DTM: Maxime Martin wins round five of the season at Moscow
Maxime Martin celebrated his first DTM victory in round five of the DTM season at Moscow Raceway in commanding style. The Belgian, on finishing the race after 46 laps, had an advantage of 4.259 seconds over his BMW brand colleague Bruno Spengler. The third podium place went to Audi driver Mattias Ekström. The Swede thus converted himself into the fiercest rival of Marco Wittmann (BMW), who continues to lead the drivers’ standings. Wittmann trailed Ekström in fourth place.
Ex-Formula One driver Timo Glock took sixth place behind Audi rookie Nico Müller. Martin’s triumph marks the first one achieved by a Belgian in the DTM. A special exciter: When the race was restarted following a safety car period, DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller not only bumped himself but also his Audi brand colleague Adrien Tambay, who had been running in front of him in third place, out of the race. Christian Vietoris in seventh place was the fastest driver of a Mercedes-Benz.
All of the three premium manufacturers involved in the DTM, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, rely on high-tech clutches by ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
Results, Moscow (RUS), round 5, DTM, July 11–July 13, 2014:
1. Maxime Martin, BMW, 1h 15m09.422s ZF
2. Bruno Spengler, BMW, + 4.259s ZF
3. Mattias Ekström, Audi, + 9.454s ZF
4. Marco Wittmann, BMW, + 9.591s ZF
5. Nico Müller, Audi, + 10.740s ZF
6. Timo Glock, BMW, + 15.632s ZF
7. Christian Vietoris, Mercedes-Benz, + 16.553s ZF
8. Pascal Wehrlein, Mercedes-Benz, + 19.300s ZF
9. Edoardo Mortara, Audi, + 20.987s ZF
10. Augusto Farfus, BMW, + 21.110s ZF
Drivers’ standings:
1. M. Wittmann, 70 points; 2. M. Ekström, 50; 3. E. Mortara and B. Spengler, 41 each; 5. M. Rockenfeller, 35; 6. M. Martin, 33; 7. C. Vietoris, 31; 8. A. Tambay, 28; 9. M. Molina, 26; 10. R. Wickens, 25.
Manufacturers’ standings:
1. Audi, 223 points; 2. BMW, 196; 3. Mercedes-Benz, 86.