Mike Rockenfeller and Audi wins of 2013 DTM Moscow Race Premier

The Phoenix Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller took a brilliant victory in a thrilling race at the Moscow Raceway on a day when his main championship rival, BMW driver Bruno Spengler, failed to score any championship vital points due to a crash with Miguel Molina in the very early stages of the race.

The Phoenix Audi driver started from pole position, after Q4 was abandoned in a wrangle about airspace and used an option-standard-option tire strategy to take his second victory of the 2013 season ahead of stablemate Mattias Ekström and BMW driver Augusto Farfus, to extend his championship lead over his main title contender Bruno Spengler by 25 points.

Mattias Ekström had lead for the majority of the race with a standard-option-standard tire strategy after an early pitstop on lap 8, but due to Mike Rockenfeller’s position as the championship leader, the Abt Sportstline driver admitted after the race that he decided to concede the position to Mike Rockenfeller after the his final stop on lap 65.

BMW driver and 2013 DTM Hockenheim race winner Augusto Farfus, who started fourth, finished third as the best of the BMW Armada; a mere 0.882 seconds ahead of Adrien Tambay, who heavily challenged the Brazilian driver several times, in order to snatch the last podium slot from him.

The Frenchman ran an impressive 57 laps on the option tire and despite eventually losing out on the final podium spot to the Brazilian; he took his best result of the season after having started from position 12 on the grid. As a matter of fact, the Frenchman lost a lot of time due to a near miss during his pit stop.

All of the above-mentioned did however not prevent him from driving the fastest lap of the race.

2005 DTM champion Gary Paffett ended the day in fifth position as the best of the Mercedes drivers, ahead of compatriot Jamie Green.

Joey Hand ended the day seventh, ahead of Dirk Werner, Timo Scheider and Christian Vietoris, who filled out the top-10.

Mike Rockenfeller’s main championship rival, Bruno Spengler, finished 19th and out of the points following contact with Miguel Molina on the third lap.

The pair collided after the Audi driver hit the BMW going into turn 1, which saw both drivers initially drop down the field.

However, whilst BMW driver Bruno Spengler was able to continue to a non-rewarding 19th place, Miguel Molina retired with suspension damage as a result of the contact, and continued his run of no-point scoring events in 2013.

In addition to this, the Spaniard also made contact with his compatriot, Dani Juncadella, early on but the Mercedes driver was able to continue, despite losing several parts of the rear of his car.

Edoardo Mortara was another retirement, after he stopped on lap 33 due to excessive damage to the front of his RS 5, following contact with Dani Junacadella and Martin Tomczyk in the early stages of the 74-laps.
In comparison to the abruptly ended qualifying session,Vladimir Putin and his jet did not interrupt the proceedings of the 2013 Moscow DTM race.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Mike Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi 1h14m38.512s
2. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Audi +1.303s
3. Augusto Farfus RBM BMW +11.393s
4. Adrien Tambay Abt Audi +12.275s
5. Gary Paffett HWA Mercedes +17.495s
6. Jamie Green Abt Audi +18.704s
7. Joey Hand RBM BMW +19.363s
8. Dirk Werner Schnitzer BMW +26.117s
9. Timo Scheider Abt Audi +34.184s
10. Christian Vietoris HWA Mercedes +41.331s
11. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Mercedes +42.029s
12. Robert Wickens HWA Mercedes +43.782s
13. Filipe Albuquerque Rosberg Audi +44.443s
14. Roberto Merhi HWA Mercedes +51.576s
15. Marco Wittmann MTEK BMW +52.941s
16. Timo Glock MTEK BMW +54.421s
17. Martin Tomczyk RMG BMW +58.460s
18. Daniel Juncadella Mucke Mercedes +1 lap
19. Bruno Spengler Schnitzer BMW +1 lap
20. Andy Priaulx RMG BMW +1 lap

Retirements
#5 Edoardo Mortara Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS 5 (retirement on lap 31)
#20 Miguel Molina Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS 5 (retirement on lap 5)

Fastest lap
#24 Adrien Tambay Audi Sport Team Abt Audi RS 5 58.999s (96.872mph) on lap 70

AE
05.08.2013
Moscow - Cairo - Dubai