The 2024 DTM season kicked off last weekend at Oschersleben. A total of 20 drivers are competing in the DTM in 2024, representing nine teams and seven different manufacturers. Indian driver Arjun Maini is competing with Racing Team HRT in the #36 Mercedes.
Aitken wins! (Round 1 Race 1)
Fans and drivers experienced a mix of feelings during the first DTM race in Oschersleben. Jack Aitken started in pole position and led for a long time in his Ferrari 296 GT3. However, BMW’s Marco Wittmann cleverly took the lead after a pit stop but had to retire due to a technical issue just four minutes before the end. Aitken regained the lead and won the race, his second DTM victory, with Mirko Bortolotti in a Lamborghini and Ricardo Feller in an Audi coming in second and third, respectively.
Thanks for reading DesiRacingCo’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.
Subscribed
“I’m just happy that I won the race. Marco Wittmann played well with a late pit stop. At first I couldn’t believe that I had lost the lead. In the last few minutes the tide turned again and I think the victory was deserved despite the strange circumstances,”
JackAitken after his race win.
Aitken started strong on Saturday afternoon, quickly building a lead ahead of Bortolotti and Feller in second and third, followed by Maini and van der Linde. Even after the pit stop, Aitken stayed ahead while Bortolotti and Feller swapped positions.
About 25 minutes before the end, Ben Dörr’s McLaren lost a wheel, leading Wittmann to make a quick pit stop for tire change under a full-course yellow phase. This strategic move catapulted Wittmann from 16th to first place, surpassing Aitken. However, Wittmann’s hopes for victory were dashed when he had to retire shortly before the race’s end.
This setback cleared the path for Aitken, who maintained his lead to the finish line. Bortolotti overtook Feller to secure second place, followed by van der Linde and Stolz. Auer finished sixth, followed by Rast in seventh and Maini in eighth. Vermeulen took ninth place, while defending champion Preining managed to gain six positions to finish in tenth.
Luca Engstler wins his first DTM race (Round 1 Race 2)
Luca Engstler from Lamborghini Team Liqui Moly by GRT achieved a stunning victory in the Sunday race at Oschersleben, with his father, touring car legend Franz Engstler, watching. Starting from fourth place, the 24-year-old drove flawlessly to claim his first DTM win. Maro Engel finished second, and Luca Stolz took third, both racing for Mercedes-AMG Team HRT and Mercedes-AMG Team Winward, respectively, in their teams’ 50th DTM races.
“To be honest, I never once thought about winning my first DTM race here. After a yellow phase in the middle of the race, it became clear to me lap after lap that I was on course for victory. In moments like this, it’s important not to let your mind wander and to stay fully focused,”
– Luca after the race win
During Sunday’s race, the Cupra safety car was deployed early on lap 1 due to Jack Aitken stopping his Ferrari 296 GT3 after contact. The race restarted on lap 5 with pole sitter Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Stolz diving away from the pack initially, with Engstler close behind and Maini following in fourth. An incident involving Vermeulen’s Ferrari resulted in a full-course yellow, allowing Engstler and Engel to take the top positions having already completed their mandatory stops.
Engstler maintained his lead, while Engel secured second place. Stolz took third place as Bortolotti fell back to 16th place after a failed tire change. Maini took the checkered flag in fourth place – behind the 26-year-old were the two brothers Kelvin (ZA/Abt Sportsline) and Sheldon van der Linde (ZA/Schubert Motorsport). Three-time champion Rast drove his BWM M4 GT3 to seventh place. Christian Engelhart (Starnberg) secured the eighth position for himself and the Lamborghini Team TGI by GRT. The last few meters were unfortunate for the Swiss Ricardo Feller: Shortly before the end, the Abt Sportsline driver struggled with technical problems in fifth place, but was still able to bring his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 to the finish line in ninth place. Marco Wittmann (Fürth) completed the top ten with the third BMW M4 GT3 from Schubert Motorsport.
A strong weekend for Maini
Arjun Maini wrapped up the first round of this season finishing both races in points, 8th in Race 1 and 4th in Race 2 having qualified 3rd and 5th in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively. Throughout the weekend, the Indian driver showed excellent speed in both qualifying and race conditions, earning praise from commentators who described him as ‘reborn’ in this series. While luck didn’t favor him due to the timing of safety car interventions in both races, these performances are promising indicators. Looking ahead, there’s optimism for a good season, especially considering his impressive speed on the track.
DTM heads to Lausitzring for Round 2 of the championship from May 24th. You can watch all the action live in India on Fancode.
