Emil Frey Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli crowns his perfect weekend on the dune circuit in Zandvoort with a victory: The Italian, who had already set the fastest time in Friday practice and secured pole position on Saturday morning, celebrates his maiden DTM victory in the first race.
“We struggled a bit at the Red Bull Ring, and now the car was absolutely fantastic to drive,” cheered DTM rookie Matteo Cairoli on ProSieben. “I just enjoyed every single lap and I can tell you: This gives everyone a real boost. Me, the team, especially my engineer. I can’t thank them enough. And tomorrow I will try again.”
Behind the victorious Ferrari driver, Landgraf Mercedes driver Lucas Auer and local hero as well as Cairoli’s teammate Thierry Vermeulen (Emil Frey Ferrari) complete the podium. Bastian Buus (Land Porsche) successfully defends his fourth place in the closing stages against the pushing Winward Mercedes driver Jules Gounon.
Ben Dörr (Dörr McLaren) finishes in sixth place, followed by Maro Engel (Winward Mercedes) and Manthey Porsche driver Thomas Preining. Luca Engstler (Abt Lamborghini) and Nicki Thiim (Comtoyou Aston Martin) complete the top 10 in the first DTM race in Zandvoort.
Matteo Cairoli celebrates his debut victory in the DTM at Zandvoort
Photo: ADAC Motorsport
“I think there really wasn’t any more in it for us,” says Abt Lamborghini driver Engstler on ProSieben. “We started from seventh place, but we didn’t have the pace to keep up with the front pack. That’s why it became clear early on that we had to orient ourselves backwards, cover the other cars, and those were hard-earned points.”
Timo Glock suffers tire puncture after race start
How did the start of the race unfold? While Cairoli was able to convert his pole position into the lead without any threat, Auer already pushed past Vermeulen into second place behind him. In the back of the field, minor skirmishes and contact occurred, resulting in Timo Glock (Dörr McLaren) suffering a tire puncture.
The ex-Formula 1 driver, who had only started the race from 20th on the grid following a technical defect in qualifying, clashed with Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert BMW) and consequently fell far behind in the early stages. The race control investigated the incident but did not issue any penalties.
At the front, Cairoli pulled away from Auer by more than a second within just a few laps. They were followed by Thierry Vermeulen, Bastian Buus, and Jules Gounon. Ben Dörr was running in sixth place ahead of Maro Engel and Luca Engstler.
Apart from a duel between Mirko Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert BMW) with several light touches, including a complaining Grasser Lamborghini driver on the team radio, the race remained largely quiet until the pit stop window opened.
Mandatory pit stops bring no position changes
On lap 13, Buus and Dörr were the first drivers from the leading group to come into the pits for their mandatory tire change. Shortly after, an unsafe release by the Abt crew caused a stir: Marco Mapelli touched Bortolotti’s Lamborghini as he drove out.
In the following laps, other drivers also completed their stops, with only Engel and Kelvin van der Linde staying out longer than the competition. The Mercedes-AMG driver pitted on lap 18, while Kelvin van der Linde even waited until lap 24, only to park his Schubert BMW shortly afterwards.
Overall, the pit stop phase did not bring any major shifts in the classification, as the positions within the top 8 remained unchanged. Only Preining managed to make up one position, moving past Luca Engstler into ninth place.
At the front, there were no further changes: Cairoli controlled the race ahead of Auer and teammate Vermeulen, while Gounon was glued to the bumper of Buus. The Winward AMG driver launched several attacks in the closing stages but found no way past.
A few minutes before the end of the race, Gounon pulled alongside Buus’ Land Porsche in the first corner, who lightly pushed the Frenchman off the track. Race control investigated this incident as well but left it at a warning for the Dane.
Glock and Van der Linde retire early
Timo Glock parked his Dörr McLaren in the pits shortly after the halfway mark of the race. “The throttle pedal dropped to the floor,” the 44-year-old explained on ProSieben. However, this had nothing to do with the collision at the start. “Kelvin van der Linde moved over and his rear wheel hit my front wheel, which damaged the rim.”
Besides Glock and van der Linde, Tom Kalender (Landgraf Mercedes) also did not see the checkered flag on Saturday. His teammate Lucas Auer takes over the lead in the overall standings from Maro Engel with his second-place finish. Matteo Cairoli moves up to third overall thanks to his maiden DTM victory.
The second DTM race in Zandvoort starts on Sunday (May 24) at 1:30 pm. The starting grid will be determined beforehand in another qualifying session, which begins at 9:40 am on the dune circuit on the Dutch North Sea coast.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
