Auer takes first‑ever DTM win at Hockenheim
At the opener of the DTM season, Landgraf‑Mercedes driver Lucas Auer shattered expectations by latching onto the top spot in the first Hockenheim race, pushing his team’s first triumph past the field of seasoned rivals.
Early‑race chaos reshapes the order
The opening lap was a quick‑fire maelstrom: a collision at Turn 2 between Manthey‑Porsche’s Ricardo Feller and Emil‑Frey Ferrari’s Thierry Vermeulen sent Feller plummeting to a back‑field penalty, while Thomas Preining’s (Manthey‑Porsche) car ran onto the grass so late‑to‑the‑front that he slid down to 13th. The incident forced the race back to the front at the Parabolika, giving Auer ample breathing room to launch an aggressive attack.
Shortly thereafter, Lucas Auer clawed past Engstler’s own Abt‑Lamborghini at the hairpin, but a costly contact at the fast right‑hand corner pulled Engstler into a wall. The crash triggered a brief safety‑car period and a pit‑stop sequence that temporarily erased the German’s lead. Engstler was later allowed back on the track, but the incident cost him both positions and a reprieve for his teammates.
Pit‑stop pains spin the title battle
Engel (Winward‑Mercedes) fared best initially, weaving through the playoff chaos to lead the field before handing the front line to Auer after a brief slowdown on the first lap. But the mid‑race pit stop proved catastrophic: a jammed right‑rear wheel kept Engel underground for over 16 seconds, relegating him from the front pack to the back of the top four before he could rejoin the field.
Simultaneously, Maro Engel’s clash with Jules Gounon (Winward‑AMG) over cold tires further muddied the standings. Gounon, already fresh off the pits, rasacked Engel’s rear quarter‑deck, forcing a track‑side maneuver that stalled Engel’s recovery. Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert‑BMW) and the other leading contenders took advantage, pushing past the German team and reshuffling the podium battle.
Parallel shenanigans unfolded at the left‑hand side of the track: a Dorr‑Lamborghini mistake aided Preining in skirting in front of his rival, while a minor miscommunication at the podium for a “mandatory tyre change” left Preining unable to maintain his performance advantage. Consequences were immediate, and the title‑fighting column repositioned 20 points from its pre‑pit‑stop peak.
Wittmann forestalls title collapse, but battle remains open
With Preining still in contention, Marco Wittmann (Schubert‑BMW) took careful advantage of the fell‑apart race rhythm to secure third place, pushing into second in the overall standings. Though a spirited drive was evident, Wittmann declined to make a direct push for the lead, leaving the championship race only between Preining, Engel, and himself.
When points became stakes, the conditions demanded steadiness: “The race stays moderate until the final pit‑stop window,” Wittmann conferred before the title decider. “You see how quickly things can change in DTM.”
Frustration mounted for Preining, who had to weight the championship’s fine margin between 20 and 22 points. “I am proud of the support from the coaching experts,” he remarked. “We have to start from as far up the front as possible, and that helps prevent the unavoidable fatigue sometimes.\”
Title continuation set for Sunday
With Auer out of the count, the pressure still gels for Preining (209 points) through his endurance with hills. The final race on Sunday features 28 points in play—keeping the tops the winter showcase of the championship alive. Both Preining and Engel still carry the mantle that points can swing based on the pit‑stop machinery, and Wittmann’s rise remains a threat. As the start line at Hockenheim lines up, the next chapter will confirm which of the four giants solidifies him in the final 2016 standings.
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