, with Rast securing a record sixth consecutive victory, but losing the title battle by just four points. Wittmann split them on the podium but was a non-factor in the Championship, with Nico Müller, Frijns, Spengler, Augusto Farfus and Eng finishing nose-to-tail behind Paffett. Joel Eriksson and Glock would then complete the scorers, while a late collapse in pace for di Resta saw the Scot end his title bid in , a result that left him third in the Championship, having arrived in Hockenheim as the leader.

The race would also be significant as the last for Mercedes-Benz as a manufacturer and HWA Team as an entrant. It was also the final race for newly re-crowned Champion Paffett, as well as 2015 Champion Pascal Wehrlein.

Background

Gary Paffett had returned to the top of the Championship hunt with one more race to go, heading into the season ending race with a six point lead. Paul di Resta had made way for his compatriot, and would win the title if he won the race and out-qualified Paffett. The third title pretender appeared in the form of René Rast, who could win the crown if he won the finale from pole position, with Paffett fifth or lower.

The fight for the Teams' Championship was over with a race to go, as Mercedes-AMG Petronas were officially declared as Champions with 347 points. That meant they were more than 48 clear of sister squad Mercedes-AMG Remus, and hence were unable to be caught in the final race. Mercedes, meanwhile, had added to their title winning tally in the Manufacturers' Championship, while Audi had swept onto the back BMW in the fight to finish as runners-up.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 is displayed below:

2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine
2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Petronas	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Remus	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
4	Robin Frijns	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 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	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
23	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Remus	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 4.0l V8
25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RMR	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
28	Loïc Duval	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
33	René Rast	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 DTM	Audi 4.0l V8
47	Joel Eriksson	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 DTM	P66/1 4.0l V8
48	Edoardo Mortara	Silberpfeil Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport	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
94	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Petronas	Mercedes	AMG C63 DTM	AMG 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 2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 are outlined below:

2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:32.683	—	177.663 km/h	1
2nd	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	1:32.737	+0.054s	177.560 km/h	2
3rd	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	1:32.846	+0.163s	177.351 km/h	3
4th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team RBM	1:32.901	+0.218s	177.246 km/h	4
5th	15	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RMG	1:32.911	+0.228s	177.227 km/h	5
6th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	1:32.916	+0.233s	177.218 km/h	6
7th	47	Joel Eriksson	BMW Team RBM	1:32.947	+0.264s	177.159 km/h	7
8th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RMR	1:32.960	+0.277s	177.134 km/h	8
9th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:32.972	+0.289s	177.111 km/h	9
10th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMR	1:33.112	+0.429s	176.845 km/h	10
11th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG Remus	1:33.114	+0.431s	176.841 km/h	11
12th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	1:33.126	+0.443s	176.818 km/h	12
13th	23	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG Remus	1:33.287	+0.604s	176.513 km/h	13
14th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:33.324	+0.641s	176.443 km/h	14
15th	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	1:33.427	+0.744s	176.248 km/h	15
16th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:33.468	+0.785s	176.171 km/h	16
17th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	1:33.477	+0.794s	176.154 km/h	17
18th	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:34.695	+2.012s	173.888 km/h	18
Source:

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

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Marco Wittmann	2
	______________	René Rast
Row 2	3	______________
	Gary Paffett	4
	______________	Bruno Spengler
Row 3	5	______________
	Augusto Farfus	6
	______________	Edoardo Mortara
Row 4	7	______________
	Joel Eriksson	8
	______________	Philipp Eng
Row 5	9	______________
	Nico Müller	10
	______________	Timo Glock
Row 6	11	______________
	Paul di Resta	12
	______________	Lucas Auer
Row 7	13	______________
	Daniel Juncadella	14
	______________	Jamie Green
Row 8	15	______________
	Pascal Wehrlein	16
	______________	Mike Rockenfeller
Row 9	17	______________
	Loïc Duval	18
	______________	Robin Frijns

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 is displayed below:

2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	36	58:03.981	1:34.831	252
2nd	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	36	+3.786s	1:34.707	183
3rd	2	Gary Paffett	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	36	+15.838s	1:34.835	151
4th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	36	+17.241s	1:34.917	12
5th	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	36	+18.942s	1:34.512	10
6th	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW Team RBM	36	+21.004s	1:35.316	8
7th	15	Augusto Farfus	BMW Team RMG	36	+21.460s	1:34.791	6
8th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RMR	36	+24.458s	1:34.987	4
9th	47	Joel Eriksson	BMW Team RBM	36	+28.683s	1:35.323	2
10th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMR	36	+30.003s	1:35.476	1
11th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	36	+33.406s	1:35.553
12th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	36	+33.587s	1:35.145
13th	48	Edoardo Mortara	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	36	+34.985s	1:35.146
14th	3	Paul di Resta	Mercedes-AMG Remus	36	+38.204s	1:35.724
15th	23	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG Remus	36	+38.869s	1:35.420
16th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	36	+40.132s	1:35.139
DSQ*	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil	36	Disqualified	1:35.590
DSQ*	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	36	Disqualifed	1:35.266
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

• Gary Paffett proclaimed as the 2018 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship Champion.
  • This was Paffett's second and final DTM crown.
• Mercedes made their 233rd and final appearance as a manufacturer.
• HWA Team made their 233rd and final appearance as an entrant.
• 186th and final start for Paffett.
• Edoardo Mortara secured his 114th and final start.
• Augusto Farfus made his 103rd and final start.
• Tenth win for René Rast.
• Maiden fastest lap recorded by Robin Frijns.

Standings

Gary Paffett ended the season as the 2018 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship as the Champion, having claimed 255 points for the campaign. René Rast ended the season as runner-up, having climbed to second on the final day with 251 points, while Paul di Resta dropped to third on 233. Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock then completed the top five, with all eighteen drivers having scored for the second season in a row.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas ended the season as the Teams' Champions, having scored 363 points to beat sister squad Mercedes-AMG Remus by 69 points. Audi Team Rosberg completed the top three after a dramatic rise in form for Rast, with Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil and BMW Team RMR rounding out the top five. In the Manufacturers' Championship Mercedes would bow out of the DTM as Champions on 903 points, with BMW beating Audi to second with 623.

2018 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Gary Paffett 255 ◄0 2nd René Rast 251 ▲1 3rd Paul di Resta 233 ▼1 4th Marco Wittmann 164 ◄0 5th Timo Glock 144 ◄0 6th Edoardo Mortara 140 ◄0 7th Lucas Auer 121 ◄0 8th Pascal Wehrlein 108 ◄0 9th Philipp Eng 102 ◄0 10th Nico Müller 96 ▲1 11th Mike Rockenfeller 87 ▼1 12th Bruno Spengler 85 ◄0 13th Robin Frijns 84 ◄0 14th Joel Eriksson 72 ◄0 15th Daniel Juncadella 61 ◄0 16th Augusto Farfus 56 ▲1 17th Loïc Duval 54 ▼1 18th Jamie Green 27 ◄0

2018 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG Petronas 363 ◄0 2nd Mercedes-AMG Remus 294 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Rosberg 278 ▲2 4th Mercedes-AMG Silberpfeil 246 ▼1 5th BMW Team RMR 246 ▼1 6th BMW Team RMG 220 ◄0 7th Audi Team Abt Sportsline 180 ◄0 8th BMW Team RBM 157 ◄0 9th Audi Team Phoenix 141 ◄0 2018 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes 903 ◄0 2nd BMW 623 ◄0 3rd Audi 599 ◄0

References

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