Calm under pressure and tactically smart: Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) secured his 20th DTM victory on Sunday at the Nürburgring. The 36-year-old impressed with early and fast pit stops as well as clean overtaking manoeuvres. In the final third of a chaotic race, the BMW driver took the lead and secured his first DTM victory in two years. “The 20th victory means an enormous amount to me! Throughout all my years in the DTM, I have experienced many highs and lows. It feels fantastic to be fighting right at the front on our own strength. The race was chaotic at times, but I kept a cool head, even though things got really tight towards the end,” explained Wittmann. Tom Kalender (Hamm/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) delivered a sensational performance: The youngster gained nine positions and celebrated the first podium finish of his DTM career in second place. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey) narrowly missed out on taking the lead in the standings with third place and is now just one point behind championship leader Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol). The 40-year-old retired after a collision on the opening lap and therefore failed to score points for the first time in 18 DTM races. 81,000 spectators experienced a hot race weekend at the Nürburgring – with plenty of overtaking manoeuvres and hard-fought battles.
Keyfacts, 12th race of the season out of 16
• Pole position: Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #48), 1:25.062 minutes
• Winner: Marco Wittmann (Schubert Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 R #11)
• Fastest lap: Finn Wiebelhaus (HRT Ford Racing, Ford Mustang GT3 #64), 1:25.988 minutes
Shortly after the start of the 12th DTM championship race, a collision occurred at the first corner of the Nürburgring – the Safety Car was deployed. Championship leader Engel had to retire his Mercedes-AMG GT3, as did fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who consequently dropped to fourth place in the standings. The race was also over for Kelvin van der Linde (ZA/Schubert Motorsport). After the restart, pole-sitter Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) led ahead of Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) and Matteo Cairoli (I/Emil Frey Racing). Wittmann had moved up one position to fourth and took second place behind Gounon after an early pit stop. Dörr retired with an incorrectly fitted rear tyre, while Cairoli dropped far down the order after a weak mandatory pit stop. Preining also benefited from this and moved up to third. Shortly afterwards, Wittmann took the lead in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo as Gounon had to serve a Penalty Lap for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, losing several positions in the process.
After the second tyre change, Wittmann and Preining defended their positions. Kalender, on the other hand, opted for a late stop and returned to the track in fifth place on fresh Pirelli slicks. With skilful overtaking manoeuvres, the 18-year-old fought his way up to third place. The Mercedes-AMG driver then attacked Preining and passed the Austrian one lap before the finish. Kalender even managed to close the gap to the leading Wittmann – but after 39 turbulent laps, Wittmann crossed the finish line first.
Behind Wittmann, Kalender and Preining, Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Racing) and Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT) finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Lamborghini Temerario GT3. Luca Engstler (Kempten/Red Bull Team Abt) took sixth place in another Lamborghini. Aston Martin works driver Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) moved up to third place in the overall standings with seventh place. Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen) placed the second McLaren 720S GT3 Evo from Dörr Motorsport in eighth. Marco Mapelli (I/Red Bull Team Abt) followed in ninth, ahead of Porsche driver Bastian Buus (DK/Land-Motorsport).
Tom Kalender: “When I ran to my team after the podium ceremony, I saw so many happy faces as never before. In just four years, I have made it from karting to the DTM podium. This feeling is indescribable. After my retirement on Saturday, I still had a fresh set of tyres in reserve. That obviously helped me in the battle with Thomas Preining.”
Thomas Preining: “A great home race for the team! At the start, I was incredibly lucky to just avoid the collision involving the cars next to me. I would have loved to bring second place home and I gave it everything I had, but Tom Kalender was simply impossible to hold off. We are now fully involved in the championship fight and we have worked hard to get here.”
Results, 12th championship race
1. Marco Wittmann (D/Schubert Motorsport)
2. Tom Kalender (D/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), +0,517 seconds
3. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey), +0,918 seconds
4. Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Performance), +2,571 seconds
5. Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT), +3,112 seconds
The complete result is available here.