#DTM @JamieGreen_ takes the win in a chaotic race two
Team Rosberg driver Jamie Green took a comfortable victory in Round 10 of the DTM championship after chaos ensued behind him.
What a race! Well done @JamieGreen_ and @edomortara! #DTM #DTMZandvoort #LeagueofPerformance pic.twitter.com/j0GGCjKkYf
— Audi Sport (@audisport) July 17, 2016
At the beginning of the race Green got a decent start as he just about held off Gary Paffett’s ART car. Meanwhile Robert Wickens made a stunning start shooting straight up the middle of Vietoris and Mortara. Further down the field Mike Rockenfeller got a reprimand for forcing Augusto Farfus off the track. Meanwhile Augusto’s erratic driving continued when he forced his car up the inside of Timo Scheider and ended the German’s race. Farfus was given a drive through penalty for his shenanigans while Scheider expressed his disgust at the move.
Out in front Robert Wickens continued his lightning start with an easy move on Gary Paffett for second place. All of a sudden Wickens was right on the back of Jamie Green and made the British driver sweat for a couple of laps before the two both pitted in on the same lap a move which many think came back to bite Wickens later on. Wickens also had a slow stop, one second slower than that of Green and a lap later Mercedes produced yet another lacklustre pitstop with Gary Paffett’s stop being two seconds behind that of Jamie Green.
GREAT FIGHTING SPIRIT! @PaulDiResta books P8 and @LucasAuer1 P9 after starting from P13 and P19 respectively. #DTM pic.twitter.com/kIhKRvDwR2
— Mercedes-AMG DTM (@MercedesAMGDTM) July 17, 2016
Audi appeared to have prepared for Green coming in by making their cars running lower down the order to go onto a long stint so they could let Green past and cause trouble for Wickens. This cunning strategy worked out for Audi in the end as it allowed Green to pull out a big gap from him to Wickens. Meanwhile Vietoris and Mortara who were in fourth and fifth respectively before the pitstop nearly collided in the pitlane as Vietoris remained out in front.
In the following laps Gotz lost a wheel, Blomqvist and Auer nearly came together, Martin and Molina retired and Ocon made a mistake to lose his point scoring position. Then incredibly two Mercedes cars: Wickens in P2 and Vietoris in P3 picked up punctures. Vietoris had to pull out of the race altogether while after going wide and off the track Wickens managed to recover and finish way down in 16th. If Wickens managed to keep second position he would have been on top of the championship but due to that puncture it is Marco Wittmann that remains on top after another consistent drive from the 2014 champion.
But in the end it was Jamie Green who took the chequered flag with the second pole position to win conversion of the weekend.
#Race2: NO, just NO! #RW6 went off the track and rejoins the race in P8. #DTMZandvoort #DTM
— Mercedes-AMG DTM (@MercedesAMGDTM) July 17, 2016
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