Hockenheim/Germany, 15 October 2016 – Miguel Molina won Saturday’s penultimate DTM race of the season at the Hockenheimring to claim his second victory of the season in one of most popular international touring car series. The Audi driver, who started the race from second on the grid, overtook pole-sitter António Félix da Costa (BMW) shortly after the start and went on to claim a comfortable victory after 27 laps of racing.
The Spaniard was followed over the finish line by championship leader Marco Wittmann (BMW), who climbed from fourth to second to extend his lead over Edoardo Mortara to 17 points. The Audi driver made the most progress during the race, fighting back strongly from eighth to finish third and join Molina and Wittmann on the podium.
Fellow Audi driver Jamie Green ended the race in eighth place. Despite being third in the championship, this result sees him drop out of the title race. The best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver in this season’s penultimate race at the Hockenheimring was Paul Di Resta, who came home tenth to score one point.
Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe: “That was one of the most exciting races we have seen in the 2016 season. Both of the favourites to win the championship showed that they fully deserve to be at the top of the overall standings. Edoardo Mortara pulled off some really skilful overtaking manoeuvres, while championship leader Marco Wittmann always kept a cool head and extended his lead. The strong performance of the Hankook race tyre was also partly responsible for ensuring that spectators can look forward to an exciting duel for the title at the Hockenheimring on Sunday.”
Miguel Molina (Audi): “I was all alone out front for the entire race. That made it relatively easy to manage the Hankook race tyre. We knew that the front-left tyre is put under some fairly heavy strain at the Hockenheimring, but we had absolutely no problems. I had a very good feeling with the Hankook race tyre the entire time.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW): “That was a good race. We climbed from fourth to second and managed to pull a further three points clear of Edoardo Mortara, who had a good race. We had very good pace at first, but were a bit slower than the Audis at the end. That is where we must do our homework before Sunday.”
Edoardo Mortara (Audi): “The Hankook race tyre worked very well. It was quick and consistent. There was very little tyre wear and I was extremely competitive all race compared.”