It was widely known going into the Race of Germany that the outcome of the event would have a major impact on the WTCC series for Season 5. True to form, the race delivered surprising results and has changed the complexion of the series from top to bottom.
First off, the projected winner was presumed to be the person that could turn the fastest laps around the 13 mile course. In the week leading up to the event, the driver at the top of the rivals leader board was nearly a full 4 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Andrew Steppat was surely the top favorite to win the "Lord of the Ring" title. The big variable would be whether or not the start grid would be inverted or not. The dice was rolled and the grid was reversed. This would put a wrinkle in Andrew's ability to dominate the race from the front. The other variable at play here was just how difficult it is to turn a single clean lap, much less 5 of them back-to-back. Andrew was unable to do so, neither was anyone else. But most surprising was the fact that the driver to have the fewest mistakes over the 65 miles of the event was none other than Bryan Dean. Having just defected from the now defunct Razorback Motorsports team, Bryan turned 5 near perfect laps and was able to lead most of the race unchallenged. Truly a dominant performance that FRL drivers are unaccustomed too from someone whose name doesn't start with Andrew. This win boosts him from a relatively remote P5 in points all the way up to third place, now two points ahead of former teammate Ethan Maestri. The points battle for third is now set for a real showdown for the final three events.
Travis Billingsley battled hard for P2 and the double points he earns for the effort brings him within striking distance of Andrew's points lead. With only 9 points between the two leaders, it will be interesting to see if he can carry the momentum going forward and be a continued threat to Andrew's championship run. Drew Dilbeck comes in at P6 for the event and becomes one of only two drivers to score at least a sixth place finish in all five events so far. He single handedly keeps Millenium Motorsports in the team points for this event as well.
Matthew Smith makes continued progress in his bid for a rookie points win. He benefits from a solid P7 finish here and with double points, closes the gap to just two points separating him from rookie points leader, Nicholas Hargrove.
It's always nice to see a shake-up in the status quo. Bryan Dean benefits from this last one, but there is still a lot of racing to do before this season comes to an end. The points near the top have narrowed to their closest margin since Yas Marina. Who will make a move to the front now? Will the status quo reassert itself? We'll see with our next race, at Monza, at the end of the month.
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