Maiden DTM victory for Joel Eriksson, Zanardi fifth at Misano

Joel Eriksson (BMW Team RBM) surprisingly scored his maiden DTM victory in the second night race of the seventh round at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in the rainy race full of incidents.

He shared a podium with Edoardo Mortara (Mercedes) and Rene Rast (Audi) but the greatest star of the race was an Italian racing legend Alex Zanardi who participated in the race as a BMW guest driver and finished fifth.

Alex Zanardi finished fifth in his second DTM race

Loic Duval was on the pole position for the first time in a career but he ruined his chances for a good result when he stalled on the grid. Edo Mortara took the lead on the start. He came in for his tyre change at the end of lap 24, rejoining ahead of Rast. They both were behind Joel Eriksson, who made his pit stop before one of Safety Car periods.

Audi’s Robin Frijns was fourth, with Alex Zanardi making a remarkable comeback to touring car racing with fifth place. Paul Di Resta was sixth, increasing his lead in the championship ahead of Gary Paffett, who finished 14th. Di Resta has 186 points, nine more than Paffett.

The next round is scheduled for September 7-9 at the Nürburgring.