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Here is my take on events: (sorry if it's wrong in places.)
DTM Round 1: Hockenheim.
The first race of DTM’s new era took place at the Hockenheim Circuit in Germany, The championships home country. The reason this is a new era of the ever-popular series is not only because of the new rules to comply with that of the Japenese Super GT series, but also because of the return of BMW.
The manufacturer has certainatley put there new M3 into the grasp of good hands; the RBM squad have inlisted the help of former WTCC drivers Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus, while RMG decided to take on Joey Hand and reigning DTM champion Martin Tomczyk and the legendary Schnitzer squad have the talented pairing of Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner.
HWA Mercedes have retained there ever reliable British duo Jamie Green and Gary Paffet, while Ralf Schumacher has commited to the team for another season. There fourth driver is Christian Vietoris. Mucke Mercedes have Susie Wolff (formerly Stoddart) and 13-Time F1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard in their stable, while the Persson Mercedes squad have talented youngsters Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi behind the wheel. The two young drivers will be looking to emulate Paul Di Resta’s graduation to Formula 1 via a DTM Campaign.
Abt Audi have retained Swedish ace Mattias Ekstrom, who will be competing alongside Timo Scheider, Rahal Frey and Adrien Tambay. There fellow Audi squad Rosberg Racing will be relying on the assets of Phillipe Albuqeurque and Edoardo Mortara, while Reigning champion Tomczyk ex-squad Phoenix have Mike Rockenfeller and Miguel Molina looking to emulate there predecessor’s success.
After Qualifying Mattias Ekstrom was on pole, with Jamie Green starting from second.
As the race began sixth place qualifier Gary Paffet looked to be a man on a mission; First he pounced upon the slow starting Dirk Werner, and then Mike Rockenfeller, also on the on the opening lap of the race. Soon he was under the rear wing of Edoardo Mortara’s Audi A5, although it wasn’t long before he sloted his Mercedes past Mortara; Aptly enough he did so at the Mercedes Arena section of the track. Meanwhile his fellow HWA driver Jamie Green took the lead after a mistake at turn 2 by polesitter Mattias Ekstrom, who was also dispatched by the hard charging Paffet just seconds later. Further back an incident involving several drivers occurred, with Bruno Spengler, Adrian Tambay and 2011 Champion Tomczyk retiring soon after. Ralf Schumacher received a drive-through for causing the incident.
A few laps later it was pitstop time for Green, followed in a lap later by Paffet. As Green finished his outlap and negotiated turn 1, Paffet emerged from the pits alongside Green. They were side-by-side at turn 2 and then the run up to the Hairpin. As they exited the tight bend it was Paffet in front, which was to be the order they crossed the line in. Mattais Ekstrom had retained third place, although it looked as if he hadn’t retained his pole-setting pace as he was losing roughly 0.3 of a second per lap on the top 2 as the race wore on.
Meanwhile Christian Vietoris was an impressive fifth postiton despite lining up 15th on the grid. He pounced on Mike Rockenfeller with five laps to go, and then retained his fourth position until the chequred flag fell. The highest BMW finisher was sixth-place Andy Priaulx, who could well have overtaken fifth place Rockenfeller if he had just one extra lap added to the race distance. Despite the fact he had caught scent of an extra position in the closing stages, he will be happy with sixth for the M3’s first race outing.
Behind him was Ralf Schumacher who had charged up from 13trh following his drive-through penalty, he made up seventh place from David Coulthard with just four laps remaining.
Results - 40 laps:
1. Gary Paffett HWA-Mercedes 1h04m37.615s
2. Jamie Green HWA-Mercedes + 4.709s
3. Mattias Ekstrom Abt-Audi + 19.434s
4. Christian Vietoris HWA-Mercedes + 25.774s
5. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix-Audi + 27.834s
6. Andy Priaulx RBM-BMW + 28.435s
7. Ralf Schumacher HWA-Mercedes + 39.948s
8. David Coulthard Mucke-Mercedes + 43.306s
9. Miguel Molina Phoenix-Audi + 46.079s
10. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg-Audi + 46.614s
11. Edoardo Mortara Rosberg-Audi + 47.253s
12. Susie Wolff Mucke-Mercedes + 51.971s
13. Joey Hand RMG-BMW + 1m08.628s
14. Robert Wickens Persson-Mercedes + 1m09.027s
15. Augusto Farfus RBM-BMW + 1m09.556s
16. Rahel Frey Abt-Audi + 1m16.123s
17. Dirk Werner Schnitzer-BMW + 1 lap
Retirements: Roberto Merhi Persson-Mercedes (38 laps), Timo Scheider Abt-Audi (13 laps), Martin Tomczyk RMG-BMW (4 laps) Adrien Tambay Abt-Audi (3 laps) Bruno Spengler Schnitzer-BMW (3 laps).
So after an exciting season opener it seems fair to say we can expect some good action from this year’s DTM Championship. Andy Priaulx’s performance is probably just a preview of what we can expect from BMW this season, while Mercedes and Audi seem to be as strong as ever. Most of the fans leaving Hockenheim last Sunday evening should have been happy; Especially if you were British and/or a Mercedes fan!
Adam Weller (Adam46).
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