After a good share of results in the first five races of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) season, Edoardo Mortara is currently second in the standings, having taken another points finish at the opening race at the Lausitzring yesterday afternoon.
Despite taking a three-place grid penalty for the incident involving Team Schnitzer’s António Félix da Costa at Spielberg, the Italian was showing a good improvement over the day’s proceedings, as he finished in a credible eighth place.
TouringCars.Net spoke with the Team Abt Sportsline driver after the first race about the new strategic use of the Drag Reduction System for 2016, which is based over track length and projected laps completed.
“It’s pretty cool, as you have to judge your pace, in comparison with the others. It’s up to you to know if you can save it or not,” he explained, stating that the pace that the car has is a key factor in determining the appropriate strategy.
“You need to also be within the one-second gap, which means you have to push quite hard, which is very difficult on this track.
“There’s a pretty tough exit on the last turn, and if the guy in front of you is using DRS, then you end up losing a couple of tenths.”
Mortara was showing good race pace, as he was another Audi driver that was able to make up significant ground. This was accompanied by the gradual increase in track temperatures, hitting its peak of 40 degrees during the 40-minute race itself.
“If you are faster than the others, then it’s easier to do what you want. But if you’re slightly slower, you’re going to run outside of the one-second gap, making it more difficult. I think it’s a good thing.”
Mortara will look to depose current points leader Marco Wittmann later on today, as the 29-year-old is just three points behind the Team RMG driver.
The final practice session of the weekend, lasting 30 minutes, starts at 09:00 local time (08:00 British Summer Time).