Misano/Italy, 27th August 2018 – Spectators at the Misano World Circuit for the second DTM night race witnessed an eventful race with many battles for position and a host of different tyre strategies. While all the other DTM drivers lined up on a damp grid on wet tyres, Joel Eriksson (BMW) started the race from twelfth place on the slick provided by exclusive partner Hankook. When rain started to fall, the Swede came into the pits on lap nine to switch to the premium tyre maker’s wet tyre, on which he consistently climbed through the field, helped in part by a safety car phase.
When long-time leader Edoardo Mortara (Mercedes-Benz), who started on the Hankook wet tyre, made his mandatory pit stop on lap 25, Eriksson took over at the head of the field, a position he successfully defended right through to the finish. Runner-up Mortara was followed home by reigning DTM champion René Rast (Audi) in third place. Mercedes-Benz driver Paul Di Resta finished sixth and now tops the overall standings, ahead of fellow Mercedes-Benz men Gary Paffett and Mortara.
Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe: “The fans saw an eventful and, at times, crazy second night race in Misano, in which DTM rookie Joel Eriksson was rewarded for taking a risk and starting on slicks on the wet track. The safety car phase obviously played into the Swede’s hands, but it had already been shown that different tactics were possible with the Hankook wet tyre and the slick, and that the right tactic could be the key to success.”
Audi Sport Team Rosberg completed the fastest pit stop of the weekend in Misano, in a time of 59.002 seconds. Their reward was 25 points toward the Hankook Best Pit Stop Award.
Joel Eriksson (BMW): “Unlike the rest of the field, I started on the Hankook slick and wanted to stay out on that set of tyres for a long time. Then, when the rain started to fall, we switched to the wet tyre. This proved to be a direct hit. I was obviously a little lucky with the safety car phase, but my win showed that anything is possible in motorsport.”
Edoardo Mortara (Mercedes-Benz): “The conditions were incredibly tough today, similar to yesterday. We started on the wet tyres and switched to a new set of wets. That was the right tactic, as it started to rain again and the track did not dry out. I had a lot of grip on the Hankook wet tyre, and as good as no wear. Unfortunately, we just missed out on the win.”
René Rast (Audi): “I drove for a very long time on one set of Hankook wet tyres, and they still worked well when it dried out a little. It then started to rain again, and the second set of wets was also super. I am happy to be on the podium in these conditions.”
Alessandro Zanardi (BMW): “I drove the formation lap on slicks, but my engineer and I decided to start on wet tyres. Given the conditions, we had reckoned with an appearance from the safety car from the word go and wanted to switch to slicks. However, it then started to rain again, which made wet tyres the logical choice. We were obviously a bit lucky, but you have to earn that.”
