Auer takes WINWARD onto the podium
A superb second place for Lucas Auer in the DTM Saturday race at the Nürburgring. Team-mate David Schumacher retires after a collision.
With an outstanding performance in the race, Lucas Auer gave himself and Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD their first podium of the 2023 DTM season in the Saturday race on the 3.6-kilometre sprint layout of the Nürburgring. From eighth on the grid, the 28-year-old Austrian fought his way up to second over the one-hour race in the Knaus Mercedes-AMG GT3. Team-mate David Schumacher, on the other hand, had to park his Ravenol car shortly after half-distance following a collision.
In morning qualifying, the two WINWARD cars had set the fastest times of the Mercedes-AMG teams with eighth and 13th. However, a grid penalty from the last event at the Norisring dropped Schumacher back another five places.
At the start, Auer in particular found the perfect gap and slipped up to fourth in the tight first right-hander. Schumacher also gained four positions in the scramble of the first laps. But contact with a rival on lap 5 meant the early end of all top-10 ambitions for the son of six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher. Declared solely to blame by race control, Schumacher had to serve three penalty laps, in which a car has to drive through a 50-metre zone at pit lane speed (60 km/h). Having dropped back to 27th, Schumacher parked his damaged car in the pits on lap 20.
Meanwhile, stablemate Auer had settled into fourth, stayed in close touch with the cars ahead and took his chance at the restart after a safety car phase on lap 29. With a sensational move around the outside, the Tyrolean passed two rivals at once, then set the fastest lap of the race and even closed the gap to the leader. It was not enough for an attack, but that did not spoil the joy over the strong performance.
“After the qualifying that wasn’t ideal, this second place feels like a win,” cheered Lucas Auer. “The race could hardly have gone better. The start was super, as were the strategy and the pit stop. And at the restart I got the timing perfect. At the end I got closer to Bortolotti, but not close enough. I’m really happy and looking forward to the Sunday race. There we’ll try to start a bit further up, and then we’ll see what’s possible in the race despite the extra weight.”
David Schumacher, meanwhile, was visibly frustrated: “The start and the first laps went very well, I gained several positions. Unfortunately then there was this contact. We had agreed internally beforehand that you leave room when a fellow brand driver has his nose alongside your car. That’s why I left it there. Unfortunately he didn’t leave me any room at all, he just turned in. I’m very annoyed about the penalty, which in my view is not justified.”
The 21-year-old Salzburg resident received consolation from WWR team principal Christian Hohenadel: “A shame for David, he drove a good qualifying. His race pace was also good, a top-10 place was certainly possible. I’m really happy for Lucas and the whole team. They absolutely deserved this podium through the hard work of the last weeks and months. The pit stop was first-class once again, and Luggi did a perfect job on track. The restart was really one to frame!”
Under the regulations, Auer’s car has to carry 10 kilograms of success ballast in the Sunday race (only in the race, not in qualifying), which will not make the task any easier for the driver from Kufstein. The second race at the Nürburgring again starts at 1.30 pm. ProSieben is live on air from 12.55 pm.