By: Mercedes-AMG DTM Team
July 17 2016

Robert Wickens: "The whole team have done a tremendous job, and together we've recorded my first win of the season."

Zandvoort - Team celebrate mid-point of season with a win: Robert Wickens (SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) secured the win, his fourth success in the DTM, with a comfortable start-finish victory in the ninth of 18 races this season. The Canadian was the star of the day at Zandvoort. He secured the fourth pole position of his DTM career in qualifying. Wickens also drew level in the stats with Formula 1 World Champion Keke Rosberg by achieving his tenth DTM podium. Wickens on 83 points now improves to second place in the driver standings with this win, and is only ten points behind leader Marco Wittmann (BMW).

Five drivers in the Top Nine made this a strong team result for the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team. Christian Vietoris (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) took third place on the podium next to Wickens. Vietoris achieved his eighth podium and the 30th points-scoring finish of his DTM career with this third place. He has now achieved as many podiums in the DTM as former Mercedes-AMG DTM ace and ex-Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi.

Gary Paffett (EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) has won three times at Zandvoort but finished this race in fourth place, securing points for the 90th time in 138 DTM races. Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) crossed the finish line in P8, one position up on DTM rookie Esteban Ocon (FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM); these are the young Frenchman's first points in his maiden season in the DTM.

Lucas Auer (BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) came home in P12. Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM) was 15th. Maximilian Götz (Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM) retired from the race shortly after the start following a contact with Martin Tomczyk (BMW).

Looking ahead to race 2: The tenth race of the 2016 DTM season will start on Sunday at 13:43 (live on ARD at 13:30). The third free practice session will be staged at 09:20 and the second qualifying session at 11:20 (live on EinsFestival at 11:15). The Mercedes-AMG DTM Race Hub at mercedes.me/racehubdtm, featuring live timing data, live commentary, fan voting and exclusive video clips hosted by Thore Schölermann will give an insight into what's happening behind the scenes at the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team during each race weekend.

Comments after the Race  

Robert Wickens (27, Canada):
P1
Car number: 6
Team: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA)
Car: SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"After this race, I've got an especially big grin on my face. I haven't had much luck here in the past, but the whole team have done a tremendous job, and together we've recorded my first win of the season. We knew that this track would be difficult for us, so we put in a lot of hard work, and that's now paid off. The car was simply fantastic. Winning races is never easy - it may have looked that way, but I can tell you that it most certainly wasn't. I tried to manage the tyres in case the safety car came out again. I got into a good rhythm, and everything worked superbly."  

Christian Vietoris (27, Germany):
P3
Car number: 8
Team: BWT Mercedes-AMG (Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke)
Car: BWT Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"I've been waiting for this podium for a long time. I put in strong performances at both the Lausitzring and the Norisring, and I'm happy that we've now been able to convert the good grid position here into points. I was faster on the corners than Marco Wittmann who was ahead of me, but unfortunately I wasn't able to overtake him on the straights. I tried everything possible but found no way past. There is a lot of sand on the track next to the perfect racing line. If you stray into it, you then need a couple of laps to get the tyres clean again. We now have to find a bit more top speed this evening so that we can go on the attack again tomorrow."  

Gary Paffett (35, England):
P4
Car number: 2
Team: EURONICS / FREE MEN'S WORLD Mercedes-AMG
(Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART)
Car: EURONICS Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM

"The car has run well so far all weekend. Fourth place in qualifying was a decent grid position for the race. I would have liked to have been on the front row, but it was still okay. It's very difficult to overtake other cars on this track, but anyways, I managed not to lose position. However, I couldn't push forwards. As things have worked out, fourth place gives me four more points and a sound basis for tomorrow."  

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM:

"A masterful start-to-finish victory for Robert and a strong team performance, with five Mercedes-AMG C 63s in the Top Ten. That's obviously what we aim for. I'm especially pleased that Dani and Esteban scored their first points today. The two of them have really deserved it. It's also the sort of thing that gives everyone a boost for the upcoming races."  

Drivers' Championship 

Canadians In BOLD