Maro Engel dominated the DTM race in Zandvoort, winning from pole position and setting the fastest lap time. Sheldon van der Linde finished second, while Franck Perera took the championship lead.
Engel started the race strongly and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. He maintained his lead throughout the race, despite a mandatory pit stop, and crossed the finish line six seconds ahead of van der Linde. Perera finished third, just over a second behind van der Linde.
The result of the race sees Perera take the lead of the DTM championship. He is now six points ahead of van der Linde, who is in second place. Engel is third in the championship, but he has a race win to his name, which gives him a significant advantage in the points.
Further down the field Lucas Auer finished sixth in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, coming through from twelfth on the grid. Thomas Preining improved on his qualifying result by three places to finish seventh in a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Albert Costa Balboa and Dries Vanthoor impressed on their DTM debuts, finishing eighth and ninth respectively. Jusuf Owega showed a great deal of fighting spirit to bring his Mercedes-AMG GT3 home tenth despite having suffered damage in a collision after Balboa took a chance at Tarzan and pulled off possibly the overtake of the season gaining him two places.
The second race of the weekend gets underway at 13:30 on Sunday. Engel will be looking to extend his lead in the championship, while van der Linde will be hoping to get back on the podium.
Please consider making a donation so we can keep bringing you our best content from the racetrack.
