DTM Moscow Raceway: Selected postscripts part 2

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The DTM debut race in Russia was a major adventure for all those involved. 45,000 thrilled spectators attended the sixth DTM weekend of the season, held at the Moscow Raceway. With his second win of the season, Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) extended his championship lead. The podium was completed by Mattias Ekström (Audi) and Augusto Farfus (BMW), who also got on well with the 2.555-kilometre circuit designed by the renowned racetrack architect Hermann Tilke. DTM.com compiled the Moscow Raceway tops and flops.

The fastest race lap: Adrien Tambay
With 58.999 seconds, Adrien Tambay set the fastest race lap at the Moscow Raceway and consequently he will go down in the history of the new circuit as first record holder. In the race at the 2.555-kilometre circuit, the Frenchman was the only driver to break the 59-second barrier. And he succeeded in doing so without setting the fastest split time in one of the three sections. These were set by Mattias Ekström, Gary Paffett and Joey Hand. In addition, Tambay also failed to combine his own fastest split times in one lap. Had he done so, the result would have been a 58.769-second lap, clearly faster than the ones of his rivals.

Mike Rockenfeller

The unofficial lap record: Mike Rockenfeller
Although Mike Rockenfeller was defeated by fellow Audi driver Adrien Tambay in the battle for the fastest race lap, the winner of the first DTM race on Russian soil proved to be the fastest man of the event held at the Moscow Raceway. In the third knockout phase of qualifying, the Phoenix driver crossed the line in 58,423 seconds, thus setting the fastest lap time of the weekend – representing an average speed of 157.4kph. Nonetheless, this time won’t be accepted as DTM lap record as only times set in the race are valid for this ranking.

Bruno Spengler

The fastest pit stop: Bruno Spengler
At the time of his second pit stop, Bruno Spengler’s race had been virtually over for quite while. Nonetheless, his Schnitzer pit crew was highly motivated. On lap 48, the Canadian pitted for the second time and left the pit-lane just 34.097 seconds after having entered it. The fact that the tradition-rich BMW team is practicing the stops regularly also was demonstrated by the stop time of Dirk Werner. The service for Spengler’s team mate on lap 56 took just 34.128 seconds – the second-fastest stop of the weekend.

The longest stint: Mattias Ekström
Mattias Ekström drove the longest stint of the race. Following his first pit stop on lap eight, the Swede completed 58 laps before coming in for his second stop with just eight more laps to go. With 57 laps, Timo Scheider’s stint was just slightly shorter and Adrien Tambay (56 laps) followed close behind. The three Audi drivers covered the clearly longest distances on one set of tyres as none of their competitors completed more than 50 laps in one stint.