Restarting, not setting up BoP, is the key to turning the Mercedes Imola DTM

The Winward Racing pilot did not get on the podium only on Sunday, when he passed on the last lap Mark Whitman‘s BMW, which marked a dramatic turn from Saturday’ s race when Mara Engel in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with the best place took only tenth place.

Before the start of the race, all Mercedes riders lost 20 kg after Auer led the AMG contingent in qualifying in ninth place, but limited opportunities for passes on the Imola track meant it had a limited effect, and the Austrian resigned, fleeing abroad. . points due to brake damping.

PB was re-adjusted before qualifying on Sunday, adding 25kg to Audi and Lamborghini cars as Engel M’s Gruppe M car finished fourth in the grid.

Auer qualified four places further, but moved into the competition after a quick restart of the safety car that brought him ahead of Engel, Luka Stolz and Whitman. He then ran side by side Felipe FragaTamburello’s Ferrari, the leader of the early race cut the right rear tire in the next contact and was forced to resign.

In an interview with Autosport after the race, where he apologized to his team for a “hellish mistake” that allowed Whitman to pass, Auer dismissed speculation that the BoP setup had a significant impact.

“Honestly, it was my restart that made our day bigger,” said the winner of Portimao, who was allowed to pass. Mirka Bartaloci under a safety car after the Italian was released on his way out of the box and came into contact with Mercedes.

“They slept, not really, and that made our race.

“Otherwise we would be the same base as yesterday, I think one or two cars in the P9-P10.”

Engel continued his record in every race, one of three riders who did so along with the championship leader Sheldon van der Linde and Baralotti, but by the end slipped to seventh place.

He told Autosport that Imola “was the weekend where PB was farthest.”

“We were trying to report to the event that we thought it was wrong and it was a little unpleasant to be so far away [on Saturday] to prove that we are obviously at a disadvantage, ”he said after an early safety car thwarted his strategy of starting on a new tire, and a“ dirty restart ”cost him his position on the track.

“ITR loan, they responded. But seeing the result, it was probably not enough. ”

Auer’s teammate Maximilian Gotz also scored points in ninth place, and leading Mercedes HRT driver Luka Stoltz did not take 12th place after he was overtaken by reigning three-time champion Rosberg Audi Nick Mueller.

HRT boss Ulrich Fritz was generous about the state of Silver Shots in Italy, telling Autosport: “I think it’s a classic moment of how close the DTM is.

«[Auer] was successful with the restart, and his restart more or less gave him the position he was in.

“But if you look at the end of the race where BMW pushed it like crazy, it was probably not the biggest BoP for us.

“However, we know it’s a sport and we have to live with it. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you are on the side of the winner.

“Here we were definitely not on the side of the winner, but we just need to keep our heads down and do our best for the next races.”