DTM Nurburgring: Stolz scores maiden win, more drama for Bortolotti
Mercedes driver Luca Stolz took a dominant first DTM victory at the Nurburgring after leaping to the front at a safety car restart and controlling the rest of the race.
The Haupt Racing team driver started seventh and ran fifth in the early stages before a safety car was called when David Schumacher tipped three-time champion Rene Rast into the gravel at the final corner.
This coincided with the pit window opening on lap seven, and a quick turnaround from his team when the pack poured into the pits meant Stolz rejoined in the net lead over poleman Sheldon van der Linde.
He then made no mistake at the restart to cleanly negotiate the only driver who didn’t pit under safety car – 17-year-old debutante Theo Oeverhaus in the Walkenhorst BMW – around the outside at Turn 1 before bolting into a lead he’d never lose over Dennis Olsen’s SSR Porsche.
Lucas Auer (Winward Mercedes) completed the podium in third, as Kelvin van der Linde finished fourth after contact with his brother’s main title rival Mirko Bortolotti.
At the race start, Sheldon van der Linde’s Schubert BMW held the lead from fast-starting team-mate Philipp Eng, with Olsen third ahead of front-row starter Kelvin van der Linde, Thomas Preining (Bernhard Porsche) and Stolz.
Preining and Stolz passed Kelvin van der Linde in quick succession on lap two in the arena section, and had joined the rear of a queue of cars behind leader Sheldon van der Linde who was carrying 25kg in success ballast and running fractionally less boost pressure than in qualifying after a late Balance of Performance tweak.
Eng appeared the faster of the two BMWs, but the Austrian’s race was ruined by the arrival of the safety car, with DTM rules prohibiting double-stacking in the pits.
He had to continue at slow speed for a further lap and rejoined deep in the field, before being eliminated at the restart when Felipe Fraga punted Clemens Schmid into his path.
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3
Photo by: DTM
Behind Oeverhaus and Stolz, Sheldon van der Linde took the restart third, but was swamped by the pack on the run to Turn 1. Auer, Kelvin van der Linde, Preining, Marco Wittmann (Walkenhorst BMW), Maxi Gotz (Winward Mercedes), Bortolotti and Nico Muller (Rosberg Audi) all moved ahead, Mikael Grenier (Gruppe M Mercedes) also shuffling the South African back a spot.
Wittmann was then edged off the track by Preining, dropping a hatful of positions and falling out of the top 10 at that stage, as Preining’s loss of momentum allowed Bortolotti and Gotz through. Muller also passed Preining at the final corner shortly afterwards.
As the top three checked out, Kelvin van der Linde steadfastly defended his fourth place from Bortolotti, who had been given a five-place grid penalty for contact with Fraga in race one and started back in ninth.
The Grasser Lamborghini driver pressured his Abt Audi rival for several laps before making his move at Turn 4. The pair made contact, puncturing Bortolotti’s right-rear wheel and forcing him to retire, scoring no points for the second consecutive race.
Defending champion Gotz was therefore promoted to fifth ahead of Muller, Preining and Grenier.
Sheldon van der Linde and the recovering Wittmann completed the points after Fraga, who had finished 10th on the road, was penalised five seconds for his earlier clash with Schmid.
DTM Nurburgring Race 2 Results - 40 laps
| Cla | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Luca Stolz |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:00'43.674 | |
| 2 |  Dennis Olsen |
Porsche 911 GT3 R | 40 | 1:00'48.181 | 4.507 |
| 3 |  Lucas Auer |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:00'55.028 | 11.354 |
| 4 |  Kelvin van der Linde |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 40 | 1:00'58.698 | 15.024 |
| 5 | Maximilian Götz |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:00'59.385 | 15.711 |
| 6 |  Nico Müller |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 40 | 1:01'00.131 | 16.457 |
| 7 | Thomas Preining |
Porsche 911 GT3 R | 40 | 1:01'03.197 | 19.523 |
| 8 |  Mikael Grenier |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:01'04.192 | 20.518 |
| 9 | Sheldon Van Der Linde |
BMW M4 GT3 | 40 | 1:01'07.485 | 23.811 |
| 10 | Marco Wittmann |
BMW M4 GT3 | 40 | 1:01'12.067 | 28.393 |
| 11 |  Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche 911 GT3 R | 40 | 1:01'12.586 | 28.912 |
| 12 |  Felipe Fraga |
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 | 40 | 1:01'14.274 | 30.600 |
| 13 | Marius Zug |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 40 | 1:01'21.249 | 37.575 |
| 14 | Maximilian Buhk |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:01'27.898 | 44.224 |
| 15 |  Arjun Maini |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:01'28.545 | 44.871 |
| 16 | Esteban Muth |
BMW M4 GT3 | 40 | 1:01'29.902 | 46.228 |
| 17 |  Alessio Deledda |
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:01'32.580 | 48.906 |
| 18 | Rolf Ineichen |
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | 40 | 1:01'36.239 | 52.565 |
| 19 | Theo Oeverhaus | BMW M4 GT3 | 40 | 1:01'54.394 | 1'10.720 |
| 20 | Mirko Bortolotti |
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | 37 | 56'30.251 | 3 Laps |
 Nick Cassidy |
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 | 25 | 39'26.611 | 15 Laps | |
 Dev Gore |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 24 | 39'43.221 | 16 Laps | |
| Ricardo Feller |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 20 | 31'52.645 | 20 Laps | |
| Philipp Eng |
BMW M4 GT3 | 11 | 18'48.552 | 29 Laps | |
| Clemens Schmid |
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | 9 | 15'20.966 | 31 Laps | |
| David Schumacher |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 4 | 6'30.327 | 36 Laps | |
| Maro Engel |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 4 | 6'39.280 | 36 Laps | |
| René Rast |
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | 3 | 4'39.053 | 37 Laps | |
| View full results | |||||
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