DTM Sachsenring: Vermeulen loses victory due to penalty and pride

Crash festival at Sunday's DTM race at the Sachsenring! In Luca Stolz's (HRT-Mercedes) late victory, only 13 of the 20 GT3 cars that started saw the finish line. There was also drama when pole-setter Thierry Vermeulen (Emil-Frey-Ferrari) received a penalty lap penalty on the way to what he thought was a sure victory and dropped from first to third place in the final phase.

The Dutchman's joy at his first DTM podium was probably limited after the incident. For his racing team Emil Frey Ferrari, it would have been the second victory in the third-to-last race weekend of the season. On Saturday, team-mate Jack Aitken won from pole position. Vermeulen, on the other hand, was caught off guard when he had to drive through the penalty lap zone late because an Emil Frey mechanic had not held the bike in accordance with the rules during the pit stop.

Kelvin van der Linde regained the DTM lead with second place

Vermeulen lost the lead to Sachsenring specialist Stolz, who celebrated his second victory on the traditional circuit and was on the podium in both races in 2023, and P2 to Kelvin van der Linde (Abt-Audi). The German-South African took second place after starting from the same position and thus regained the lead in the DTM championship.

Title rival Mirko Bortolotti (SSR-Lamborghini) did not get beyond seventh position after starting from P11 and was unable to repeat his podium finish from the previous day. “It feels like a victory considering the weight we had in the car,” said the Italian, who lives in Vienna and is in contention for the title for the third time in his third DTM year.

Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) finished fifth behind reigning champion Thomas Preining (Manthey-Porsche) and also maintained his chances of winning the championship. After the twelfth race of the season, Kelvin van der Linde leads the DTM table with 170 points, ahead of Bortolotti (163 points) and Engel (155 points).

DTM points standings: DTM overall ranking 2024 as table

DTM debutant Pepper: Middle finger after Rast crash!

Saturday's winner Aitken finished sixth, followed by Bortolotti and Ayhancan Güven (Manthey-Porsche). However, the Turk was under observation by the race management after several collisions. Sheldon van der Linde (Schubert-BMW) despite an early puncture and team-mate Rene Rast finished in ninth and tenth place. Three-time DTM champion Rast managed a similar comeback from last place as he did the day before (from P20 to P13), but he was the center of attention in the second half of the race and under observation by the race management after the end.

Things got wild on lap 24 when the race management had to send the safety car onto the track. This was preceded by an unfortunate triple collision in which Rene Rast (Schubert-BMW) hit the rear of the golden GRT Lamborghini of DTM debutant Jordan Pepper, causing him to crash uncontrollably into the driver in front, Marco Wittmann (Schubert-BMW), in turn 1! The race ended prematurely for the two-time DTM champion and Pepper.

Wittmann was completely frustrated and cooled off in the grass next to the track, while Pepper showed Rast the middle finger. The South African told ProSieben: “Either Rast has lost his brakes or his talent. When you compete against such top drivers, you expect respect. I have never been hit so hard in my life. I was just a passenger. I feel sorry for Marco, the poor guy had nothing to do with it.”

Wittmann: “For me, the blame was clearly Rene’s”

Shortly after the end of the race, Wittmann had cooled down again and after seeing the TV pictures he said: “When you get hit like that, there's nothing you can do.” That was really annoying, we had had a really good race up until that point. That was brutally disappointing, we could have been in the top 5. I have to apologize to Jordan. I was very annoyed with him at first, but after the replays I saw that he hadn't made any mistakes. For me, the blame was clearly Rene's. I was the suffering victim.”

Rast's first reaction was to apologize to the two drivers who had dropped out. The Sachsenring was expensive for the DTM teams: only 13 of the 20 cars that started made it to the finish. In addition to Wittmann and Pepper, Luca Engstler (GRT-Lamborghini), Ben Dörr (Dörr-McLaren), Maximilian Paul (Paul-Lamborghini), Ricardo Feller (Abt-Audi) and Arjun Maini (HRT-Mercedes) also dropped out early.

The seventh and penultimate race weekend of the 2024 DTM season will take place from September 27 to 29 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

DTM at the Sachsenring: This is how the race went on Sunday

The starting line-up: Yesterday Jack Aitken, today team-mate Thierry Vermeulen: Emil Frey Ferrari had a subscription to the first starting position at the Sachsenring. The Dutchman achieved his first pole position in the DTM and won the qualifying by eight thousandths of a second ahead of Kelvin van der Linde. The Abt Audi driver's title rivals, Maro Engel and Mirko Bortolotti, started from seventh and eleventh places. On the starting positions three to six: Luca Stolz, Jack Aitken, Luca Engstler and Thomas Preining. Noticeable: The two DTM champions Marco Wittmann and Rene Rast from Schubert-BMW share the last row. Rast even had to start both races in Saxony from the very back.

The start: Thierry Vermeulen defended his pole position after the flying start, while behind him Kelvin van der Linde was pushed to the outside lane and dropped back to fourth place. Luca Stolz managed a good position and improved to P2, while behind him Luca Engstler stormed up from P5 to third place. Maro Engel finished the first lap in sixth place and was able to leave Thomas Preining behind him. Mirko Bortolotti improved by two places to P9. Rene Rast did the same as the day before: from last place on the grid, the BMW driver flew up to P13.

The first half of the race: Rene Rast continued his pursuit, overtaking Lucas Auer on lap 2 and reaching P12. Leader Thierry Vermeulen set the best lap time, gaining a lead of almost 3 seconds over pursuer Stolz. He was following the same plan as Emil Frey team-mate Aitken the day before. On lap 6, Sheldon van der Linde reported a puncture in twelfth place and managed to swerve into the pit lane at the last moment.

After 10 laps, Vermeulen was leading by 2.6 seconds ahead of Stolz, while Engstler had to pull away to P3 and was 6 seconds behind. Kelvin van der Linde was pushing at the back of the GRT Lamborghini, but was unable to overtake. On lap 14, the moment finally came: the Abt Audi driver caught Engstler down the Ralf Waldmann curve and took third place. In the midfield, Marco Wittmann won the Schubert duel against Rast and took P11.

Immediately after the mandatory pit stop window opened (lap 15), Engstler, Aitken, Bortolotti, Rast, Paul, Dörr and Maini turned off to change their tires. Stolz, Kelvin van der Linde, Engel, Pepper, Preining and Thiim followed one lap later. Leader Vermeulen reacted on lap 17, and Auer, Schmid and Feller also had fresh tires put on. At the same time, Maini flew off the track in turn 8 with his HRT Mercedes due to an unsecured rear right wheel. With the exception of Marco Wittmann, all drivers had already completed their mandatory pit stops by lap 19.

The winner of the tire change phase was Maro Engel, who was able to overtake the man in front, Aitken, using the strategy and took fourth place behind Vermeulen, Stolz and Kelvin van der Linde. Ricardo Feller had to park his Abt Audi in the pits after lap 21. Wittmann picked up a fresh set of tires for his Schubert BMW from P1 on lap 22 and returned to the track in tenth place ahead of Jordan Pepper.

The rest of the race: Safety car on lap 24! At the end of the start/finish straight, Rene Rast hit the rear of Jordan Pepper's GRT Lamborghini, which was then pushed uncontrollably into Marco Wittmann's BMW. Wittmann was furious at first and didn't bother to talk to Pepper while standing in the gravel bed. The two-time DTM champion couldn't believe his misfortune and sat down on the grass next to the spectators. Pepper, for his part, gave Rast a 'friendly' middle finger greeting as he drove past… A crazy scene at the Sachsenring!

At the restart on lap 30, Stolz was unable to follow the leader Vermeulen, but defended second place against Kelvin van der Linde. Behind him in fourth to sixth place were Preining, Engel and Engstler, who was able to overtake Aitken's Ferrari. A short time later, Vermeulen was under observation by the race management for violating the pit stop regulations – and received a penalty lap! An Emil Frey mechanic had not held the wheel in his hand the entire time when changing tires, as required.

At this point, Vermeulen was leading Stolz by 1.6 seconds, while Luca Engstler had to drag his GRT Lamborghini into the pits with damage after contact with Güven's Porsche – a tough day for the Austrian racing team. When Vermeulen had to drive through the penalty lap zone off the racing line, he fell back to third place behind Stolz and Kelvin van der Linde. After that, nothing happened until the finish.