DTM - Flawless and clever: Luca Engstler celebrates his maiden DTM win

Jubilation for father and son: Luca Engstler (Kempten, Lamborghini Team Liqui Moly by GRT) sensationally won Sunday’s race in Oschersleben in a Lamborghini, and in front of his father, touring car legend Franz Engstler. Having started from fourth place, the 24-year-old produced a flawless performance to claim his first victory in the DTM. Second place went to Maro Engel (Monaco), ahead of fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Luca Stolz (Brachbach). Both their teams, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT and Mercedes-AMG Team Winward, were contesting their 50th DTM race.

“To be honest, in the build-up I didn’t think once about winning my first DTM race here. After a yellow phase in the middle of the race, it became clearer to me with every lap that I was on course for the win. In those kind of moments, it is important not to let your thoughts stray, but to remain fully focussed,” said the surprise winner. Over the course of the weekend, 42,000 people flocked to Motorsport Arena Oschersleben for the opening round of the DTM season.

The Cupra Safety Car made its first appearance shortly after the start of Sunday afternoon’s race, when third-placed Jack Aitken (GB) was forced to park up his Ferrari 296 GT3 at the side of the track following a collision. When the race resumed on lap five, pole-sitter Mirko Bortolotti (I) in the Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG driver Stolz pulled clear of the chasing Engstler, Arjun Maini (IND) in another Mercedes-AMG, and Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim (DK).

The race was ultimately decided by another incident around the midway point. The Ferrari 296 GT3 of Thierry Vermeulen (NL) had to be recovered after contact with René Rast (Bregenz), which resulted in a full course yellow. Engstler and Engel had already completed their mandatory pit stops by that point, and so moved into first and second place.

Engstler then showed nerves of steel, keeping Engel at bay on his way to taking the chequered flag after 40 laps of racing. Third place went to Stolz, as Bortolotti dropped back to 16th place following a poor tyre change. Maini crossed the finish line in fourth place. The 26-year-old was followed home by brothers Kelvin (ZA/Abt Sportsline) and Sheldon van der Linde (ZA/Schubert Motorsport).

Three-time champion Rast guided his BMW M4 GT3 to seventh place. Christian Engelhart (Starnberg) finished eighth for Lamborghini Team TGI by GRT. The final few metres proved to be miserable ones for Switzerland’s Ricardo Feller: the Abt Sportsline driver suffered technical issues shortly before the finish, but was still able to bring his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 home in ninth place. Rounding out the top ten was Marco Wittmann (Fürth) with the third Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

Maro Engel: “The car felt great and I was able to make up three place at the start. We were on a good strategy, and we obviously also had a bit of good fortune with the timing of the full course yellow. I hope we can take this momentum into the coming races.”

Luca Stolz: “We were really quick in qualifying and during the pit stop. The race itself was a bit odd. On the one hand, I would have liked to have won. On the other hand, I thought at one point that I was not going to make it onto the podium. Mirko Bortolotti had a slight issue with the tyre change, from which I benefitted. On the whole, it was a super weekend.”