DTM Norisring: Pepper takes maiden DTM win after Spa 24 Hours triumph

Lamborghini driver Pepper took a commanding victory, his first in the German championship

Jordan Pepper’s impressive form shows no signs of slowing down, with the 28-year-old South African taking his maiden DTM victory at the Norisring, one week on from his Spa 24 Hours success.

Pepper dominated the race from pole position with his Grasser-entered Lamborghini, describing the contest as “the longest 55 minutes of my life”.

Pepper’s victory seemed at risk at only one moment in the race, as he lost almost 10 seconds in the pits due to a rear-right tyre problem, but he had built enough of a lead during the first half to stay ahead.

Manthey Porsche driver Thomas Preining was three seconds behind under the chequered flag, with Maro Engel making up the podium despite contact with last year’s Norisring race winner Nicki Thiim on the opening lap – Thiim spun but Engel escaped sanction with stewards deeming it a racing incident. The Dane finished dead last in 20th.

Nicki Thiim, Team Abt Sportsline Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Thierry Vermeulen was fourth ahead of fellow Ferrari driver Jack Aitken, with Mercedes duo Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon next up. Arjun Maini (Ford), Ricardo Feller (Audi) and Rene Rast (BMW), who made an impressive recovery from 17th on the grid, completed the top 10.

Things went less smoothly for McLaren racer Timo Glock, who again reported a loss of power after a similar mishap in qualifying, while reigning DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti also found himself powerless against the competition. “They’re destroying me out there,” he complained to the Abt Lamborghini squad on the radio.

Bortolotti had a heated battle with Marco Wittmann, featuring several touches, which led to a warning for the BMW driver. Both of them finished outside the top 15.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin had cause to celebrate with Gilles Magnus scoring the brand’s first points of the season in 12th – his first career points in the DTM.

Team-mate Nicolas Baert seemed like he might collect an even bigger haul, starting from sixth and holding on to 10th until his pitstop, but he locked up on cold tyres and got a penalty lap for speeding in the pitlane.

Baert then collided with Luca Engstler at high speed, sending the Lamborghini into the barriers, which resulted in three additional penalty laps for the Aston pilot. He then ended up retiring from the race.

Finally, HRT Ford driver Fabio Scherer failed to start the race due to a heavy crash in qualifying, which meant his car could not be repaired in time.

Auer has retained the lead of the championship, with Pepper now just six points away thanks to his maiden win. Engel is third in the standings.

The second race of the Norisring round will start at 1:30pm local time on Sunday.

Race result

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	J. Pepper TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	63	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	65	56'12.192		1	25
2	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91	Porsche 911 GT3 R	65	+3.055 56'15.247	3.055	1	20
3	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	24	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	65	+4.132 56'16.324	1.077	1	16
4	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69	Ferrari 296 GT3	65	+5.596 56'17.788	1.464	1	13
5	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14	Ferrari 296 GT3	65	+6.557 56'18.749	0.961	1	11
6	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	22	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	65	+19.650 56'31.842	13.093	1	10
7	J. Gounon Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	48	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	65	+20.292 56'32.484	0.642	1	9
8	A. Maini HRT Ford Performance	36	Ford Mustang GT3	65	+20.873 56'33.065	0.581	1	8
9	R. Feller Land-Motorsport	29	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	65	+23.032 56'35.224	2.159	1	7
10	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	65	+28.196 56'40.388	5.164	1	6
11	A. Güven Manthey EMA	90	Porsche 911 GT3 R	65	+30.026 56'42.218	1.830	1	5
12	G. Magnus Comtoyou Racing	7	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	65	+31.538 56'43.730	1.512	1	4
13	T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	84	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	65	+32.807 56'44.999	1.269	1	3
14	M. Schuring Manthey Junior Team	92	Porsche 911 GT3 R	65	+35.822 56'48.014	3.015	1	2
15	P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport	71	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	65	+36.843 56'49.035	1.021	1	1
16	M. Bortolotti Abt Sportsline	1	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	65	+39.020 56'51.212	2.177	1
17	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	65	+41.906 56'54.098	2.886	1
18	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	65	+44.822 56'57.014	2.916	1
19	T. Glock Dörr Motorsport	16	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	65	+45.271 56'57.463	0.449	1
20	N. Thiim Abt Sportsline	2	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	65	+48.486 57'00.678	3.215	1
dnf	N. Baert Comtoyou Racing	8	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	56			2
dnf	L. Engstler TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	19	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	36			2
dnf	B. Green Emil Frey Racing	10	Ferrari 296 GT3	9			2
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