DTM: Ekstrom dominates at the Nurburgring
Posted 7th August, 2011 in Motorsport | Leave a comment
Sweden’s Mattias Ekström turned pole position into his first win since May 2010 at this weekend’s DTM round held at the Nürburgring. The Audi driver pulled away from the rest of the field with relative ease and, up until the the penultimate lap, it was looking like a one-two result for the Abt Sportsline team, until Mercedes pilot Bruno Spengler forced Mike Rockenfeller into making a mistake which saw him locking the wheels of his A4 DTM car and go wide. This allowed Spengler’s C-class through to second place – enough to extend his lead in the championship to 7 points.
Audi also secured fourth and fifth place thanks to Phoenix team-mates Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk who switched positions during a fierce battle on lap twenty. Tomczyk, currently second in the standings, had started well from seventh on the grid but was struck by the Mercedes of Jamie Green, who finished sixth.
Result after 49 laps:
1. M Ekstrom Abt Audi 1h11m19.980s
2. B Spengler HWA Mercedes + 5.533s
3. M Rockenfeller Abt Audi + 7.906s
4. T Scheider Abt Audi + 13.977s
5. M Tomczyk Phoenix Audi + 15.656s
6. J Green HWA Mercedes + 17.841s
7. E Mortara Rosberg Audi + 18.917s
8. G Paffett HWA Mercedes + 19.696s
9. F Albuquerque Rosberg Audi + 22.516s
10. O Jarvis Abt Audi + 35.080s
11. R van der Zande Persson Mercedes + 35.717s
12. M Molina Abt Audi + 37.252s
13. C Vietoris Persson Mercedes + 38.090s
14. S Stoddart Persson Mercedes + 45.201s
15. M Engel Mucke Mercedes + 50.747s
16. R Frey Phoenix Audi + 1m06.678s
17. D Coulthard Mucke Mercedes + 1 lap
