Even with having secured fourth place at the end of the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race at the Red Bull Ring this afternoon, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s Robert Wickens is aiming to ensure a steady run of points in the Styrian Alps, despite having to hold off the advances of a closing Marco Wittmann.
The Guelph native felt that the 55-minute race was a demanding affair, saying the performance of the Audi RS5 DTMs this weekend is “making our lives pretty miserable, to be honest.”
Wickens, who qualified seventh earlier today, was able to fight his way up three positions after the fast-paced start into turn one, putting him up into fourth.
But the race was anything but simple for the six-time race winner after getting clear of the defending champion after his mandatory stop.
“The team did a fantastic job in the pits, but Rast on cold tyres drove into the side of my car after the stop, and I got a lot of damage on the floor and the whole side,” admitted the 28-year-old, who bravely fended off the M4 DTM of Wittmann.
“From there on, it was just a matter of surviving, to be honest. It has been such a hard weekend for us so far, with various issues, but we fought through, and hopefully we can get a similar result tomorrow.”