Even with having taken his second win of the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season this afternoon at the Lausitzring, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport BWT’s Lucas Auer admits that despite taking a commanding victory, he is aware that focus has to be maintained throughout the entire weekend.
“That was a super race – absolutely amazing. Congratulations to the entire team and, of course, to Robert for coming second,” said the current points leader, who has also amassed points through two pole positions this year.
Auer remained unchallenged during the 44-lap race, with him taking the win by 3.613 seconds from Team Mercedes me’s Robert Wickens, who came back from a difficult weekend at the Hockenheim season opener a fortnight ago.
“I’m really pleased. Balance was terrific today, and our tyres were extremely consistent. My driving style and a brilliant car combined to give us victory today,” explained Auer, who now extends his championship lead over Gary Paffett to 34 points heading into tomorrow.
Even with having set a blistering pace that reflected his efforts from last year, where he took his maiden win in the June sunshine, the Austrian remains cautious in how he approaches each race day.
“My second stint was super. It’s always difficult to win, but I set the pace today. Still, you can never sit back and relax in the DTM because you always have to keep an eye on tyres and manage degradation.”
“I share the team’s delight now at winning but must turn my focus back to tomorrow’s second race.”