Mike Rockenfeller only experienced a little trouble at the start and had to fend off attacks from Bruno Spengler (BMW) who had started alongside him on the first grid row. Afterwards, the Audi pilot steadily eked out an advantage and, even after his pit stop, maintained his lead to bring home an undisputed victory.
Bruno Spengler trailed him over the finish line in second place at the wheel of his BMW M4 DTM, which earned him two podium results this weekend after scoring third at Saturday’s race.
Clinching third place, Mattias Ekström once again climbed to the top of the drivers’ standings. After qualifying second, the Swede could possibly have done better, but because of the collision with Timo Glock on Saturday, the Audi pilot was relegated three places down the grid for Sunday’s race. Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes-Benz), who had moved into the lead of the series after winning Saturday’s race on the Moscow Raceway, earned only one point for tenth place and now ranks second overall behind Ekström. The third spot in the championship standings is still occupied by Audi pilot Edoardo Mortara, who finished today’s race in eighth.
“With Mattias Ekström and Bruno Spengler we saw best times at the end. That means that the Hankook race tire was consistently fast. The winner Mike Rockenfeller put in a strong performance. There were no problems from a tire perspective, the performance was very good,” said Hankook’s DTM race engineer Thomas Baltes after the race weekend on the Moscow Raceway.
Once again this season, the fastest pit stop was achieved by the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline in 33.968 seconds. As their reward, the winning crew receives three crates of beer at the next race weekend in Oschersleben. Moreover, they are awarded 25 points for the overall rankings in the Best Pit Stop Award from Hankook. At the end of the season, the exclusive DTM tire partner rewards the fastest pit crew with a trophy and a lavish team barbecue.
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi): “Both sets of tires were consistent in qualifying, I had great grip twice and I was able to improve compared to Saturday. In the race we adjusted the air pressure on the second set of rubber to alter the balance of the car. Afterwards I could push even more. It was simply fun to race here with the Hankook tires and, of course, to win.”
Bruno Spengler (BMW): “Particularly after my early pit stop, I was very pleased with Hankook’s tires and could drive consistently fast laps. The vehicle and tires were great and that was the key to my good result.”
Mattias Ekström (Audi): “During my long second stint there was a lot of rubber on the track and it was a little slippery. But the grip of the Hankook tire didn’t fade at all, even at the end of the race. On the whole I’m very satisfied.”
