DTM Zandvoort: Cairoli wins Race 1 as Auer splits Ferraris while fierce fight ends in DSQ

The second round of the DTM championship began this Saturday at Circuit Zandvoort, with Race 1 held under hot weather conditions. Hard battles unfolded on track throughout the race, and Matteo Cairoli continued his strong form by claiming the race win. Lucas Auer split the two Ferraris in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 as he took home second place, with Thierry Vermeulen finishing third in the second Emil Frey Ferrari 296 GT3.

The race started cleanly for most of the field. Matteo Cairoli held the lead for Emil Frey Racing in the Ferrari 296 GT3, while his teammate Thierry Vermeulen was passed by Lucas Auer, who made a strong start and took over the position from the Dutchman.

The only incident occurred on the opening lap when Timo Glock suffered a puncture in his McLaren 720S GT3 and had to pit immediately. After a few laps he was called in again to save tyres, and he ultimately did not finish the race.

Intense battles emerged right away, with Bastian Buus defending aggressively after Turn 3 on the first lap to keep Jules Gounon behind him. That same fight escalated in the final ten minutes, leaving the Mercedes Mann-Filter driver frustrated as he was unable to pass Buus for P4.

However, the Danish Land-Motorsport driver was later disqualified because his car weighed 1,332 kg — 6.5 kg under the minimum requirement. Officials stated that the car must weigh at least 1,328.5 kg.

Elsewhere in the race, Kelvin van der Linde made a late pit stop as he and the team were hoping for a safety car to salvage a result. He had started last due to an oil leak in qualifying that could not be repaired before the session ended. No safety car appeared, and Schubert Motorsport eventually decided to retire the BMW M4 GT3.