Mirko Bortolotti leads championship after second win of the season

claimed his second victory of the 2023 DTM in a thrilling tenth race of the season at the DEKRA Lausitzring on Sunday. The Italian, at the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 had to fend off a constant barrage of attacks from Ricardo Feller (CH) in his Audi R9 LMS GT3 Evo2 for almost the entire race. After 45 flawless laps, the 33-year-old from the SSR Performance team took the chequered lap, after which he revealed: “That was one of the most intense races I have been involved in throughout my career. Ricardo Feller put me under pressure right through to the final lap. I knew full well that he would have a go if I made even the slightest mistake. The win means we leave here as championship leaders. We are moving in the right direction, and must continue in this vein.” Switzerland’s Feller finished runner-up, just 0.353 seconds behind Bortolotti. Luca Stolz produced a strong second half of the race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. The German came home third to secure his second podium result of the season. A total of 43,000 spectators witnessed the start of the second half of the DTM season at the Lausitzring, where they enjoyed exciting motorsport in summery conditions. 

After the start of this season’s tenth DTM race, there were initially no signs of the thrilling battle that was to develop at the head of the field. Pole-sitter Bortolotti led the field by over one second, followed by Feller and the Lamborghinis of Clemens Schmid (A) and Franck Perera (F) in third and fourth place. Championship leader Thomas Preining (A) from the Manthey EMA team followed in fifth. The crowds in the grandstands were treated to their first moment of excitement on lap 18: Perera braked too late and ploughed into Schmid ahead of him. The collision forced both drivers out of the race. 

In the meantime, Feller had steadily closed in on race leader Bortolotti. After the mandatory pit stop, he set about launching one attack after another. Behind him, Stolz pulled off an impressive overtaking manoeuvre to pass Preining and take third place. However, he was unable to make any impact on the leading duo. At the front of the race, Bortolotti and Feller were embroiled in a thrilling battle that went right down to the wire and was eventually won by the Italian, who showed nerves of steel. Win number two of the season sees the 33-year-old move to the top of the DTM table with a lead of seven points over previous leader Preining, who finished fourth behind Stolz. Preining’s team-mate Dennis Olsen (N) followed him home in fifth place in the second Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Lucas Auer (A) again picked up valuable points in sixth place in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. Ferrari driver Jack Aitken (GB) from the Emil Frey Racing team had to settle for seventh, having claimed his maiden DTM victory on Saturday. Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) climbed five places to finish eighth in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. Thierry Vermeulen (NL) impressed again in his Ferrari 296 GT3, ending the race in ninth place. The experienced Marco Wittmann (Fürth) produced an impressive fightback. The BMW driver started from 22nd on the grid, before gaining twelve places to round out the top ten.

Ricardo Feller: “The battle with Mirko Bortolotti was incredible. I was repeatedly able to close in on him in the infield, but unfortunately had no chance on the straights. I would obviously have liked to have won, but Mirko simply did not make any mistakes. The overall standings are extremely close, so I am pleased with the points for second place.”

Luca Stolz: “From sixth place onto the podium, that was a super race for me. The key was our early pit stop. I had really good pace on the new set of tyres. I was obviously watching the battle in front of me very carefully, hoping all the time that I might benefit from an attack by Ricardo Feller.”