NURBURG, Germany — Matteo Cairoli (ITA/Emil Frey Racing) dominated the 11th DTM championship race at the Nürburgring on Saturday.
The Ferrari driver controlled the field from pole position in sweltering summer temperatures and crossed the finish line first after 39 laps with a lead of almost ten seconds.
“This victory feels fantastic after some rather disappointing weekends recently. Our team did a phenomenal job last week and did everything they could to get us back on track. It really paid off. First pole position, then the win and the fastest lap – the car was simply a rocket,” rejoiced Cairoli, who, as a DTM debutant, already has three victories to his name.
Porsche driver Thomas Preining (AUT) finished second on his team Manthey’s home track. Third place went to Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Polesitter Cairoli maintained his lead after a perfect start, ahead of Preining. Behind them, Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) took third place ahead of Wittmann and Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who lost two positions.
While there were some fierce battles further down the field, the gaps between the top five remained constant.
The 30-year-old Cairoli had built up a lead of over three seconds by the time of his mandatory pit stop and rejoined the race in first place after a quick tire change.
Preining had fitted new Pirelli slicks a lap earlier and, with his Porsche 911 GT3 R, reduced the gap to the Italian, but couldn’t get within striking distance. Wittmann, after an early pit stop, overtook Dörr, while Auer remained fifth.
As Cairoli continued to extend his lead, Dörr closed the gap to Wittmann, but couldn’t threaten the experienced driver from Fürth. The Ferrari driver ultimately secured his third victory by a large margin, giving him more wins this season than any other DTM driver.
Preining’s second-place finish also moved him up to second position in the overall standings. Wittmann and Dörr followed in third and fourth place, respectively. Auer finished fifth, remaining third in the championship.
Championship leader Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) tactically avoided tough battles and maintained his lead in the drivers’ standings with a sixth-place finish.
The best Lamborghini driver was Luca Engstler (Kempten/Red Bull Team Abt) in seventh. Jules Gounon (FRA/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) finished eighth.
Ricardo Feller (SUI) completed the eleventh race of the season in ninth place in the second Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. Bastian Buus (DK) completed the top ten in the Land-Motorsport 911.
