The DTM experienced two premieres last weekend in Zandvoort: Matteo Cairoli celebrated his first win in the series in the first race on Saturday, while Kelvin van der Linde achieved his first DTM success for BMW on Sunday. Additionally, Ben Dörr provided another highlight on the Dutch dune circuit with the first podium for the Dörr-McLaren team.
Cairoli dominates Saturday and celebrates debut victory
Matteo Cairoli had an almost perfect weekend in Zandvoort. After the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari driver had already set the fastest time in Friday practice, the Italian also secured pole position on Saturday morning and confidently converted it into his first DTM victory in the first race.
At the start, Cairoli claimed the lead, while Lucas Auer in the Landgraf-Mercedes overtook Thierry Vermeulen to take second place. A largely controlled race developed behind them, with Cairoli pulling away by more than a second early on.
The Ferrari driver controlled the race for long stretches, but had to battle significant tire wear in the final laps. The left rear tire, in particular, caused concern for the 29-year-old, making his debut victory narrower in the end than it initially appeared.
Auer brought home second place, thereby taking the lead in the overall standings. Vermeulen completed the podium for Emil Frey Racing in front of his home crowd. Behind the top three, Bastian Buus initially successfully defended fourth place against Jules Gounon, but was disqualified after the race because his Land-Porsche was underweight.
This promoted several drivers: Gounon was classified fourth, Ben Dörr took fifth place ahead of Maro Engel and Thomas Preining. Luca Engstler and Nicki Thiim completed the top 10.
Glock plagued by bad luck again
Saturday's race was disappointing for Timo Glock. The Dörr-McLaren driver had to start from the back of the field anyway after a technical defect in qualifying and clashed with Kelvin van der Linde in the opening stages. Glock suffered a tire damage and fell back early.
Later, the former Formula 1 driver had to park his McLaren for good. According to his own statement, the cause was a defect in the accelerator pedal. Kelvin van der Linde and Tom Kalender also did not reach the finish line.
Aside from the retirements, the race remained largely calm despite some wheel-to-wheel action. The mandatory pit stops brought hardly any changes to the standings. Only Thomas Preining gained a position on Luca Engstler. However, an unsafe release situation at Abt-Lamborghini caused controversy when Marco Mapelli touched Mirko Bortolotti while exiting the pits.
Van der Linde strikes back on Sunday
In the second race, Kelvin van der Linde made an impressive comeback. The Schubert-BMW driver started from pole position and was already considered one of the favorites before the start after adjustments to the Balance of Performance and an additional set of fresh tires.
Initially, the South African defended the lead against Luca Engstler and Thierry Vermeulen. While Vermeulen lost places again at the start, an intense race developed behind the leaders with several incidents and different strategies.
Following the first pit stop phase, a safety car period further increased the excitement. The cause was Jules Gounon, who damaged a track marker after a driving error. During the subsequent restart, Vermeulen seized the opportunity to overtake Engstler and soon afterward put pressure on van der Linde.
The BMW driver made a small mistake in the final corner a little later, allowing Vermeulen to take the lead. However, the race turned around again at the second mandatory pit stop: while Schubert-BMW delivered a flawless service, Emil Frey Racing lost crucial time due to a botched tire change. Vermeulen's Ferrari was released too early, even though the front left wheel was not yet fully mounted.
Van der Linde took advantage of his tires being already up to temperature and regained the lead. He then pulled away decisively and drove to his first DTM victory for BMW with a lead of over six seconds.
Ben Dörr celebrates first DTM podium
Behind van der Linde, Ben Dörr provided the surprise of the day. Despite a slow first pit stop, the 21-year-old fought his way back to the front with several overtakes and secured second place. With that, both Dörr himself and the Dörr-McLaren team celebrated their first podium in the DTM.
Marco Wittmann completed the double success for Schubert-BMW in third place. Maro Engel took fourth place and thus regained the championship lead. Vermeulen dropped back to fifth place in the final phase due to fading tires and lost time during the second stop.
Luca Engstler and Marco Mapelli finished in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Thomas Preining prevailed in the battle for eighth place against Mirko Bortolotti, while Ricardo Feller completed the top 10. Lucas Auer, on the other hand, had a difficult race and finished only 13th after a collision with Nicki Thiim.
Tough weekend for several teams
The difficult weekend continued for the national team on Sunday. After Saturday's disqualification, Bastian Buus was eliminated early due to a tire failure.
There were also problems for Winward-Mercedes: Both Maro Engel and Jules Gounon lost a lot of time during pit stops due to technical difficulties with the equipment. Nevertheless, Engel managed to return to the top of the overall standings with fourth place.
After the race weekend in Zandvoort, Engel leads the championship with 67 points, ahead of Lucas Auer with 61 points. Marco Wittmann moves up to third place in the overall standings, ahead of Thomas Preining and Matteo Cairoli.