Jack Aitken converted his maiden DTM pole into his first ever DTM win at Race 1 at the Lausitzring, becoming the ninth winner in as many races this season.
The sun was shining on the Lausitzring and it was pole-sitter Aitken who led the field to green in his #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, and he made it into the tight first corner with the lead still intact.
The rest of the field managed to navigate the opening lap relatively unscathed, apart from Luca Engstler in the #8 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 and Franck Perera in the #94 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2.
Both were victims in an incident instigated by championship leader Thomas Preining in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R that saw rookie Engstler spun out into the gravel, Perera retiring to the pits and Preining receiving three penalty laps.
As a result, the Safety Car was called upon to remove Engstler’s Audi from the gravel trap.
Racing resumed with 52 minutes of racing left and Aitken once again held the lead.
Preining served his penalty laps and cycled through to the back of the field as a result.
As the early stages of the race unfolded, Aitken maintained his lead with a solid gap of approximately 1.7 seconds over second place Mirko Bortolotti in the #92 SSR Performance Lamborghini.
Kelvin van der Linde in the #3 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 and Marco Wittmann in the #11 BMW M4 GT3 were the first of the relative top runners to pit, with race leader Aitken and third-placed Lucas Auer in the #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 pitting a lap later, and both of them cycled out in front of van der Linde.
With tyres which were up to temperature, van der Linde quickly dispatched Auer to take a net-third place.
Bortolotti, Sheldon van der Linde in the #1 BMW and Ricardo Feller in the #7 Audi were amongst the next runners to pit and Bortolotti emerged in front of Aitken for the virtual race lead, with Aitken reclaiming it shortly after.
Kelvin van der Linde then took to challenging Bortolotti for an effective second place as Auer, Sheldon van der Linde, Stolz and Feller battled behind.
Bortolotti held firm in front of Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi, with the latter complaining on the radio regarding the Lamborghini driver’s weaving tactics.
David Schumacher, one of the last runners not to pit, retired his #27 Mercedes with just over 22 minutes of the race left to run, with Arjun Maini in the #36 Mercedes run by Team HRT being the last runner left out yet to visit pit lane.
Shortly after Maini surrendered the overall lead to Aitken and headed to pit lane, that meant all mandatory pit stops were complete. The top-three were led by Aitken, followed by Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde, with 20 minutes of the race remaining.
These front runners held station over the next 10 minutes, with Aitken opening his lead up to around three seconds over Bortolotti as the race drew to a close.
Further down the field, Preining was providing action aplenty as he charged into the points-scoring positions, following his penalty laps earlier on.
Aitken was able to bring his Ferrari home to take the chequered flag with the confidence of a DTM veteran, having perfectly managed the race at the front.
Bortolotti came home second, just 2.394s back from Aitken, with Kelvin van der Linde completing the podium, his first rostrum in over a year.
In fourth place was Auer in the Winward Racing Mercedes, ahead of fifth-placed Sheldon van der Linde in his Schubert Motorsport BMW.
Luca Stolz came home in sixth place in the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3, ahead of seventh-place Feller in his ABT Sportline Audi.
Rene Rast came home in eighth in the #33 BMW M4, ahead of Aitken’s Emil Frey Racing teammate Thierry Vermuelen in the #69 Ferrari.
Marco Wittmann in the #11 BMW rounded out the top-10 order for the Project 1 team.
Aitken ensures the DTM season continues to see a new winner in every race, with Ferrari becoming the sixth and final manufacturer to win this year with a maiden victory for their 296 machine.
This incredible DTM season continues on Sunday 20 August, as Qualifying for Race 2 takes place at 09:35 local time.
Discussion about this post