HRT Mercedes driver Luca Stolz claimed his first victory of the 2024 DTM season in race two on the Sachsenring on Sunday after long-time chief Thierry Vermeulen was penalised for a pitstop infringement.
Max Verstappen’s protege Vermeulen had appeared heading in the right direction for his maiden DTM victory having dominated the race from pole place, in a carbon copy of the efficiency put in by his Emil Frey Ferrari team-mate Jack Aitken on Saturday.
However with just below quarter-hour to go, race management handed the Dutchman a penalty ‘lap’ for a mistake on his staff’s half, dropping him to 3rd place and gifting Stolz his third profession victory within the DTM.
Abt Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde completed second forward of a recovering Vermeulen, wresting again the management of the championship within the course of.
At the beginning of the race, Vermeulen made a clear launch from pole place into Flip 1, whereas van der Linde dropped to fourth behind Stolz and Grasser Lamborghini of Luca Engstler.
Vermeulen continued to increase his lead within the first stint of the race over Stolz, whereas Kelvin van der Linde managed to repass Engstler at Flip 12 to place himself again within the podium place.
By the point the pitstop window opened after 20 minutes of racing, Vermeulen’s lead had grown to 2.7s, having peaked at over three seconds at one stage.
Thierry Vermeulen, Emil Frey Racing Ferrari Ferrari 296 GT3
Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz
Stolz was the primary of the frontrunners to peel into the pits on lap 17, with Vermeulen following him on the following tour.
This introduced the hole all the way down to 1.7s, however the Dutchman had began extending his lead once more when the protection automobile was known as in with 25 minutes to go for a collision between debutant Jordan Pepper and Schubert BMW’s Marco Wittmann.
The incident was triggered by three-time champion Rene Rast hitting the rear of Pepper’s GRT Lamborghini into Flip 1, sending him into the trail of an harmless Wittmann as they each ended up within the gravel.
Wittmann was livid after the incident, pushing again Pepper when he approached him after which throwing his gloves as he walked to the service highway. He later apologised to Pepper for his ‘overreaction’.
When the racing resumed with 19 minutes left on the clock, Vermeulen shortly constructed up a lead of 1.7s, however his hopes of a maiden win had been dashed when he needed to undergo the lengthy loop for a pitstop infringement. Replays confirmed a mechanic leaving a tyre on the bottom within the pitlane, which is in opposition to the rules.
Vermeulen rejoined in third place behind Stolz and Kelvin van der Linde, with Stolz happening to take Mercedes’ first victory of 2024 by 0.769s.
Vermeulen saved the strain up on Kelvin van der Linde till the end, however needed to accept third, which was nonetheless ok for his first podium within the collection.
Kelvin van der Linde, Staff ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3
Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz
Second place for Abt driver Kelvin van der Linde, who had benefitted from in a single day Stability of Efficiency increase for Audi, places him again within the lead of the championship, along with his nearest rival Mirko Bortolotti solely ending seventh within the SSR Efficiency Lamborghini.
Manthey EMA driver Thomas Preining took fourth on the end, having handed the Winward Mercedes of Maro Engel on the security automobile restart when Engel was eyeing a transfer on Kelvin van der Linde.
Saturday winner Aitken was labeled sixth, whereas Bortolotti may solely get well to seventh after qualifying down in eleventh place.
Ayanchan Guven was eighth within the different Manthey Porsche, whereas the 2 remaining Schubert BMWs accomplished the highest 10, with Sheldon van der Linde main residence Rene Rast.
Rast, who had risen from dead-last on the grid, stays below investigation for the collision with Pepper that additionally took out Wittmann.
Engstler, who was in podium rivalry early on, retired with harm after making contact with Guven at Flip 1.
DTM Sachsenring – Race two outcomes
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