Podium and championship lead for WWR
Lucas Auer finishes third in the Saturday race at the Lausitzring and takes the lead of the 2022 DTM. Tenth for Max Götz, David Schumacher out.
Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing scored its second podium in the third race of the 2022 DTM season. Lucas Auer (28, Kufstein/A) steered the KNAUS Mercedes-AMG GT3 to third place in the Saturday race at the Lausitzring. Defending champion Maximilian Götz (36, Uffenheim) finished tenth in the BWT car after hard battles, picking up one more championship point. David Schumacher (20, Salzburg/A), meanwhile, had to park his Ravenol car with brake problems after about two thirds of the race on the 4.6-kilometre track near Dresden.
The race day had begun perfectly for Auer with the fastest time in morning qualifying. At the rolling start, however, the polesitter had to give way to the turbo power of Sheldon van der Linde alongside him. Because his mandatory pit stop at the end of lap seven did not go perfectly, the Austrian lost a good four seconds and another position. The Portimão opener winner then safely controlled third to the finish, retaking the lead of the DTM standings.
“There wasn’t more in it today,” said Auer. “The car was good and I did my job. At the start I had no chance against the BMW, though I think we wouldn’t have been able to hold him off over the distance either. After the stops I concentrated on bringing the podium home. The pace was good and I drove a clean race. When you start on pole and finish third, you can be reasonably satisfied. But not entirely.”
Maximilian Götz drove a strong race from a disappointing 13th on the grid, quickly worked his way into the points, but was unlucky there twice. “First, right in the middle of Turn 1, an Audi slowed with a puncture directly in front of the pack I was in. I only just managed to avoid it but nearly lost the car. Two rivals got past. That was a hairy moment at around 240 km/h,” the champion explained. “Towards the end I closed up on Rast and was faster than the Audi, but then had to defend against Cassidy, whose Ferrari had new tyres. On the penultimate lap Nick tried it with a crowbar. Race control didn’t penalise the move, so I don’t want to comment on it further. At least there was still a point. Tomorrow we want to start further up, then a lot is possible. The balance of my car was very good.”
Finally, DTM rookie David Schumacher had reached 17th with just one attempt in a tight qualifying in which 21 cars were within one second – knowing, however, that he faced a ten-place grid penalty. In the first free practice on Friday his crew had accidentally fitted tyres that were not marked for that session. In the race, last year’s Formula 3 driver made good progress and was already 20th crossing the start-finish line after the second lap.
But his progress was increasingly hampered by brake problems. Schumacher: “The brake pedal kept getting softer. I had to pump before every corner. After I went straight on at Turn 2 on lap 23, we stopped for safety reasons. Overall the pace was okay, but a touch too slow to attack decisively. Overtaking was almost impossible. We now have a few things to work through, then it’s about getting a good qualifying tomorrow morning. And then we’ll see.”
WWR team principal Christian Hohenadel was generally satisfied but would have liked a more consistent team performance: “We’re only really happy when we run at the front with all three cars. But I don’t want to complain. Luggi put in a strong performance and regained the championship lead. Max drove a really good race but had quite a lot of bad luck. And David will soon be at the front too, once we and he bring our potential together. We are working hard on that.”
The second race on the 4.6-kilometre layout through the spectacular Turn 1 of the Lausitzring tri-oval starts tomorrow, Sunday, at 1.30 pm. ProSieben broadcasts live from 1 pm, and on www.grid.dtm.com fans can find plenty of information and background on the popular racing series.