WWR scores at the Norisring crash festival
Fourth 2022 DTM race weekend in Nuremberg: Maximilian Götz finishes sixth in the Saturday race, Auer and Schumacher retire after crashes.
In a chaotic first race at the Norisring in Nuremberg, marked by numerous incidents, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing scored valuable points through Maximilian Götz (36, Uffenheim). The defending champion finished sixth as the best-placed driver of a Mercedes-AMG GT3. His team-mates Lucas Auer (27, Kufstein) and David Schumacher (20, Salzburg), on the other hand, had to park their cars early after collisions.
In a dramatic qualifying session in which the 27 GT3 cars were separated by only fractions of a second, the WWR trio qualified fifth (Auer), eleventh (Götz) and 16th (Schumacher). That was all the more remarkable for DTM rookie Schumacher, as the Norisring newcomer drove his very first laps on the tricky street circuit in completely dry conditions in qualifying after a partly rain-soaked Friday.
For Schumacher, however, the race was over after a few hundred metres. At the first hairpin after the start, the feared multi-car crash happened, and the RAVENOL car with number 27 was involved. “I was hit front and rear, like a billiard ball. I didn’t even make it back to the pits,” reported the son of six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher.
The multi-car crash triggered the first, but by no means the last, neutralisation behind the safety car. On lap 14 there was already the next incident, which this time only led to a “Full Course Yellow”, a neutralisation of the race without deploying the safety car. Unlucky timing in the series of mandatory pit stops that followed cost the two remaining WINWARD cars several positions.
One more safety car phase later, on lap 29 it was finally Lucas Auer whose race ended on the spot after being rammed by an over-motivated rival in the Schöller-S. “A chaotic race,” sighed the Tyrolean, whose KNAUS car with number 22 also suffered heavy damage. “A shame our strategy with the early stop didn’t work. If the safety car had come instead of the Full Course Yellow, we would have been right at the front. Instead I got caught up in the melee and was taken out by the Ferrari. That was it. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Amid all the chaos, Maximilian Götz kept a cool head. After the last restart on lap 34, the Franconian picked off another rival with a strong move at his home race and was back in fifth, but then had to give up a position because of emerging brake problems and brought his BWT car with number 1 home in sixth. “Today it was all about survival,” said Götz. “My car is battered front and rear, and some of the driving in the field was beyond the pale. Still, the balance was good and the pace very decent. Unfortunately the brakes faded in the last third of the race, which cost a position. And we were unlucky with the strategy. But still: it was a good race that makes me optimistic for tomorrow.”
WWR team principal Christian Hohenadel criticised the at times overly hard driving in the field: “Some drivers today simply lacked respect for their opponents and for the value of these race cars. I’m also sure it can’t be in the interest of the fans when only eleven of 27 cars see the chequered flag. Overall, our cars performed well today. After the crash on lap 14 we expected a safety car. Unfortunately only a Full Course Yellow came, and relatively late at that, so our decision to come in immediately cost us several positions. But in hindsight that’s irrelevant. Unfortunately my team now faces a short night, because David’s and Luggi’s cars are badly damaged. But as always we will give everything and attack again tomorrow.”
The Sunday race at the Norisring also starts at 1.30 pm. ProSieben broadcasts the entire eighth round of the 2022 DTM season live from 1 pm. On grid.dtm.com DTM fans can find all the information about the popular racing series.