Strong reaction from WINWARD Racing at Imola
Lucas Auer narrowly misses the podium in the Sunday DTM race in Italy. Max Götz also scores points, David Schumacher retires.
Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing made an impressive comeback from the previous day’s disappointing result in a spectacular Sunday race at the third 2022 DTM weekend at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. After a superb drive, Lucas Auer (27, Kufstein) missed his third podium of the year by a whisker. Defending champion Maximilian Götz (36, Uffenheim) finished ninth after an eye-catching charge through the field. DTM rookie David Schumacher (20, Salzburg), on the other hand, was unlucky once again and had to park his Mercedes-AMG GT3 early after a collision.
Morning qualifying had not gone to the German-Texan team’s liking. Grid positions 9 (Auer), 20 (Götz) and 25 (Schumacher) promised anything but an ideal starting position on the track near Bologna, where overtaking is notoriously hard.
But unlike on Saturday, the WINWARD drivers this time got help from another tactical lever in the form of a safety car phase. With lightning-fast tyre changes, the WWR pit crew helped all three Mercedes-AMG GT3 gain positions, although Auer’s KNAUS car was pushed into the pit wall by a rival’s careless pull-away (“unsafe release”) and damaged on both sides around the front axle.
The Tyrolean, however, nailed the restart after the safety car phase like a textbook. “That was the key to the good final result – somehow everyone else was asleep,” grinned “Luggi”, who after the stops found himself third but immediately came under pressure from his pursuers. Auer: “The car had taken quite a bit in the collisions with Fraga and Bortolotti, and I had to fight to keep the BMWs behind me. Unfortunately I then made a mistake shortly before the end, so Wittmann was able to slip through. I have to apologise to the team for that, because that really mustn’t happen on the last lap.”
Alongside the strong fourth place of Lucas Auer, who gained ground in the championship and is fourth overall as the best Mercedes-AMG driver, WWR colleague Maximilian Götz also shone with a great performance. After a mistake in the last sector of his final qualifying lap had relegated the reigning champion to 20th on the grid, the BWT car with number 1 was on the move from the moment the start lights changed.
Lying tenth after the series of mandatory pit stops, Götz passed a fellow Mercedes driver with a strong move on lap 25 and confidently defended ninth to the finish: “As yesterday, my race pace was very good. At the end I didn’t want to risk everything against Müller any more, because Bortolotti was breathing down my neck and I didn’t want to put the points at risk. It was real fun! Qualifying remains our little construction site, and we absolutely have to work on it. Because the qualifying pace is there in our Mercedes-AMG GT3 too, we just have to extract it.”
David Schumacher, meanwhile, did not have much to tell. After a completely botched qualifying he made a super start but had to give back the places he had gained on the first lap because he had to swerve across the grass to avoid a collision ahead of him. After a good pit stop during the safety car phase, the son of six-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher was stuck behind an Audi in 15th for laps. “And when I then tried it under braking into Rivazza, he moved inside on the brakes, we touched, and that was it. I noticed immediately that the car was bent,” said David, who steered the Ravenol car straight to the pits and parked it.
WWR team principal Christian Hohenadel was in a much better mood on Sunday after the previous day’s disappointment: “First of all because it was a super exciting race that surely thrilled the fans too. And secondly because we took a clear step forward compared to yesterday, and the safety car also played into our hands a bit. After the good pit stops brought us several positions forward, all three drivers put on a great race. Luggi fought like a lion and shouldn’t be too annoyed about that one mistake at the end. Max put in a great charge through the field. We have to make sure he starts further up, then the top results will come again. And David was strong too. He tried it against the Audi, the car ahead didn’t play along, and then there was a crash. That happens in the DTM sometimes …”
In just two weeks, DTM drivers and fans can look forward to a real highlight of the 2022 season. Rounds 7 and 8 take place on 2/3 July in the “Monaco of Franconia” at the Norisring in Nuremberg. Motorsport insiders know: the 2.3-kilometre street circuit around the Dutzendteich lake, with just four corners, is a real challenge.