Lucas Auer made history by becoming the first Austrian to win a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) race at the Lausitzring this afternoon, dominating proceedings from lights-to-flag.
The Mücke Motorsport driver, who has had a long association with the team since his spell in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, was really pleased with the pace he had showed all weekend.
“I was really happy about getting pole position, as it’s so important to be in front in this series,” said the 21-year-old to TouringCars.Net after his maiden race victory.
“After a good start and first lap, I could open a gap, and did 46 qualifying laps, as I was confident and could easily control the race.”
Mücke Motorsport, based in Berlin, 90 minutes north of the Brandenburg-based circuit, also took its maiden win in the series, having become a part of the Mercedes-AMG DTM operation back in 2005.
Auer was all smiles; saying that he felt that both Peter Mücke’s outfit, as well as the Stuttgart brand deserved the victory.
However, the Austrian was somewhat bewildered by the fact that after his pit stop, he rejoined behind the Audis of Nico Müller and Mattias Ekström.
“I thought: ‘Are they still in front of me, or do they have to do another pit stop?’
“I spent a long time behind them, but I knew that they had no chance against me. A pit stop here takes about 20 seconds, so I knew I was going to be in front.
“It was more difficult for Robert, because I was able to pull out a gap and was able to manage everything better.”
Auer now moves up into 11th in the standings, having had two lackluster weekends at both Hockenheim and his home circuit, Spielberg, but is ahead of Müller by four points heading to Norisring.
He also described this year’s action so far to be “incredible,” due to the fact that all 24 drivers do have a similar chance to go for pole positions and race wins, as last season showed.
“it’s all about consistency here. This year, the guy who’s the most consistent will become champion.”