HOHNSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany — Luca Stolz kept his cool in the heat at the Sachsenring — the 28-year-old driver from the Mercedes-AMG Team HRT did not let himself get upset in a turbulent race on Sunday and crossed the finish line first after 44 laps.
“I’m finally back on the DTM podium and as the winner,” Stolz said. “The victory is a bit lucky because of the penalty for Thierry Vermeulen, he was the fastest today. Nevertheless, it feels great and I hope that we can take this momentum into the final phase of the season.”
Stolz became the ninth driver to win after 12 races of DTM action.
The event was broadcast LIVE by SPEED SPORT 1.
Six of the seven manufacturers represented in the DTM have thus recorded at least one success this season. Kelvin van der Linde finished second, 0.769 seconds behind. This meant that the Audi driver from Abt Sportsline regained the lead in the standings. Third place went to Thierry Vermeulen, who was denied a possible debut victory in the DTM due to a penalty for violating the pit stop regulations.
48,000 spectators watched the races at the Sachsenring, which demanded everything from the drivers and their vehicles in high temperatures.
The Dutchman Vermeulen took advantage of the first pole position of his DTM career in the Ferrari 296 GT3 from Emil Frey Racing and pulled away from the field after the start. Mercedes-AMG driver Stolz was able to overtake Van der Linde and moved into second place ahead of the South African.
Maro Engel from the Mercedes-AMG Team Winward and Jack Aitken in the second Ferrari from Emil Frey Racing followed in fourth and fifth place. After the mandatory pit stops, the first four drivers moved a little closer together. The current champion Thomas Preining made up three positions with a quick tire change and moved up to fifth place.
There was excitement on lap 24 when triple champion René Rast touched Jordan Pepper from the Lamborghini Team TGI by GRT, who was ahead of him, with his BMW M4 GT3.
DTM debutant then collided with BMW works driver Marco Wittmann – the race ended in the gravel trap for both of them. The safety car had to be deployed. The restart initially brought no changes before Vermeulen was penalized with a penalty lap for a pit stop violation by his crew. Stolz took advantage of this and took the lead, which he brought to the finish line confidently ahead of Van der Linde. Behind Vermeulen, Preining was able to fight his way up to fourth place, while Engel finished the race in fifth place.
Saturday’s winner Aitken was waved off in sixth place, Mirko Bortolotti drove the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 from SSR Performance in seventh place. The Italian lost the lead in the overall standings and is now seven points behind leader Van der Linde. The BMW drivers Sheldon van der Linde and Rast from Schubert Motorsport came in eighth and ninth. Nicki Thiim was classified in tenth position in the second Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 from SSR Performance.