DTM madness: Bortolotti claims final pole and regains the lead
Mirko Bortolotti kicked the door to his first DTM title wide open at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. The Lamborghini driver from SSR Performance set the top time of 1:36.708 minutes in the final qualifying of the season on Sunday morning. He was rewarded for the fastest lap with three points, which were enough to take him back to the top of the table.
The Italian’s third pole position of the season puts him in prime position for the final round of the title race, with team-mate Nicki Thiim starting alongside him on the front row of the grid. The championship leader coming into qualifying, Kelvin van der Linde, ended the session in fifth place in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2.
“I was totally in the zone. Turn after turn I realised that it could be a perfect lap. I could not have responded better in the title race. We showed character and delivered as a team, which is something I am very proud of,” said Bortolotti. His team-mate Thiim was just 0.135 seconds slower and crowned his impressive performance with second place. In third was Ricardo Feller from Abt Sportsline, while DTM debutant Jules Gounon backed up what has been a fine appearance so far at the Hockenheimring with fourth place. Kelvin van der Linde qualified fifth and was the last of the drivers to crack the 1:37.000-minute mark.
There was tension in the air ahead of the final qualifying of the 2024 DTM season. With just two points separating the leader Kelvin van der Linde and his closest rival Bortolotti, qualifying took on even greater importance. Most drivers only took to the track for a few laps in the light fog at the start of the session, before returning to their garage and waiting for the ideal time to produce the perfect lap. As has been the case all season, the race against the clock truly began in the final five minutes.
Thiim was the first to set a flying lap, but was replaced at the top of the timings just seconds later by Gounon. Shortly thereafter, Kelvin van der Linde took the lead. With a good three minutes remaining, the stage was set for Bortolotti. The 34-year-old had a clear track ahead of him and produced a flawless lap to clock the top time. The final qualifying of the season again emphatically underlined how evenly matched the field is, with the top ten all within just four tenths of a second.
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