DTM Norisring: Thiim takes Aston Martin's maiden win after horror crash

Nicki Thiim took Aston Martin's first victory in the DTM at the Norisring, triumphing from pole position in a red-flagged race.

The lengthy interruption was caused by a hefty accident involving Kelvin van der Linde and Maximilian Paul.

Paul lost control of his Grasser-entered Lamborghini under braking ahead of the Grundig hairpin and slammed into the guardrail before sliding across the track and hitting the BMW at high speed. Both drivers were taken to hospital for further examination.

Earlier, the start of the race was smooth as Thiim defended the lead from Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes), although Marco Wittmann's BMW picked up a puncture and eventually retired.

Tom Kalender triggered the first safety car intervention of the race when he crashed into the 'Wall of Champions', damaging his rear suspension, with his Mercedes ending up in the middle of the track. The opening of the pitstop window was consequently delayed.

A perfect pitstop by the Comtoyou team allowed Thiim to retain the lead, but Engel was the fastest driver on track and was catching the Dane when the race was red-flagged.

Meanwhile, Timo Glock was struck by further drama as a fault was detected on his Doerr-entered McLaren, on top of an oil leak – which may have led to Paul's off.

The race ended with a 15-minute sprint, with Thiim defending his lead from Engel, with Arjun Maini and Thomas Preining following. However, the Manthey-Porsche driver was successively overtaken by Lucas Auer, Thierry Vermeulen, Finn Wiebelhaus, Jules Gounon and Mirko Bortolotti.

Thiim's victory was the second in his DTM career, again at the Norisring. He is only the 15th driver to win with different brands in the German championship, following in his own father's footsteps – Kurt Thiim triumphed with Rover, BMW and Mercedes.

Second-placed Engel extended his lead in the standings ahead of Sunday's race, which is scheduled at 1:30pm.

Norisring - Race 1 results

RACE1

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	N. Thiim Comtoyou Racing	7		Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	63	1:50'55.938		1	25
2	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol	80		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	63	+0.587 1:50'56.525	0.587	1	20
3	A. Maini HRT Ford Performance	36		Ford Mustang GT3 Evo	63	+3.182 1:50'59.120	2.595	1	16
4	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	22		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	63	+3.826 1:50'59.764	0.644	1	13
5	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69		Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	63	+11.346 1:51'07.284	7.520	1	11
6	F. Wiebelhaus HRT Ford Performance	64		Ford Mustang GT3 Evo	63	+12.237 1:51'08.175	0.891	1	10
7	J. Gounon Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	48		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	63	+13.612 1:51'09.550	1.375	1	9
8	M. Bortolotti TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	19		Lamborghini Temerario GT3	63	+14.506 1:51'10.444	0.894	1	8
9	T. Preining Manthey Racing	91		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	63	+16.220 1:51'12.158	1.714	1	7
10	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	63	+17.355 1:51'13.293	1.135	1	6
11	M. Cairoli Emil Frey Racing	14		Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	63	+18.185 1:51'14.123	0.830	1	5
12	R. Feller Manthey Racing	90		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	63	+18.901 1:51'14.839	0.716	1	4
13	B. Buus Land-Motorsport	29		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	63	+19.497 1:51'15.435	0.596	1	3
14	L. Engstler Red Bull Team Abt	130		Lamborghini Temerario GT3	63	+19.726 1:51'15.664	0.229	1	2
15	N. Baert Comtoyou Racing	8		Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	63	+20.715 1:51'16.653	0.989	1	1
16	M. Mapelli Red Bull Team Abt	10		Lamborghini Temerario GT3	63	+26.057 1:51'21.995	5.342	1
dnf	T. Glock Dörr Motorsport	16		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	36	27 Laps		1
dnf	P. Maximilian TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	63		Lamborghini Temerario GT3	34	29 Laps		1
dnf	K. van der Linde Schubert Motorsport	3		BMW M4 GT3 Evo	33	30 Laps		1
dnf	T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	84		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	14	49 Laps
dnf	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11		BMW M4 GT3 Evo	4	59 Laps		2
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