Third season win by Tim Heinemann in DTM Trophy

Tim Heinemann from Team Toyota Gazoo Racing Germany powered by Ring-Racing found back to winning ways. In Saturday’s DTM Trophy race at Nürburgring, the Toyota driver won in an impressive manner. On the opening lap of the race, the German already claimed the lead and held on to it until the chequered flag was out. For Heinemann, who had already won the title in the talent pool on the DTM platform in 2020, it was his third win of the season following his pair of victories in the season opener at Lausitzring.

Just 16 years old, Daniel Gregor came second after a strong performance with the Porsche 718 Cayman run by KÜS Team Bernhard. As qualifying during DTM Nürburgring powered by Mercedes-AMG had to be cancelled due to fog, Gregor had only started from twelfth on the grid according to his position in the championship. His recovery drive saw him already move up into the top six on the opening lap and after that, the young German continued to stage entertaining overtaking manoeuvres. For Gregor, second place was his first-ever podium result in DTM Trophy.

Thiago Vivacqua rounded out the podium by finishing third with the Heide-Motorsport Audi R8. The Brazilian came to the fore at an early stage, toppling pole sitter Colin Caresani with the Project 1 BMW from second place behind Heinemann with a skilled manoeuvre. Vivacqua then defended his position for a long time, but eventually was unable to withstand Gregor’s pressure.

Dutchman Caresani, who was the leader in the drivers’ standings going into the seventh race of the season, had to make do with fourth place. As a result, he is twelve points down on Heinemann in the championship prior to the eighth race of the season. Fifth place in the race went to Mercedes-AMG driver  Edouard Cauhaupé (BWT Mücke Motorsport) from France.

Youngster Theo Oeverhaus (GER), who made his debut in DTM as the youngest driver in history on Saturday, had to fight hard in the first DTM Trophy race at Nürburgring. With his Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW, the 17-year-old initially ran in sixth place, but he was eleventh across the finish line and therefore didn’t score any points.

Due to illness, Steriyan Folev (BUL, BMW, FK Performance Motorsport) und Mikaeel Pitamber (RSA, Audi, Heide-Motorsport) were not on the grid at Nürburgring, just like JP Southern (USA , Audi, EastSide Motorsport), who was sidelined following his accident at Norisring. The second DTM Trophy race at Nürburgring starts on Sunday at 3.15pm CEST. The race at the storied circuit in the Eifel will be broadcast live on the streaming platforms ServusTV On (servustv.com) and DTM TV (tv.dtm.com).