Halfway point of the 2015 DTM season: Who won at Spielberg in Race 1?

Halfway through the 2015 DTM season, Audi has dominated four of the races and locking up the front row in qualifying in three occasions. Last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, the Audi drivers continued to set the record by beating back the other manufacturers’ contenders by a margin.

During Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, Edoardo Mortara in the Castrol Edge Audi RS 5 DTM powered his way to the top of the qualifying time sheets with nearly two-tenths of a second separating him and the second place man. Mortara had topped every free practice session before that and it was no surprise that he had managed to clinch the top spot at Spielberg. This is the second time the Italian made it to pole in his DTM career.

Second place on the grid was occupied by yet another Audi driver and leader of the standings Jamie Green in the Hoffman Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg. This marks the fourth time that Audi has secured a front row lockout with Green only just bumping out Mercedes driver Pascal Wehrlein.

Audi continued to dominate in the race, Jamie Green had made a flying start, passing Edoardo Mortara for P1. But unfortunately for the championship leader, Green was forced to retired in the pits due to a transmission failure. Mortara proceeded to dominate the whole of Race 1 to bring home the Race 1 trophy with a commanding victory. For Mortara, this is his third success in his DTM career and Audi’s 72nd victory.

Mortara’s teammate, Mattias Ekstrom showed impressive performance yet again. The Swede made his way up from ninth place on the grid to fifth in his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM. He pulled off a spectacular overtaking move on BMW driver Augusto Farfus on the last lap to secure two additional points. A brilliant comeback after a disappointing qualifying for the Swede indeed.

Further down the grid, Mike Rockenfeller in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix provided most of the entertainment for Race 1. Rockenfeller dropped down to twelfth place on the starting lap as a result of brushing the BMW of Bruno Spengler but Rockenfeller fought his way up the grid to finish eighth. Adrian Tambay in the Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM finished tenth place, rounding out the top ten point scorer.

With Jamie Green retiring from the race and Mercedes-Benz driver Pascal Wehrlein finishing second, Green fell to third place on the championship standings while Mattias Ekstrom promotes himself up to second place with 86 points. After nine of 18 races, Audi continues to lead the manufacturers’ classification standings with 337points, with Mercedes-Benz trailing behind at 300 points and BMW further back with 247points.

“My car was simply perfect today,” Mortara said after crossing the finish line. “I’m proud of this success and overjoyed. I’m hoping for this to continue to tomorrow.”

Jerrica Leong