Kelvin van der Linde and Thomas Preining take top honours in Lausitzring
The DEKRA Laustzring played host to DTM for round 2 of the championship. Luca Engstler was the championship leader after Round 1, the Lamborghini driver won the season opener in Oschersleben in the Huracán GT3 Evo2. But as DTM leaves Lausitzring, there’s a new championship leader. Here’s how the weekend unfolded
FRIDAY PRACTICE
Porsche started the weekend impressively, with the 911s from the Manthey EMA team dominating free practice on Friday in both dry and wet conditions. Thomas Preining set the pace in the midday session, clocking the fastest time of the day at 1:20.782 minutes, the only driver to dip below the 1:21.000 mark. This marked a significant improvement for the defending champion following a less-than-stellar start to the season in Oschersleben.
“The free practice is not very informative. But after Oschersleben it was important for our team to be among the fastest again. The car ran like it was on rails and it is great to drive such a vehicle on such a technically demanding track with these hard bumps,” explained Preining.
In slightly cooler conditions around 23 degrees Celsius, Maro Engel secured the second fastest time with 1:21.061 minutes in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Kelvin van der Linde from Abt Sportsline in third place with Audi. Mirko Bortolotti in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 claimed fourth, while Ayhancan Güven piloted the second Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey EMA to fifth place.
The afternoon’s second free practice session saw heavy rain in parts of Lausitz, allowing drivers to test Pirelli’s newly developed Cinturato WHB rain tires. Güven seized the opportunity, setting the fastest time at 1:35.573 minutes in wet conditions. Van der Linde followed closely in second place with Jack Aitken finishing third in the Ferrari 296 GT3.
SATURDAY
Saturday started with qualifying for Race 1 and it was Kelvin van der Linde who took pole position for ABT Sportsline. Arjun Maini qualified an impressive 5th, and was also the highest placed Mercedes driver in qualifying.
RACE 1
Despite torrential rain and two race interruptions, Kelvin van der Linde of Abt Sportsline emerged victorious at the Dekra Lausitzring on Saturday.
Maro Engel of Mercedes-AMG Team Winward cleverly secured second place, leveraging strategic tactics in the adverse weather. Thomas Preining from the Manthey EMA team clinched third in the Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The race saw van der Linde defend his pole position successfully at the start, with Ricardo Feller overtaking Preining to claim second. However, heavy rain led to significant water accumulation on the track, prompting a switch to rain tires and two race interruptions. Engel capitalized on this, rising from 13th to second place after the restart.
“What a chaotic race. The key to success was that I was able to defend the lead in the hectic opening phase. Because at the front I had much better visibility. Nevertheless, it was racing at the limit because there was an extremely large amount of water on the track at the beginning,” explained van der Linde
Mandatory pit stops further shuffled the standings, with Preining advancing to third and Lucas Auer from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter finishing fourth amidst the challenging conditions. Feller rounded out the top five finishers.
Sheldon van der Linde of Schubert Motorsport was the top BMW driver in sixth place, followed by Arjun Maini of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT and Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim from SSR Performance in seventh and eighth, respectively. Christian Engelhart of Lamborghini Team TGI by GRT secured ninth place, with Luca Stolz driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from HRT to complete the top ten.
SUNDAY
Qualifying for Race 2 kicked things off on Sunday and it was the reigning champion Thomas Preining who took pole position ahead of Ricardo Feller and Marko Bortolotti.
RACE 2
In the fourth DTM race of the season on Sunday afternoon, pole-sitter Thomas Preining initially held the lead, followed by Ricardo Feller and Kelvin van der Linde, who managed to overtake Mirko Bortolotti in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. By the fourth lap, Feller’s pace in the Audi enabled him to overtake Preining and take the lead. After a safety car phase and the subsequent restart, Feller extended his lead to nearly a second.
During the mandatory pit stops, Preining was the first to switch to new Pirelli tires, which he quickly brought to optimal temperature. This allowed him to overtake Feller and Kelvin van der Linde, who were on colder tires due to later stops. Feller managed to pass van der Linde but made contact, prompting race officials to order a position swap. Regardless, Preining controlled the race and finished first after 42 laps, followed by van der Linde in second and Feller in third. Bortolotti secured fourth place, with his Lamborghini teammate Luca Engstler in fifth.
René Rast from Schubert Motorsport finished sixth, making him the best BMW driver of the race. Maro Engel of Mercedes-AMG Team Winward executed a brilliant strategy, climbing from 20th on the grid to seventh place with a late pit stop. Rast’s BMW teammates, Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann, finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Lucas Auer rounded out the top ten in his Mercedes-AMG GT3.
“That was one of the best DTM races I have ever experienced as a driver. Our strategy with an early pit stop was crucial for the win. After the tire change, I couldn’t take the lead straight away, but I was able to get myself into a good position. I attacked straight away and took a bit of a risk. That’s racing in the DTM,” said Preining
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Kelvin van der Linde leads the championship standings with 63 points. Thomas Preining is in second with 55 points.
“Leaving the Lausitzring as leader of the table feels great. It is a great achievement by our team to make such a turnaround in such a short time after the weak start in Oschersleben. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake directly after the pit stop on cold tires, which Thomas Preining immediately took advantage of.” – Kelvin van der Linde
Up Next
DTM heads to Zandvoort for Round 3 of the championship from 7-9 June.
