Italian driver Matteo Cairoli secured his maiden DTM victory in Saturday’s race in this prestigious GT series. Kelvin van der Linde dominated the second race in his BMW M4 GT3 EVO for Schubert Motorsport.
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| Photo: ADAC Motorsport |
One of the world’s top GT series, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, moved from the Austrian Red Bull Ring, where the opening round of the season took place, to Circuit Zandvoort. Even during the practice sessions, Cairoli showed impressive pace and converted that form into pole position for the first race, beating local driver Thierry Vermeulen by 0.171 seconds.
Despite all the pressure that came with starting from pole position in DTM for the first time, he kept a cool head and never allowed anyone to take away his chance of claiming a maiden victory. After the 60-minute race at the dune-surrounded Zandvoort circuit, he crossed the finish line in first place.
“What a feeling! Despite my lead, I had to stay fully focused in the final laps because the tyres had dropped off quite a lot. I can still remember watching the DTM for the first time in 2013. Ever since then it was my dream to compete in the series one day. Which makes the victory even sweeter for me. I’m confident that this win will give us an added boost for the season,” said a delighted Cairoli.
He was joined on the podium by Lucas Auer in second place and Thierry Vermeulen in third.
The second part of the weekend belonged to South African driver Kelvin van der Linde, who secured pole position and, after a tough race, claimed his ninth DTM victory.
“The victory feels in-credible; I’m lost for words. The race was an emotional rollercoaster, but that is exactly why I love the DTM. We fine-tuned the details and spent a lot of time working on pit stops after the opening weekend in Spielberg. It paid off,” said race winner Van der Linde.
Ben Dörr came home in second place and, with that result, secured his maiden DTM podium. Marco Wittmann, teammate of Kelvin van der Linde, completed the podium in third place.
In the Drivers’ Standings, Maro Engel leads the championship by six points ahead of Lucas Auer. Marco Wittmann, currently third in the standings, is also not far behind, trailing Engel by 15 points.
The next stop on the DTM calendar will be the challenging Lausitzring on June 19–21.