DTM-C1: Marco Wittmann from start to finish

Champion in 2014, Marco Wittmann (BMW) had ceded his crown last year to Pascal Wehrlein, now in F1 with Manor. The driver of the Munich firm continued his march forward this Saturday to regain his throne in DTM.

Started from pole position after taking advantage of the five-place grid penalty imposed on Lucas Auer (Mercedes) for a third warning sent to Russia, the German took full advantage of his position when the lights went out to maintain the lead of the race against Tom Blomqvist. Nobody will disturb the true solo rider of Wittmann, who wins with more than seven seconds in advance when crossing the finish line.

The fight was particularly focused on the places on the podium. Edoardo Mortara (Audi), whom Jamie Green (Audi) had let pass to try his luck against Tom Blomqvist, second since the start of the event, tried everything against the Briton to avoid a BMW double.

Having passed through the grass after an attack and contact at the last chicane, Mortara returned his place to Blomqvist before being immediately put under pressure by the Mercedes of Daniel Juncadella, himself followed like his shadow by Jamie Green. The latter managed to immediately gain the advantage over Juncadella, but the Spaniard was sent into a spin by Bruno Spengler (BMW). The 2012 champion will be penalized with a drive-through for the incident.

Finally, Blomqvist will resist Mortara's pressure until the end, who ultimately finished 4th behind Jamie Green. Timo Glock (BMW) took 5th place, while the first Mercedes of Paul di Resta finished in 6th place ahead of Lucas Auer (Mercedes).

Maxime Martin (BMW) took 8th place ahead of Robert Wickens (Mercedes) who lost ground on Wittmann in the championship, and notably suffered from the ballast on board his C63. Maximilian Götz completes the top 10 with his Mercedes ahead of Nico Müller (Audi) and Felix Rosenqvist (Mercedes).

Note that Gary Paffett (Mercedes) saw his race ruined by contact with Timo Scheider (Audi), the latter being penalized with a drive-through. Adrien Tambay (Audi) retired very early after coming into contact with Augusto Farfus (Audi).

Before the second race of the weekend scheduled for tomorrow, Marco Wittmann has a 35-point lead over Robert Wickens in the championship.

Race 1 results