First win of the season for Feller, Auer leads nine-way title race ahead of finale

Ricardo Feller (CH) and his team Land-Motorsport had plenty of cause for celebration: the Audi driver claimed his first win of the season at race number 14 of this year's DTM at the Red Bull Ring. In doing so, he also earned a maiden victory in the series for Land-Motorsport.

"I am incredibly proud to have presented Land-Motorsport with its first win in the DTM. I was driving for my life in the battle with Thierry Vermeulen. I was absolutely determined not to let anyone take first place from me," said an overjoyed Feller.

Second place went to Thierry Vermeulen (NL/Emil Frey Racing) in a Ferrari 296 GT3. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) came home third to claim his first home podium in the DTM. There was more good news for the 31-year-old, who returned to the top of the table, having previously lost top spot to René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) on Saturday. Going into the finale in Hockenheim (3rd to 5th October), Auer and a further eight drivers are still in with a chance of winning the title.

The 14th race of the DTM season had only just got underway in Spielberg when it started throwing up incident after incident. While pole-sitter Vermeulen led the field ahead of Feller, Porsche driver Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) had to come into the pits with a puncture. The same fate befell Jack Aitken (GB/Emil Frey Racing) on lap two. With that, the race was over before it ever really got started for the two drivers who were running fourth and fifth at the time. Behind the leading duo, Auer, Rast and Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Performance) occupied positions three to five.

On lap 13, the increasingly fast Swiss driver overtook Vermeulen, before pulling clear of the field. Feller continued to lead the race after the two mandatory pit stops. Auer, who had lost third place to Maini, managed to leapfrog back ahead of the Indian after the second tyre change. Engel also overtook Maini with a well-timed second pit stop. Rast, who was fifth up to this point, was handed two penalty laps for two infringements before and in the pit lane, and consequently dropped well down the field. After 37 laps of racing, Feller took the chequered flag ahead of Vermeulen, Auer, Engel and Maini.

Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) made up eight places to finish sixth. That saw the South African climb into second place in the Drivers' Championship, seven points behind Auer. Ayhancan Güven guided the second Porsche 911 GT3 R of Manthey EMA to seventh place, ahead of Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) in eighth. Reigning champion Mirko Bortolotti (I/Abt Sportsline) came home ninth in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to claim his first top-ten result for a long time. Fellow Lamborghini racer Luca Engstler (Kempten/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) crossed the finish line tenth in Sunday's race in Styria.

Ahead of the season finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg (3rd to 5th October), Auer leads the DTM with 171 points. HIs closest rivals are Pepper (164) and Rast (160). Nine drivers still have a mathematical chance of winning the title, right down to Gounon, who trails Auer by 29 points.

Thierry Vermeulen: "Two podiums is a super result and good for one's confidence. The team gave me a mega car all weekend. Unfortunately, we did not quite get the win. I tried everything to defend against Ricardo Feller. At a certain point my tyres started to wear and Ricardo was simply too fast."

Lucas Auer: "I have finally made it onto the podium at my home event! I was really strong in the early stages, even when it was pretty manic on the opening lap. The second pit stop was the key moment for me. The guys in the pits really delivered. The quick tyre change allowed me to pass Arjun Maini in the pit lane."

Results are HERE