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English weekends in DTM. Some four weeks prior to the race meeting at Brands Hatch, DTM made its debut appearance as series at the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed. At the 25th anniversary of the motor-sport spectacle on the premises of Goodwood House, Frank Biela (Audi RS5 DTM) and Ricky Collard (BMW M4 DTM) wowed the crowds on all the three days.

“Goodwood is just legendary,” said Frank Biela, the 1991 DTM Champion, “It’s great that I once again had the chance of being a part of it. The British fans are true petrol heads and got crazy about the spectacular DTM cars.” For Biela, the weekend was a kind of a class reunion as he met several old DTM companions, such as Klaus Ludwig, Bernd Schneider, Tom Kristensen, Emanuelle Pirro, Steve Soper and Prince Leopold of Bavaria. Since his first Le Mans win in 2000, Biela regularly made the trip to Goodwood. For 21-year old Englishman Collard, however, it was the first Goodwood appearance. “A mega weekend,” beamed the BMW Motorsport Junior and DTM reserve driver. “Just great that I could participate in the event with such a fantastic car.”

While the atmosphere in brilliant sunshine was extremely relaxed, the 1.86-kilometre hill-climb track demanded maximum concentration from the drivers. “We are doing just demo runs,” admits Biela, “But as soon as you are wearing your helmet you want to really go for it. And doing so can be somewhat risky as we have got just bales of straw and no run-off areas. The line between hero and zero is extremely narrow, here.” Collard also appreciates the unique character of Goodwood’s hill-climb track although it was his first appearance in the event. “Just unique and old-school – a mix I really like.”

For the British motor-racing enthusiasts, the DTM appearance in Goodwood represented the perfect opportunity to get in the right mood for the DTM weekend at Brands Hatch (11th and 12th August). “I think that we provided the crowds along the track a great show,” said Collard. Biela added: “I’m convinced that many of them don’t want to miss the chance of witnessing the DTM cars racing at Brands Hatch’s GP circuit.”

23rd DTM race win for Paffett, third victory of the current season
Robin Frijns scores best DTM result to date in front of home crowd
Strong performance by René Rast goes unrewarded

Gary Paffett will remember this race Saturday at Zandvoort for a long time to come: having started from pole position, the Mercedes-AMG driver won the ninth race of the season in The Netherlands and thus extended his lead in the DTM drivers’ standings. For the Brit, it was the 23rd win in his 174th DTM race. With his third win of the season, he is now also tied with Audi legend Mattias Ekström in the all-time statistics. Both are now in third place behind Bernd Schneider (43 wins) and Klaus Ludwig (37). But it was not just Paffett who had reason to be happy on the Dutch North Sea coast: with Paul Di Resta in second place, Lucas Auer in third and Pascal Wehrlein in fourth, Mercedes-AMG locked out the first four places in the dunes. Local hero Robin Frijns scored his best DTM result with his Audi RS 5 DTM. As the best-placed Audi driver, he finished fifth from Timo Glock, who was the fastest BMW driver in sixth place.

“We really have deserved this result,” Gary Paffett enthused after the race. “I had a good start and was able to control everything. The pit stop was very good, too. Of course, scoring 28 points on one day is fantastic, but that is not necessarily something that can be expected again on Sunday. In the DTM, things are never easy.” That is something teammate Di Resta knows as well. Having started third, he took the chequered flag in second place and was happy with the result. “Being consistent is the key,” said Di Resta, the only driver who managed to score points in every race so far. “At the end of the year is when it matters.”

In the race, at the end was when it mattered as well. Much to the regret of René Rast. The defending champion had opted for an audacious pit stop strategy, stayed out very long but eventually was unrewarded. After an excursion by Nico Müller, the safety car was deployed. The lead Rast had established was gone. “Of course, that is frustrating,” said Rast, for whom a top five result would have been feasible. “We had the pace to be among the front runners. We will make another attempt tomorrow.”

In the DTM drivers’ standings, Paffett has extended his lead. At the halfway pointof the season, the 2005 DTM champion is in first place with 127 points from Paul Di Resta (106), who manaed to move up three places. Timo Glock finished sixth in the race and is third in the standings with 100 points prior to the race on Sunday. The tenth DTM race of the season, the second at Zandvoort, will get underway as usual on Sunday at 13.00 hrs.

Frank Biela and Ricky Collard to represent Audi and BMW in the hill climb
The legendary event will celebrate its 25th anniversary, this weekend
On 11th and 12th August DTM is making its Brands Hatch comeback

This weekend, DTM is going to appear as guest at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The prestigious meeting for historic and up-to-date racing cars, held at the premises of Goodwood House in Westhampnett, Chichester, in Southern England, represents an absolute highlight for car and motor-racing enthusiasts all over the world. Year by year, the event of motor-racing aficionado Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, better known as 11th Duke of Richmond, attracts some 180,000 international visitors.

Audi and BMW will appear in the event with one vehicle each. Frank Biela will represent the ‘Lords of the Rings’: the 53-year old German won the DTM title back in 1991 with an Audi V8. Since he retired from professional motor racing for good, the five-time Le Mans winner serves the Ingolstadters as ‘Audi Legend’. Recently he worked as race consultant in the DTM race meeting at the Norisring. Meanwhile, Ricky Collard will travel to Goodwood for BMW. As BMW Junior, the 21-year old Briton usually also attends the DTM weekends to drive the BMW M4 DTM Race Taxi.

Goodwood’s legendary Festival of Speed is the biggest event of its kind worldwide and is going to celebrate its 25th anniversary, this year. The event is held as hill climb. The 1.86-kilometre uphill racetrack features nine corners. Once, the ‘Sunday Times’ called it a mix of the Monaco GP and Great Briton’s just as famous Royal Ascot horse race.

Speaking of the United Kingdom: on 11th and 12th August, DTM will be back in England on a grand scale to contest the 11th and 12th rounds of its 2018 season at Brands Hatch. The circuit located in Kent County, some 30 kilometres to the south of London, already staged eight DTM races from 2006 to 2013. But while these races all were held at the circuit’s short 1.973-kilometre Indy version, DTM will make its debut at the 3.908-kilometre GP circuit, this year: a rollercoaster embedded in a wooded landscape that is extremely challenging for both drivers and vehicles.

Marco Wittmann had to wait for this moment at the Norisring for nine races to be able to win a DTM race in his home round at the street circuit in Nuremberg. On Sunday, it finally happened. The driver from Fürth came out on top after an incredibly thrilling race and secured the eleventh DTM race win of his career, the second of the current season. The race winner loudly expressed his joy while still in the car: “That was really cool! Absolutely smashing! That was the race of my life,” the BMW driver enthused over the team radio. Second place in the eighth race of the season went to Edoardo Mortara in his Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM. Daniel Juncadella also had reason to be happy. After his maiden pole position, the Spaniard also scored his maiden DTM podium finish by coming home third.

Marco Wittmann, who was handed the big trophy by Dr. Markus Söder, Prime Minister of Bavaria, was unbeatable on Sunday. Having started the race from seventh on the grid, Wittmann drove like he was unleashed, staged countless duels and on lap 24, he overtook Mortara for the lead, corrected for pit stops. Only in the closing stages of the race, Mortara was able to close up again, but it wasn’t enough to mount a challenge on Wittmann. “That was an unbelievable weekend and I would wish for more events like this. I think it was a perfect weekend.” Mortara received his trophy from the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion, Nico Rosberg, who had attentively watched the race from the Audi Sport Team Rosberg pit box. Fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Juncadella was also happy having scored his maiden podium finish in his 65th DTM race. “Of course, I am happy with the result, but next time I am in first place on the grid, I want to win, too.”

Robin Frijns showed good progress at the Norisring. The Audi driver had started from 16th place and took the chequered flag in eighth place. Classified seventh, his fellow Audi driver Nico Müller was the best-placed driver of the Ingolstadt-based brand.

In the DTM drivers’ standings after eight of this season’s 20 DTM races, the front runners are now even closer together. Gary Paffett, who had a wheel-to-wheel duel with Timo Glock over many laps during the race, remains in the lead of the standings with 99 points. The Brit was unable to convert his second place from qualifying into a top 10 finish in the race and was only 13th across the line. Mortara is now second in the standings with 93 points from Wittmann and Glock (both 92 points). Paul Di Resta is fifth with 87 points. In sixth place with 72 points, Lucas Auer also still is within striking distance to the leaders.

After a three weeks’ break, DTM action resumes at Zandvoort in The Netherlands from 13-15 July, 2018. The track on the North Sea coast is the venue for the ninth and tenth race of the season.

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