Milestone at the Nürburgring: Sheldon van der Linde claims the 100th DTM victory for BMW

Liberation for Sheldon van der Linde (ZA): the South African claimed his first win of the season after 41 exciting laps at the Nürburgring on Sunday. In doing so, he also secured the 100th victory in the DTM for BMW. “From eighth on the grid, I really did not expect to win or even finish on the podium. It is about a year since my last win in the DTM, which makes this moment all the sweeter. The battle with Maro Engel was on the limit, but really good fun,” said the overjoyed Schubert Motorsport driver after the tenth race of the season. Maro Engel (Monaco) finished runner-up for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 and, after third place on Saturday, took his place on the podium for a second time this weekend.

Third place went to Marco Wittmann in another BMW run by Schubert Motorsport. Saturday’s winner Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) from Abt Sportsline came home fourth in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 to extend his lead at the top of the table. The 62,500 visitors at the Nürburgring for round five of this season’s DTM were treated to some thrilling and spectacular racing in a wide range of conditions.

Sheldon van der Linde made up five positions at the start of race ten of the DTM season at the Nürburgring, slotting into third place behind pole-sitter Engel and Audi driver Ricardo Feller (CH) from Abt Sportsline. Fellow BMW racer Wittmann and Mirko Bortolotti (I) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 for SSR Performance, followed in fourth and fifth place. After two safety car phases to recover cars, Sheldon van der Linde climbed into second and attacked Engel, who initially came out on top in a fierce battle that lasted several laps.

The action came thick and fast after the mandatory pit stops. René Rast (Bregenz) returned to the track with cold Pirelli tyres on his BMW M4 GT3, and promptly collided with the adjacent Engel. The Mercedes-AMG driver span, and Rast was punished with three penalty laps. Sheldon van der Linde took advantage and moved into the lead, ahead of Engel and Wittmann. Championship leader Kelvin van der Linde (ZA), who had lost a lot of ground after a minor contact at the start of the race, benefitted from a fast pit stop and climbed into fourth place. That order then remained the same through to the finish. Ayhancan Güven (TR) from Manthey EMA produced the fightback of the day. The Porsche driver gained 14 positions before finishing fifth to claim his best result of the season.

Thierry Vermeulen (NL) also made great progress through the field. The Ferrari driver from the Emil Frey Racing team started the race from 17th on the grid, was last to come into the pits and change his Pirelli tyres, and then finished sixth. As on Saturday, Thomas Preining (A) showed no lack of aggression, but was barged off the track and ended the race in seventh place. Both Feller and Bortolotti dropped back over the course of the race and had to settle for eighth and ninth place respectively. Franck Perera (F) guided his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to tenth place.

Maro Engel: “Up until the collision with René Rast, we were in a top position. As such, I think victory would have been ours today. Every point counts in the championship, but you cannot turn back time. Regardless of that, it was a super weekend and the team gave me a mega car."

Marco Wittmann: “That was a good weekend for us as a team. Sixth place in the rain on Saturday, a podium and victory for Sheldon van der Linde on Sunday. I was not quite able to match the pace up front in the first half of the race. I was much better after the pit stop.”