Matteo Cairoli converted pole position into a commanding lights-to-flag victory in this afternoon’s opening DTM race at the Nürburgring, leading home Thomas Preining by almost 10 seconds.
The Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 made the perfect getaway, with Cairoli immediately establishing a gap to Preining’s Manthey Porsche into Turn 1. Ben Dörr in the #25 Doerr Motorsport McLaren also enjoyed a strong start, moving from fifth on the grid into third, while championship leader Maro Engel initially ran sixth.
The opening laps were marked by several incidents. Mirko Bortolotti was forced off track on the opening lap and subsequently retired his #63 TGI Team by GRT Lamborghini with suspected overheating issues. Marco Mapelli in the #10 Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini also spun following contact with Timo Glock, who was handed three penalty laps for the incident before electing to retire his #16 Doerr Motorsport McLaren.
Arjun Maini in the #36 HRT Ford Racing Mustang was another early retirement after reporting vibrations through his steering, while Nicki Thiim’s race in the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin was compromised after an optomistic move into the Veedol Chicane saw contact with the #84 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf of Tom Kalender at the Veedol Chicane. Thiim received a penalty lap and dropped to tenth.
Marco Wittmann in the #11 Schubert Motorsport BMW and Lucas Auer in the 2#22 Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes were among the first drivers to make their mandatory pit stops, with Engel pushing hard in an attempt to gain track position over Auer. However, the championship leader was unable to build enough of an advantage to emerge ahead when Auer rejoined.
There was further drama when Jules Gounon came under investigation for contact with Ricardo Feller at the first corner, with the Porsche driver spinning into the barriers.
Despite the activity behind him, Cairoli remained in complete control. The Ferrari driver retained the lead following the pit window and was able to stretch his advantage to almost 10 seconds by the chequered flag.
Preining secured second place, a result that moves the Manthey driver into second in the championship standings, while Marco Wittmann completed the podium.
Cairoli’s dominant performance gives the Emil Frey Ferrari driver a significant boost as the Nürburgring weekend continues, while the fight for the DTM title remains wide open behind him.
The result see’s Maro Engel extend his lead to 17 points in the championship ahead of Thomas Preining who jumped from 4th to 2nd.
