Nicki Thiim swept the Norisring, winning DTM Race 2 from pole to flag to take the championship lead. The Dane resisted relentless pressure from Finn Wiebelhaus in the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 through rain, two Safety Cars and a red flag, completing a faultless four-from-four weekend.
Wiebelhaus finished second in the #64 HRT Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3, while Lucas Auer secured third place in the #22 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Safety Car and Red Flag After Early Incidents
Thiim made a clean start and kept the lead into Turn 1 ahead of Wiebelhaus and Arjun Maini in the #36 HRT Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3. Behind them, several cars made slight contact during the opening lap.
Matteo Cairoli in the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo suffered damage and was also investigated for an alleged false start. The incident brought out the Safety Car.
With 47 minutes remaining, heavy rain reached the circuit before another accident stopped the race.
Marco Mapelli lost control of the #10 Abt Sportsline Lamborghini Temerario GT3 and hit Cairoli’s Ferrari, pushing it into Luca Engstler’s #130 Abt Sportsline Lamborghini Temerario GT3. Cairoli retired from the race, while Engstler was able to continue.
The accident damaged the barriers, causing another Safety Car period and a red flag. After a five-minute stoppage, the race restarted behind the Safety Car before returning to green flag racing.
Battles Around the Circuit
After the restart, Thiim remained in front of Wiebelhaus, Maini, and Auer. Jules Gounon moved up to fifth in the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo after passing Ben Dörr in the #25 Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo as the track conditions improved.
Auer later overtook Maini after a close battle for third place.
Further down the order, Thomas Preining, Bastian Buus, and Tom Kalender fought for tenth position.
At the front, Wiebelhaus stayed close to Thiim and made several attempts to take the lead, but Thiim defended his position well.
Later in the race, Timo Glock hit the wall with his #16 Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. He returned to the pits with damage and retired.
Pit Stops
Buus and Marco Wittmann were among the first drivers to make their mandatory pit stops. Ben Dörr, Kalender, Wiebelhaus, and Preining stopped soon after.
Thiim and Comtoyou Racing managed both pit stop windows well and stayed in the lead. Wiebelhaus remained second, while Auer held third. Maini stayed fourth, and Gounon completed the top five after the second pit stop cycle.
Mapelli later retired because of damage from his earlier accident. Engstler was the last driver to complete his second mandatory pit stop before rejoining the race.
Wiebelhaus continued to put pressure on Thiim in the final laps, but Thiim stayed in front until the chequered flag.
Thiim took his second win of the weekend ahead of Wiebelhaus and Auer. Maini finished fourth, while Gounon completed the top five.
Thiim Moves to the Top of the Standings
After taking pole position for both races and winning both Race 1 and Race 2, Thiim completed a perfect weekend at Norisring. The results also moved him to the top of the DTM championship standings, ahead of Maro Engel and Lucas Auer.
DTM returns for round five at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on 24–26 July.
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