Photo: Daimler AG
Not entirely unexpected, the Mercedes-AMG C-Coupes didn't fair so well in the third race of the 2014 DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterchaft) championship, with the lack of heavy rain denying any type of advantage for the three-pointed star drivers.
Finishing in eleventh place, Robert Wickens (Freeman's World Mercedes-AMG C-Coupe) scored no points, despite being the best placed AMG driver in the entire lineup.
On the plus side, despite the still horrible pace compared to the competition, it seems that Mercedes-AMG is finally making some progress when it comes to performance in the DTM, albeit they are far from equaling the dominance experienced by the three-pointed star in Formula One this season.
Returning to the Hungaroring, near Budapest, after a 26-year break, this year's DTM race there only saw BMW and Audi in the top 10, with BMW driver Marco Wittman winning it after also qualifying first.
Having started from 17th place and at some point in the race running in seventh position, finishing outside of the top ten is probably a bit painful for Wickens, but it was the best position he could finish given the current circumstances.
Robert Wickens: “Given our current situation, eleventh place is a decent result, even though we narrowly missed out on the points today. I knew that I was taking something of a risk starting on the option tires from seventeenth, because if you then get stuck in traffic, you can’t exploit the advantage of the tire to the full.
But I was in seventh place for much of the race and was hoping to hang in there. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Our pace on the prime tires was OK, and the crew executed some fantastic pit stops. Now we have to stick together as a team and carry on working hard. We’ve made some degree of progress since the start of the season. I feel more at ease in the car and think that we’ve turned a corner.”
Unfortunately, the surprise winner of the previous race in Oschersleben Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupe) retired in Hungaroring after damaging his car in a small crash with another car in the opening lap.
Former DTM champion Gary Paffett didn't even finish a full lap because of his car being struck from behind in the second turn, ending his race.
The 2014 DTM Manufacturers' Championship is currently led by Audi, with 144 points, followed by BMW with 118 points and Mercedes-Benz a distant third, with just 41 points.
Thanks to his Hungaroring win this weekend, the Drivers' Championship is led by Marco Wittmann, with 50 points, while the best placed Mercedes-Benz driver is Christian Vietoris, who is currently in sixth place with 25 points. The next DTM race will take place at Norisring, in Nuremberg, on the weekend of June 28th-29th.
On the plus side, despite the still horrible pace compared to the competition, it seems that Mercedes-AMG is finally making some progress when it comes to performance in the DTM, albeit they are far from equaling the dominance experienced by the three-pointed star in Formula One this season.
Returning to the Hungaroring, near Budapest, after a 26-year break, this year's DTM race there only saw BMW and Audi in the top 10, with BMW driver Marco Wittman winning it after also qualifying first.
Having started from 17th place and at some point in the race running in seventh position, finishing outside of the top ten is probably a bit painful for Wickens, but it was the best position he could finish given the current circumstances.
Robert Wickens: “Given our current situation, eleventh place is a decent result, even though we narrowly missed out on the points today. I knew that I was taking something of a risk starting on the option tires from seventeenth, because if you then get stuck in traffic, you can’t exploit the advantage of the tire to the full.
But I was in seventh place for much of the race and was hoping to hang in there. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Our pace on the prime tires was OK, and the crew executed some fantastic pit stops. Now we have to stick together as a team and carry on working hard. We’ve made some degree of progress since the start of the season. I feel more at ease in the car and think that we’ve turned a corner.”
Unfortunately, the surprise winner of the previous race in Oschersleben Christian Vietoris (Original-Teile Mercedes AMG C-Coupe) retired in Hungaroring after damaging his car in a small crash with another car in the opening lap.
Former DTM champion Gary Paffett didn't even finish a full lap because of his car being struck from behind in the second turn, ending his race.
The 2014 DTM Manufacturers' Championship is currently led by Audi, with 144 points, followed by BMW with 118 points and Mercedes-Benz a distant third, with just 41 points.
Thanks to his Hungaroring win this weekend, the Drivers' Championship is led by Marco Wittmann, with 50 points, while the best placed Mercedes-Benz driver is Christian Vietoris, who is currently in sixth place with 25 points. The next DTM race will take place at Norisring, in Nuremberg, on the weekend of June 28th-29th.
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