DTM Zandvoort: Van der Linde wins Race 2 thriller; Dörr takes first-ever McLaren podium

Kelvin van der Linde converted pole into victory on Sunday in Race 2 at Zandvoort in the second round of the DTM championship. The fights began immediately at the start and continued all the way to the finish, but the BMW driver kept his cool as chaos unfolded behind him, with 18 of the 21 competitors reaching the chequered flag. Van der Linde’s win, Wittmann’s third place and Dörr’s historic McLaren podium capped off a hot DTM weekend between the dunes.

The South African kept the lead at the start for Schubert Motorsport as the first incident unfolded behind him. Bastian Buus, who started from P15, got into a fight with Finn Wiebelhaus, driving the Ford Mustang GT3, into Turn 1. The Danish driver couldn’t make the move stick, suffered a tyre failure, and retired.

Around 35 minutes into the race, the second hard battle began between Jules Gounon in P14 in the Mann‑Filter Mercedes‑AMG GT3 and Arjun Maini in P13 in the Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3. The Mercedes driver made a divebomb into the banked Turn 3 and pushed the Indian driver wide. The Ford driver wasn’t having it and returned the favour in the blind Turn 7 Scheivlak corner. The Mann‑Filter driver was pushed off, ran through the grass and smashed through a billboard, scattering debris across the track but off the racing line, all while keeping the car impressively under control. Because pieces of the billboard were still lying on the track, the first safety car was deployed.

After five minutes of neutralisation, the safety car came in again with 26 minutes remaining. The stewards extended the race distance by two more laps.

Van der Linde kept the lead at the restart, but behind him Nicki Thimm in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 outbraked himself into Turn 1 and slammed into Lucas Auer, who spun from P8 to the back of the field. For this, Thiim received a three‑lap penalty.

With 22 minutes of racing remaining, another incident unfolded near the back of the field as Maximilian Paul in his Lamborghini Temerario GT3 pushed Wiebelhaus wide into Turn 12, forcing both drivers to retire after contact.

After the #3 Schubert Motorsport driver had led since the opening lap, Thierry Vermeulen in his Ferrari 296 GT3 overtook Van der Linde into Turn 1 after the BMW-driver made a mistake on the slippery track. With the second round of pit stops beginning, Vermeulen and Emil Frey Racing suffered a poor stop, handing the lead back to Van der Linde. From there, with ten minutes remaining on the clock, he controlled the race and claimed victory at the challenging Dutch circuit.

Things went from bad to worse for Vermeulen as the Ferrari suddenly lost pace towards the end, dropping him down to fifth place. For Maro Engel in the Mercedes‑AMG GT3, who won the iconic 24 Hours of the Nürburgring last week, the final ten minutes showcased his class as he charged from P11 to fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. “It’s important points, for sure,” he said with a big smile to GT REPORT.

In the end, Ben Dörr, who started fifth, finished second in his McLaren 720S GT3. Marco Wittmann also produced a strong comeback drive, starting from P11 and completing a double BMW-podium by finishing third.