Manufacturing facility Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti moved again into the lead of the DTM standings together with his first victory of the 2024 season on the Crimson Bull Ring.
Beginning fourth in his SSR Efficiency-entered Lamborghini Huracan GT3, Bortolotti confirmed fast tempo on a moist however drying monitor to maneuver into the lead as early as lap eight.
Mercedes rival Maro Engel put up a late battle after all the discipline had switched to slick tyres, however Bortolotti was in a position to fend off his advances to take the chequered flag with a successful margin of 1.1 seconds.
With Bortolotti’s key rival Kelvin van der Linde solely ending eighth after a troublesome qualifying session that left him seventeenth on the grid, the consequence was sufficient for Bortolotti to wrest again the management of the championship with simply three races to run in 2024.
Arjun Maini pulled away cleanly from pole place in his HRT Mercedes at first of the race, with Engel and Bortolotti dispatching front-row starter Maximilian Paul to maneuver as much as second and third respectively.
Winward driver Engel then acquired an incredible run on Maini out of Flip 4, passing the Indian within the Flip 5/6 sequence to seize the lead.
Bortolotti additionally managed to clear Maini on lap six to set off after Engel, who had established a small benefit on the entrance by this time.
However, with the efficiency between drivers fluctuating wildly as they tried to maintain their moist tyres cool on what was now a dry monitor, Bortolotti shortly managed to shut in on Engel and made the decisive move for the lead on lap eight when the Mercedes driver ran extensive into the uphill Flip 3.
As soon as within the lead, Bortolotti was in a position to disappear into the space, constructing a lead of over seven seconds over Engel, who fell into the clutches of third-placed Maini.
When the pit window opened after 20 minutes of working, Engel stopped on the first alternative to ditch his moist tyres for slicks, whereas the likes of Bortolotti and Maini adopted him on the following lap.
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Crew WINWARD Mercedes-AMG GT3
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
Bortolotti managed to rejoin the monitor with a five-second benefit over Engel, who himself got here out effectively away from Maini.
From there, it appeared that the Italian driver would have a transparent run to the end, however Engel upped his tempo within the second half of the stint to shut to inside a second of him with 10 minutes to run.
Finally, Bortolotti was to not be usurped, the 34-year-old happening to grow to be the tenth totally different race winner of 2024 and finish a victory drought stretching again to final 12 months’s Sachsenring occasion.
A second-place consequence put Engel firmly within the combine for the 2024 title, whereas Maini completed third to rejoice his third profession podium within the DTM.
Maini’s team-mate Luca Stolz took fourth after rising on high in an epic midfield battle with Manthey EMA’s Ayhancan Guven, front-row starter Paul and Winward Mercedes’ Lucas Auer – the quartet working four-abreast at one level.
Behind, Abt Audi driver van der Linde was in a position to get well from a disastrous qualifying session to take eighth place behind Auer, nevertheless it meant he dropped to second within the standings, 10 factors behind new chief Bortolotti.
Three-time DTM champion Rene Rast was the highest finisher for Schubert BMW in ninth, passing the second Abt automotive of Ricardo Feller on the ultimate lap.
Rast’s team-mate Sheldon van der Linde was categorised eleventh forward of defending champion Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA), whereas Nicki Thiim (SSR Efficiency), Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Ferrari) and Clemens Schmid (Dorr McLaren) rounded out the factors scorers.
Schmid was the one driver to gamble on slick tyres at first and was in a position to run as excessive as fourth, however fell down the order quickly after making his obligatory cease on the halfway-point of the race.
Race consequence:
