Jordan Pepper (ZA) is unstoppable at the Norisring.
The 28-year-old showed no weakness in Saturday’s DTM race, celebrating a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 from TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT.
With his first DTM victory, the fastest driver in practice and qualifying continued his winning streak on the Nuremberg street circuit.
“What an incredibly emotional moment for me. I’m incredibly proud and still can’t quite believe it. The last few laps felt like an eternity. But I gave it my all and stayed fully focused until the end,” said a delighted Pepper.
Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) finished second in the Porsche 911 GT3 R after a tactically mature performance. Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel (Monaco) from the Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing took third place.
Polesitter Pepper underscored his top form at the start of the seventh DTM race of the season on Saturday afternoon. The South African confidently maintained his lead and subsequently pulled away from the field. Behind him, Thierry Vermeulen (NL/Emil Frey Racing) in the Ferrari 296 GT3 and Preining moved up to second and third place, respectively.
Both benefited from a collision between Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim (DN/Abt Sportsline), who had started from second, and Engel. While the Dane dropped back, the Mercedes-AMG driver was able to continue the race in fourth place. Jack Aitken (GB) finished fifth in the second Ferrari of Emil Frey Racing.
The leading duo of Pepper and Vermeulen only completed their tire change at the end of the pit stop window. Both drivers’ teams needed longer than their pursuers to fit the new Pirelli slicks. While Pepper returned to the track in the lead thanks to his advantage of almost five seconds, Vermeulen dropped back to fourth.
Preining and Engel, on the other hand, moved up to second and third place after very quick stops. In the final third of the race, however, Pepper continued to control the action from the front and took the checkered flag first after 65 laps with a lead of more than three seconds. Behind Preining, Engel and Vermeulen, Aitken completed the top five.
Lucas Auer (A) had an unremarkable race in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. The 30-year-old from Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf, however, managed to defend his lead in the standings by finishing sixth, ahead of Pepper, who is now second overall.
Auer’s fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) secured seventh place, while Arjun Maini (IND) finished eighth in the HRT Ford Performance Ford Mustang GT3.
Ricardo Feller (CH) gained six positions in the Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, finishing ninth. BMW driver René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) improved from 17th to 10th.
