Kelvin van der Linde has claimed his first DTM victory for BMW. The South African, who began the race from pole place, briefly misplaced the result in Thierry Vermeulen (Emil Frey Ferrari) after a mistake. Nonetheless, he fought his means again to the entrance after the second pit cease – and subsequently drove to an unchallenged victory with a lead of greater than six seconds.
But, the Schubert BMW driver was already thought of a sizzling contender for the win earlier than the race began. Not solely had the Stability of Efficiency been adjusted as soon as once more in favor of the M4 GT3 Evo on Saturday night, however Kelvin van der Linde additionally benefited in Sunday’s second race from a recent set of tyres, which he had saved attributable to his early retirement yesterday.
“I knew we had the recent tyres for the top,” mentioned the jubilant race winner in an interview with ProSieben. “A mega crew outcome with Marco, however my coronary heart virtually stopped after that slide on the market. I had a short second earlier than the ultimate nook the place I assumed the race was over.”
“However happily, the outlap was good,” added van der Linde, who stormed again to the entrance after the second pit cease. “We acquired by properly, many vehicles forward of me had been positioned appropriately, and we had been capable of deliver the victory dwelling.”
Ben Dörr claims maiden podium for Dörr-McLaren
Behind the victorious BMW driver, Ben Dörr delivered one other DTM premiere. The McLaren junior drove sensationally to second place, celebrating not solely his first DTM podium but additionally handing the Dörr squad its maiden podium end. Marco Wittmann (Schubert BMW) accomplished the rostrum in third.
Maro Engel (Winward Mercedes) crossed the road in fourth place, reclaiming the championship lead. He was adopted by Emil Frey Ferrari driver Thierry Vermeulen, who was shuffled down the order within the closing phases of the race. Luca Engstler and Marco Mapelli (each Abt Lamborghini) completed Sunday’s race in sixth and seventh locations.
Thomas Preining (Manthey Porsche, eighth) and Mirko Bortolotti (Grasser Lamborghini, ninth) battled for eighth place within the closing phases, whereas Manthey Porsche driver Ricardo Feller accomplished the highest 10. Earlier championship chief Lucas Auer (Landgraf Mercedes) endured a tough race and finally crossed the end line in thirteenth place.
Bastian Buus retires following puncture
In the beginning, pole-sitter Kelvin van der Linde managed to carry onto the lead, adopted by Abt Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler, who squeezed previous Thierry Vermeulen. Identical to yesterday, the native hero didn’t get a very good launch and dropped again to 3rd place inside the opening meters.
Â
Behind them, Ben Dörr slotted into place, adopted by Thomas Preining and Mirko Bortolotti, the latter dropping two positions on the opening lap. Additional again within the discipline, there have been extra duels and contacts, although with none main incidents.
Nonetheless, for the Land squad, the tough weekend within the Netherlands continued following Saturday’s disqualification: Bastian Buus needed to pit after simply three laps attributable to a puncture. The Dane even fell off the lead lap in consequence and completely parked his Porsche shortly thereafter.
Pit cease drama at Winward Mercedes
The order on the entrance remained unchanged till the opening of the primary necessary pit cease window. Engstler, Auer, and Cairoli had been among the many first drivers from the main group to return in for a tyre change. The service was removed from optimum for the championship chief, inflicting Auer to drop out of the highest 10 early on.
Issues didn’t go easily for the Winward squad both: first, Maro Engel misplaced practically 15 seconds within the pits as a result of a wheel gun apparently prompted points. Shortly afterwards, teammate Jules Gounon was additionally hit, dropping priceless time as properly as a result of the issue couldn’t be resolved in time.
Â
“We do not know precisely what the issue is true now, whether or not it is the air stress or the wheel gun,” Winward crew boss Christian Hohenadel mentioned in an interview with ProSieben. “The issue, after all, is that on this sequence we’re in now, we solely had two laps and could not remedy the issue.”
Nonetheless, the AMG crew was not alone with a poor cease: the tyre modifications weren’t fairly good at Dörr both, that means Dörr and Glock misplaced priceless seconds throughout their pit stops. In the meantime, all the pieces went easily for chief Kelvin van der Linde, permitting the BMW driver to initially defend his lead after the primary cease.
Jules Gounon triggers sole Security Automotive interval
After the primary pit cease window closed, the Security Automotive needed to be deployed briefly. Gounon had misplaced management of his Winward Mercedes throughout a duel with Arjun Maini (HRT Ford) and drove by a polystyrene signal together with the monitor, which subsequently needed to be cleared from the monitor.
Â
On the restart, Vermeulen snatched place from Engstler’s Abt Lamborghini, whereas Lucas Auer was hit and spun round by Nicki Thiim (Comtoyou Aston Martin). The Dane needed to full the penalty lap thrice as a punishment and dropped again as properly.
“A very nice maneuver,” an ironic Auer mentioned in an interview with ProSieben, including: “That was necessary for each of us, completely. Now we completed second to final and final. There’s nothing to say, after that, it was a day to neglect.”
Shortly afterwards, contact occurred between Maximilian Paul (Grasser Lamborghini) and HRT Ford driver Finn Wiebelhaus, leading to an early retirement for each drivers. Quickly after, the lead modified arms: Kelvin van der Linde ran barely off the racing line within the closing nook, a mistake Vermeulen capitalized on instantly.
The South African was unable to counter, having to let the Ferrari driver draw back and even look in his mirrors over the next laps, the place Abt Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler sensed his probability at second place. Nonetheless, BMW driver van der Linde managed to defend his place.
Vermeulen loses victory probability throughout second cease
“After all, we needed to put the tyres on comparatively early, and the Ferrari is just superior in the meanwhile,” Schubert crew boss Torsten Schubert defined to ProSieben, addressing why the BMW driver’s tempo all of a sudden dropped after the midway mark of the race.
“He has alternatives to overhaul, however we’ll give it a strive within the third stint, possibly if the pit cease goes properly, he can get again into the combat,” Schubert mentioned. Kelvin van der Linde pitted instantly because the second pit cease window opened, whereas chief Vermeulen adopted one lap later.
Â
Whereas the tyre change at Schubert labored completely as soon as once more, Emil Frey made a fateful mistake with the main Vermeulen: the Dutchman’s Ferrari was launched too early, though the front-left wheel had not but been fitted. Because of this, the crew misplaced essential seconds within the battle for the lead.
Though the Dutchman returned to the monitor forward of Kelvin van der Linde, the BMW driver’s tyres had been already of their working window. Van der Linde subsequently acquired again previous and shortly pulled away. A tough closing part started for Vermeulen: he misplaced his podium spot to Dörr and Wittmann earlier than Maro Engel additionally overtook him.
Along with his fourth-place end, the Winward Mercedes driver additionally reclaims the lead within the total standings. Engel now has 67 factors, pushing Auer (61 factors) right down to second place. Marco Wittmann (51 factors) strikes as much as third place total, adopted by Thomas Preining (46 factors) and Matteo Cairoli (43 factors).
The third race weekend of the 2026 DTM season will happen from June 19 to 21 on the Lausitzring.
We wish your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Group
