Bortolotti’s first win of the season takes him top of the DTM

Mirko Bortolotti (I) has rediscovered his winning genes at exactly the right time in this year’s DTM. After a mature performance, both tactically and in terms of his driving, the Lamborghini works driver from SSR Performance celebrated his first win of the season on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, and moved to the top of the overall standings in the process.

“That was probably the best win of my life. We made the right decisions and went for wet-weather tyres at the start. I knew that, if I was smart and could keep the tyre in a good window for a long time, I could open up a gap. I managed to do precisely that,” said Bortolotti.

Maro Engel (Monaco) from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward crossed the finish line second after 38 laps of racing. He now lies third in the table, twelve points behind Bortolotti, and remains firmly in contention for the title. Pole-sitter Arjun Maini (IND) claimed the third spot on the podium in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Mercedes-AMG Team HRT.

With light drizzle falling on the alpine circuit, almost all the drivers started the 13th of this season’s 16 races on wet-weather tyres on Saturday afternoon. Shortly after the start, Engel found a way past pole-sitter Maini, while Bortolotti climbed into third place. Lamborghini driver Maximilian Paul (Dresden) and Luca Stolz (Brachbach) from Mercedes-AMG Team HRT followed in fourth and fifth place. Then began the Bortolotti show: the Italian overtook Maini and Engel to take the lead on lap seven. The Vienna resident then pulled clear of the field, opening a lead of over eight seconds at times. As the race progressed, the light rain stopped and the track dried out, prompting the drivers to switch to Pirelli slicks as soon as the pit stop window opened.

After quick stops and tyre changes throughout the field, the order of the leading trio remained unchanged, with Bortolotti followed by Engel and Maini. Behind them, Clemens Schmid (A) from Dörr Motorsport rejoined the race in a surprising fourth place in his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. The local favourite had started from 19th place as the only driver on slicks and had made up a lot of ground as the asphalt dried out. However, the Austrian dropped well back down the field as the race progressed, having returned with too much pressure in his tyres.

Out in front, Bortolotti’s lead was shrinking with every lap. At times, Engel had closed to within a second of the race leader. However, the Italian showed no signs of nerve and went on to claim his fourth DTM victory after a controlled drive. Behind Engel and Maini, Stolz came home fourth to complete the Mercedes trio. Ayhancan Güven (TR) made up a total of seven positions and guided the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Team Manthey EMA to fifth place after an impressive display.

Maximilian Paul, who started the race from second place, ended the race in sixth place after a poor start. Lucas Auer (A) from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter was the best-placed Austrian in seventh at his home event. Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) from the Abt Sportsline team produced a fighting performance. Having come into the event as the championship leader, he pulled off some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres to climb from 17th to eighth place and now trails Bortolotti by ten points. René Rast (Bregenz) was ninth in a BMW M4 GT3 for Schubert Motorsport, Audi driver Ricardo Feller (CH) came home tenth.

Maro Engel: “When you make it onto the podium in the DTM, you cannot be too disappointed. I would have liked to have won, but Mirko Bortolotti had far more grip at the point when we were battling each other. I will go again on Sunday. I am sure that some of the drivers who finished further down the field today will also show their speed then.”

Arjun Maini: “I had a good start, but unfortunately not good pace on the wet track. After the tyre change, it was much better on the slicks. However, the gap to the front two was too great. The podium still feels good, but I really wanted to win.”

Results are HERE