NURBURG, Germany — With nerves of steel and tactical brilliance, 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 maneuvers. In the final third of a chaotic race, the BMW driver took the lead and secured his first DTM win in two years.
“This 20th victory means a tremendous amount to me! In all my years in the DTM, I’ve experienced many highs and lows. It feels fantastic to be competing at the front on my own merit. The race was chaotic at times, but I kept a cool head, even when things got really tight towards the end,” explained Wittmann.
Tom Kalender (Hamm/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) delivered a sensational performance: The youngster gained nine places and celebrated his first podium finish in his DTM career, taking second place. Thomas Preining (Austria/Manthey) narrowly missed out on the championship lead with a third-place finish, trailing Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) by just one point.
The 40-year-old retired after a first-lap collision, marking his first DTM race without points in 18 races. 81,000 spectators witnessed a thrilling race weekend at the Nürburgring, featuring numerous overtaking maneuvers and intense battles.
Shortly after the start of the twelfth DTM championship race at the Nürburgring, a collision occurred in the first corner – the safety car had to be deployed.
Championship leader Engel had to retire his Mercedes-AMG GT3, as did his fellow Mercedes driver Lucas Auer (AUT/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who consequently dropped back to fourth place in the standings. The race was also over for Kelvin van der Linde (ZA/Schubert Motorsport).
After the restart, polesitter Jules Gounon (FRA/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) led ahead of Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) and Matteo Cairoli (ITA/Emil Frey Racing). Wittmann had improved by one position to fourth and, after an early pit stop, took over second place behind Gounon. Dörr retired with an incorrectly fitted rear tire, and Cairoli dropped far back after a poor mandatory pit stop.
Preining also benefited from this, moving up to third place. Shortly afterwards, Wittmann took the lead in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo, as Gounon had to complete a penalty lap for exceeding the pit lane speed and lost many positions.
After the second tire 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 skillful overtaking maneuvers, the 18-year-old fought his way up to third.
Finally, the Mercedes-AMG driver attacked Preining and overtook the Austrian with one lap to go. Kalender even closed the gap to the leader, Wittmann – but Wittmann crossed the finish line first after 39 turbulent laps.
Behind Wittmann, Kalender, and Preining, Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Racing) and Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT) finished fourth and fifth in their Lamborghini Temerario GT3s. Luca Engstler (Kempten/Red Bull Team Abt) took sixth place in another Lamborghini.
Aston Martin factory driver Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) moved up to third place overall in seventh. Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen) positioned the second McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Dörr Motorsport in eighth place. Marco Mapelli (I/Red Bull Team Abt) followed in ninth, ahead of Porsche driver Bastian Buus (DK/Land-Motorsport).
