Second race at the Norisring: Two Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM cars in Top Five

Norisring, Germany - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) placed fourth in the second race at the Norisring in front of 123,500 spectators (over the weekend). His Mercedes-AMG DTM team-mate Lucas Auer (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) finished the eighth race of the DTM season in fifth place.

After a collision with Mattias Ekström on the first lap, Di Resta had to contend with a damaged car for the rest of the race. His P4 finish in the race takes the Scottish driver up to third in the championship table. The 2010 DTM champion is now only five points behind Marco Wittmann (BMW) and three behind Edoardo Mortara (Audi).

Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) had to make another stop in the pits after a contact, causing him to narrowly miss a points-scoring finish in eleventh place. Maximilian Götz (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) and DTM rookie Esteban Ocon (FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) took P12 and P13 respectively. Christian Vietoris (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) came home in 15th place.

Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) and Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) did not take the chequered flag.

The next race weekend: The DTM will head from the streets of Nuremberg to the dunes of Zandvoort where the fifth race weekend of the 2016 DTM season will be held at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, 15th-17th July.

Comments after the Race  

Paul Di Resta (30, Scotland):
P4
Car number: 3
Team: Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Qualifying went well, but then after that, it was a tough day for me, unfortunately. I lost a lot of downforce on the rear of the car after the contact with Ekström. That meant I had to fight the whole race. Luckily, I was subsequently able to keep out of trouble. The pit stop was super, and Lucas helped me to defend myself against drivers from opposing teams attacking from behind. Many thanks to him for that. Such moments can decide championships."  

Lucas Auer (21, Austria):
P5
Car number: 22
Team: BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"We worked well again today. Many thanks to my team for that. It's incredibly tough in the DTM to perform equally well on both Saturday and Sunday. We managed to do that, though, here and last time out at the Lausitzring. That pleases me, because qualifying is half the battle in the DTM. I helped Paul in the race and defended him, which enabled my team-mate and Mercedes to secure vital points in the end." 

Robert Wickens (27, Canada):
P11
Car number: 6
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"A frustrating end to a disappointing weekend. I made a good start and was in seventh place on the first lap. I subsequently lost a position during the pit stop but won it back on the track. Mortara made a mistake afterwards in Turn 1, so I tried to pass him on the inside. He probably didn't see me. He returned to the racing line, and we made contact, which resulted in a puncture and forced me back into the pits, unfortunately. I was able to improve to take eleventh place again thanks to the safety car period shortly before the end, but sadly, it wasn't enough for points."  

Maximilian Götz (30, Germany):
P12
Car number: 84
Team: Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"A disappointing result, unfortunately. At one point, I was in the Top Ten, but then I lost some time on the pit stop. Here at the Norisring, that makes all the difference, and so I lost four or five positions. Towards the end, I overtook some opponents and was involved in some nice fights. But P12 is not what I'm aiming for, because the pace was there. Just before the pit stop, I was between Spengler and Wittmann, so I feel that more was possible."  

Esteban Ocon (19, France):
P13
Car number: 34
Team: EURONICS / FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG
(Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Yet another difficult day. I've been lacking straight-line speed since the start of the weekend. In the race, I was having problems keeping up with the others. They were getting past me far too easily. I gave it everything I'd got and tried to finish the race as best I could. P13 isn't all that far off the points, though there were quite a few retirements. All the same, I stuck it out to the end. Next time, we'll be back on the attack."  

Christian Vietoris (27, Germany):
P15
Car number: 8
Team: BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Sunday turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected. After what happened yesterday, we were hoping to have at least one car on the front row again. In yesterday's race, we fitted one of our new sets of tyres. Consequently, we were on used tyres at the start of today's qualifying, which obviously makes it harder to compete near the front. In addition, it started to drizzle. Today, I was just lacking that element of luck."  

Daniel Juncadella (25, Spain):
Retired
Car number: 12
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"That was another weekend to forget, unfortunately. It's hard to say what the problem was. The speed just wasn't there, but I don't know why not. My race was soon over at any rate after a contact with Antonio Felix da Costa. We must now roll up our sleeves and attack again next time."  

Gary Paffett (35, England):
Retired
Car number: 2
Team: EURONICS / FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG
(Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"Very disappointing. I started from quite far back on the grid and made a strong charge through the field. The car was very fast, and we had a good strategy. We were in with a chance of points. After the pit stop, I was coming out of Turn 3 when I noticed a loss of power. Although it improved, I was so far back that we decided not to risk the engine. Now we need to find out what the problem was."

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM:

"That definitely wasn't the race weekend that we had hoped for. As early as the first lap, Paul's car was damaged in a collision, which left him unable to compete for a podium finish. Lucas did a superb job, protecting Paul to the extent he could, so that we still emerge from this with a P4 and a P5. Without the shield provided by Lucas, Paul would have been defenceless against the pursuing pack. So I have the greatest respect for Lucas."  

Race results: Top Ten

Canadians In BOLD