Mercedes AMG expects a tight weekend at the Nürburgring
The 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season enters its final leg this weekend with the eighth round taking place at the Nürburgring. Mercedes AMG leads the Teams’ and Drivers’ standings leading to the Eifel track.
Pascal Wehrlein banked two points’ finishes in Oschersleben two weeks ago, jumping ahead of Audi’s Mattias Ekström, his main rival, in the standings. The 20-year old has 140 points in his account, 14 more than his closest follower. The HWA AG driver is eager to get in the cockpit again and is aware that the task won’t be easy this weekend: “I just can’t wait to get back behind the wheel. What is important is that we get a perfect weekend together. Then we can challenge for front positions and race wins, which would bring our ultimate objective one step closer. But this won’t be easy, and a lot of hard work lies ahead. The track in the Eifel is also quite different from the one at Oschersleben. Consequently, it’s difficult to predict who will be competitive at the weekend. I’m working on the assumption that it will be a close fight between all three manufacturers.”
Gary Paffett has been a consistent point’s scorer through the season for Mercedes AMG. The Briton is hoping to have overcome the problems experienced at Oschersleben and be closer again to their rivals, especially since the performance weights are more levelled for this event: “Going to the Nürburgring, things are a lot more even, so we’re expecting a closer fight. I’ve been successful there in the past, and the Nürburgring is a circuit where we should be competitive. I’m looking forward to hopefully scoring some points in both races and maybe even getting onto the podium.”
The gooix/Original Teile pair at HWA AG, formed by Wehrlein and Christian Vietoris, leads the Teams’ standings. Vietoris is at his home ground this weekend at the Eifel circuit, and is hopeful of achieving a good result: “Thanks to my family and friends, I’ll be getting a lot of support over the weekend, which obviously puts me in a positive frame of mind. It will certainly be a special occasion. The weather forecasts are good at the moment, which is rather unusual for the Eifel. The track itself is very challenging. There are a lot of corners in the first and second sectors. The main thing here is getting the setup right. We’ve been working hard on that over the last two weeks. Consequently, I’m sure we have a car that is well suited to the track.”
The weight situation at Oschersleben and its effect on the results caused Mercedes AMG to drop to the third position in the Manufacturers’ table, 71 points behind leaders BMW. Despite knowing their package isn’t the strongest, Ullrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes AMG DTM, banks on hard work by his men in order to improve their position in the championship: “We’re going to the Eifel leading both the drivers’ and team championships. It is obviously our intention to be still in this position on Monday and to extend our lead. But that won’t be easy. I think the fans can expect tight races between all three manufacturers. In the light of that our entire team faces a big challenge that we are willing to accept. The weather up in the Eifel next weekend can also be an important factor at this time of year. But we are well prepared and hopefully able to cope with all conditions.”
DTM on track action at the Nürburgring starts on Friday afternoon with the first free practice session, scheduled for 12:05 CEST (GMT + 2).
