DTM Crimson Bull Ring: Maro Engel wins for Mercedes in Race 2

Winward Mercedes driver Maro Engel bounced again from a tough Saturday to finish the Crimson Bull Ring DTM weekend with a victory.

Having completed solely third within the season opener on account of a botched pitstop, Engel made amends on Sunday as he transformed fifth place right into a race win.

“That is clearly very particular, particularly after what occurred yesterday,” the three-time DTM race winner instructed ran.de, referring to the unlucky pit cease on Saturday. “I am extremely happy with my staff. That is precisely how we needed to return again, and that makes right this moment’s victory even perhaps sweeter.”

With this victory, the German driver broke a long-standing Mercedes curse in Austria. The final time the Stuttgart-based model celebrated a DTM victory in Styria was 23 years in the past, when Marcel Fassler triumphed aboard the CLK-DTM 2003.

Behind Engel, Schubert-BMW driver Marco Wittmann and native hero Lucas Auer (Landgraf-Mercedes) accomplished the rostrum.

Jules Gounon (Winward-Mercedes) completed fourth, adopted by Nicki Thiim within the Comtoyou Aston Martin in fifth. Polesitter Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert-BMW) finally completed solely sixth after two poorly timed pitstops.

The BMW driver was “fairly offended” after the race, saying “I feel we simply did not do sure issues proper right this moment and we paid the value for it ultimately” in an interview with ran.de. “From my perspective, it was the mistaken choice twice.”

Ben Dorr (Dorr-McLaren) completed in seventh place after his unlucky retirement the day before today, whereas DTM rookie Finn Wiebelhaus (HRT-Ford), Thierry Vermeulen (Emil-Frey-Ferrari) and Bastian Buus (Land-Porsche) accomplished the highest 10.

As on Saturday, there have been no main incidents in the beginning, permitting van der Linde to carry on the lead from pole place. Behind him had been eventual race winner Engel, his AMG team-mate Auer and Ford driver Wiebelhaus.

On the entrance, van der Linde was unable to interrupt away from the remainder of the sector within the early phases. Quite the opposite, Engel put the BMW driver below strain early on, however could not discover a well beyond the South African. Behind them, the primary drivers had been already coming into the pits for the primary of their two necessary tyre modifications.

The highest 4, who had by now closed up tightly, stayed out for a very long time. Engel, Auer and Wiebelhaus got here into the pits on the identical time, however the order remained unchanged. BMW rider Wittmann, who had already stopped 4 laps earlier and due to this fact already had his tyres as much as temperature, overtook Wiebelhaus and Auer.

Race chief van der Linde was the final driver to make his first tyre change, and the Schubert staff made no errors in the course of the pit cease. Nonetheless, the undercut by the competitors paid off: each Engel and his team-mate Wittmann overtook the polesitter, who had thus dropped again to 3rd place.

Auer, Gounon, and Thiim battled behind for fourth place, with the Austrian quickly breaking away from this three-way struggle, whereas Thiim managed to overhaul Gounon’s “Mamba.” Wiebelhaus had additionally in the meantime rejoined this group.

By the second necessary pit cease, Engel had pulled away on the entrance by nearly two seconds, whereas Wittmann and van der Linde rekindled the BMW inside duel from the day before today. The polesitter was clearly sooner and put his Schubert team-mate below strain, however could not discover a well beyond.

Engel and van der Linde had been the primary drivers from the main group to make their second pit cease. A lap later, Wittmann, Auer, Thiim, and Gounon adopted, with the Landgraf staff’s cease going higher than the Comtoyou staff’s, permitting the “Mamba” to overhaul Thiim.

Engel defended his lead confidently after the necessary pit cease, whereas van der Linde initially dropped again to fourth place after his pit cease. Within the closing phases, the polesitter got here below rising strain: first from Gounon, then from Thiim. With just some minutes remaining, each rivals overtook him.

Saturday winner and erstwhile championship chief Thomas Preining (Manthey-Porsche) completed in thirteenth place.

Former Method 1 driver Timo Glock (Dorr-McLaren) was categorised in fifteenth place, simply forward of Mirko Bortolotti, who, as on Saturday, was the most effective Lamborghini driver, however failed to attain any factors on Sunday.

AMG driver Maro Engel took over the lead within the general standings along with his victory .

The following DTM race will happen in 4 weeks, when the GT3 collection visits the dune circuit in Zandvoort, Netherlands (22-24 Might).

1

80
 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
37

 
 
 

2

11
 
BMW M4 GT3 Evo
37

4.857
 
 

3

22
 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
37

 
 
 

4

48
 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
37

0.219
 
 

5

7
 
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo
37

2.192
 
 

6

3
 
BMW M4 GT3 Evo
37

 
 
 

7

B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport

25
 
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
37

 
 
 

8

F. Wiebelhaus HRT Ford Efficiency

64
 
Ford Mustang GT3 Evo
37

3.644
 
 

9

T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing

69
 
Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo
37

0.186
 
 

10

B. Buus Land-Motorsport

29
 
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)
37

 
 
 

11

36
 
Ford Mustang GT3 Evo
37

1.842
 
 

12

90
 
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)
37

 
 
 

13

91
 
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)
37

 
 
 

14

14
 
Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo
37

0.233
 
 

15

16
 
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
37

2.973
 
 

16

19
 
Lamborghini Temerario GT3
37

3.582
 
 

17

N. Baert Comtoyou Racing

8
 
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo
37

 
 
 

18

130
 
Lamborghini Temerario GT3
37

2.256
 
 

19

10
 
Lamborghini Temerario GT3
37

11.436
 
 

20

63
 
Lamborghini Temerario GT3
37

 
 
 

dnf

T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Group Landgraf

84
 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
0

 
 
 

 

We would like your opinion!

What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?

– The Motorsport.com Group