HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany — Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) is back in the thick of the DTM title fight.
The BMW driver won the 13th race of the season at the Sachsenring on Saturday, securing his second consecutive victory and moving up to third place in the standings. This reduced the gap to the leaders to 14 points.
“This result means big points in the title fight! For me, a DTM win at the Sachsenring is something very special; it was the last one on my bucket list. In the final stages of the race, Jules Gounon kept getting close to me, but I knew: if I didn’t make any mistakes, I’d bring home the win,” said Wittmann after his 21st DTM victory overall and BMW’s first triumph at the Sachsenring.
Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) also had reason to celebrate: the Frenchman finished second, securing his first podium finish of the season. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey) finished third. The Porsche factory driver had taken over the championship lead after qualifying second and extended his advantage to six points.
After securing his first pole position of the season, Wittmann started Saturday’s race at the Sachsenring from first place and maintained his lead after a good start. Behind him, Gounon and Kelvin van der Linde (ZA/Schubert Motorsport) each gained a position to run into second and third place, while Preining dropped back to fourth.
At that point, Matteo Cairoli (I/Emil Frey Racing) was fifth in his Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. By the time of the mandatory pit stop, the leading duo had extended their advantage to several seconds.
In lap 16, Wittmann switched to new Pirelli slicks, with Gounon following a lap later. The Frenchman then rejoined the track in the lead but was soon overtaken by Wittmann, whose tires had already reached operating temperature. Behind them, Preining gained a position after a quick pit stop and held onto third place ahead of van der Linde.
Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) followed in fifth place in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. This was the order in which the top five finished the 13th of 16 races this season after 41 laps. Engel, who started eighth, limited the damage after a tactically strong performance and is second in the standings, six points behind the leader.
Sixth place went to the Italian Cairoli, with Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT) following in seventh in his Lamborghini Temerario GT3. Title contender Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) finished eighth in his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 after a race with mixed results.
Thierry Vermeulen (NL/Emil Frey Racing) took ninth place in the second Emil Frey Racing Ferrari. Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) rounded out the top 10 in his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.
Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) suffered a setback in his bid for the DTM crown. The Austrian started the race from the pit lane after an accident in qualifying through no fault of his own and finished eleventh. This leaves Auer 36 points behind championship leader Preining.
