Nürburgring/Germany, 10th September 2017 – Robert Wickens started Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring from third on the grid. The Canadian passed race leader Marco Wittmann (BMW), who had started from pole, on lap 18 and defended his lead through to the finish. Fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Paul Di Resta, who came in for a new set of Hankook slicks on lap 16, finished second, ahead of Wittmann, who came home third to score valuable points and climb into fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship. Bruno Spengler (BMW) narrowly missed out on a podium finish in fourth place.
The best-placed Audi driver was Mattias Ekström in sixth place. This result sees the Swede extend his lead in the overall standings to nine points. Second in the championship is Lucas Auer, whose hopes of a good result were scuppered by a spin. The Austrian eventually had to settle for 13th place. The drivers treated the crowds to 40 laps of spectacular race action and thrilling battles, which often resulted in contact between cars. The race tyre provided by premium tyre maker Hankook overcame this challenge superbly and once again proved its extremely high degree of reliability under great strain at the Eifel classic.
Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe: “You can tell that we are coming to the business end of the title race. The battles are becoming fiercer and the drivers are fighting for every position and every point. The beneficiaries of this are the spectators, who are treated to spectacular, action-packed motorsport. The Hankook race tyre once again allowed different strategies, which added to the excitement. A number of drivers came into the pits for their tyre change on the very first lap. Jamie Green was the last man to fit a fresh set of Hankook slicks on lap 30. As such, the result of the race was still wide open right down to the finish. That is how motor racing should be.”
Audi Sport Team Phoenix completed the fastest pit stop at the Nürburgring in a time of 32.326 seconds. They were rewarded for their efforts with 25 points towards the overall standings in the Hankook Best Pit Stop Award. The victorious crew also receives an extra reward at the next race weekend in Spielberg.
Robert Wickens (Mercedes-Benz): “It was a tough weekend. The Hankook race tyres were put to the test in all conditions – in the rain and in the dry. My first stint was perfect. The car and Hankook tyres worked very well. After my tyre change on lap 13, I was immediately able to get the Hankook slick up to temperature and set fast lap times. That was a very important factor in my victory.”
Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz): “Those were very difficult conditions today. It was cold, which made it hard to get the Hankook race tyre up to the ideal temperature. However, we managed the slick very well. The second set was particularly good and I was able to fight my way up into second place after my pit stop. I hope we can produce the same kind of performance in the coming races.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW): “I had a very good first stint. Paul Di Resta was a little faster at the start, but I was then able to overtake him. After the pit stop, it took a while to get the Hankook race tyre up to the ideal working temperature in the cold conditions. After that, I had a tough battle with Robert, which led to some damage to my car. I was then unable to match the pace of the Mercedes. Given these circumstances, I am happy with my third place.
