DTM 2011- Second place finish for Mercedes in Austria by Ralf Schumacher
The younger Schumacher continues to do well in DTM. Hey, at least one Schumacher is getting on the podium for Mercedes, right? A total of 6 Mercedes drivers finished in the top 10 but Audi took their second victory, making it 2-1 in their favor thus far in the season. Mercedes does still lead the driver and team standings but it's very tight, as DTM should be.
Race summary:
The start: Ralf Schumacher defends his third place at the first corner. Jamie Green moves up from P9 to P6. Behind him, Gary Paffett, Bruno Spengler, Maro Engel and Renger van der Zande complete the first lap in positions seven to ten. Spengler has climbed four places - from twelfth to eighth.
Lap 5: Six C-Class drivers in the top 10: Schumacher in third place, Green, Paffett, Spengler, Engel and van der Zande in positions six to ten.
Lap 7 : Spengler overtakes Paffett for seventh place.
Lap 8: Engel completes a drive-through penalty for a collision with Edoardo Mortara (Audi) at the first corner.
Lap 10: The pit stop window is open, and Green, Vietoris, Stoddart are the first Mercedes-Benz drivers to come in for fresh tyres and fuel.
Lap 11: Van der Zande overtakes Paffett and moves into P6.
Lap 12: Van der Zande and David Coulthard complete their first mandatory pit stops.
Lap 14: Schumacher pits from the lead for his first stop and emerges ahead of Oliver Jarvis (Audi).
Lap 15: First mandatory pit stop for Engel.
Lap 18: Schumacher posts the fastest lap of the race so far.
Lap 21: Second pit stop for Coulthard.
Lap 22: Spengler is the last driver to complete his first mandatory stop and is in P4. Green comes in for his second stop.
Lap 23: Schumacher is the second driver to come in for his second stop.
Lap 27: Paffett makes his second stop.
Lap 28: Spengler pits from the lead to make his final stop and re-emerges in P4. Within 28 laps, he has moved up from P12 on the grid to P4.
Lap 30: Six C-Class drivers are in the top 10: Schumacher in second place, Spengler in fourth position, Green sixth and Paffett, Coulthard and van der Zande in positions eight to ten.
Final lap: After 38 laps and a total distance of 164.388 km, Ralf Schumacher finishes second, and is the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver the third round of the 2011 DTM season in Spielberg. Bruno Spengler battles his way up eight places to finish fourth. Jamie Green and Gary Paffett secure P6 and P8 respectively
