With Mercedes-AMG DTM having taken two wins so far this season through Paul Di Resta and Lucas Auer, they now head to the Norisring with fresh motivation, at a track that has been a happy hunting ground.
Over the last 14 consecutive seasons, the Stuttgart outfit has had the highest-placed car at the end of incident-filled races by the Dutzendteich, apart from 2009, where the Safety Car was not deployed.
Head of Mercedes-AMG-DTM, Ulrich Fritz, is happy that one of his drivers, Robert Wickens, is currently leading the drivers’ standings going into this weekend by three points, ahead of BMW’s Marco Wittmann.
Nevertheless, he is very much aware the run of good form that Mercedes have had at Norisring may not be guaranteed over the next two races.
“If you look closely at the scores in the standings and take into account that Robert has now taken the lead from Paul, then you begin to quickly realise how close everything is. For us, the Norisring is like our front room.
“Nowhere else have we been as successful in the DTM, so we have set ourselves extremely ambitious goals for the coming weekend.”
Christian Vietoris is looking to get his first victory at Norisring, as the 27-year-old has been on the podium twice, with his best finish being second in the main race last year.
“The Norisring is a race which I always look forward to. I’ve always been extremely successful at this track in recent years, so I feel very confident and really good about the weekend as we head there,” explained the Mücke Motorsport driver, who is currently 14th in the standings after two solid points finishes in Brandenburg.
“After my team’s decent showing at the Lausitzring weekend, we’re highly motivated ahead of the race, from head to toe. I think that we’ll have a very successful race weekend in Nuremberg.”
2005 champion Gary Paffett has had more than his fair share of ups and downs this year, as the Brit is on the hunt for a podium after almost a year.
“I’ve got mixed feelings about the way my season has gone so far, but I secured a decent result in the last race at the Lausitzring on Sunday,” said the Suffolk-based driver, who has taken two top five finishes at the Hockenheim season opener and Lausitzring.
“Mercedes are always good on Nuremberg’s street circuit, but it’s going to be tough. We’ve seen six different winners in the six races this season, which shows how extremely competitive the DTM is this year.”
Mercedes could also potentially capitalise on another good turnaround in the hunt for the manufacturers’ title, as they are 28 points behind BMW, with Audi Sport a further 20 points ahead. With another strong showing, they may leave the banks of the Dutzendteich ahead of their rivals.