– Emil-Frey-Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli crowns his perfect weekend on the dune course in Zandvoort with a victory: The Italian, who already set the best time in Friday’s practice and also secured pole position on Saturday morning, celebrates his debut win in the DTM in the first race (results).
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“At the Red Bull Ring we had a bit of a struggle, and now the car was absolutely fantastic to drive,” cheers DTM rookie Matteo Cairoli on ProSieben. “I just enjoyed every single lap and I can tell you: This gives everyone a real boost. Me, the team, especially my engineer. I can’t thank them enough. And tomorrow I will try again.”
Behind the winning Ferrari driver, Landgraf-Mercedes driver Lucas Auer and local hero as well as Cairoli’s teammate Thierry Vermeulen (Emil-Frey-Ferrari) complete the podium. Bastian Buus (Land-Porsche) successfully defends his fourth place in the final phase against the pressing Winward-Mercedes driver Jules Gounon.
Ben Dörr (Dörr-McLaren) finishes in sixth place, followed by Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) and Manthey-Porsche driver Thomas Preining. Luca Engstler (Abt-Lamborghini) and Nicki Thiim (Comtoyou-Aston-Martin) complete the top 10 in the first DTM race in Zandvoort.
“I think there really wasn’t more in it for us,” says Abt-Lamborghini driver Engstler on ProSieben. “We started from seventh place, but you don’t have the pace to keep up with the front pack. So it was clear early on that we had to look backwards, cover the other cars, and those were hard-earned points.”
Timo Glock with tire damage after race start
How did the start of the race go? While Cairoli was able to convert his pole position into the lead without any problems, Auer already pushed past Vermeulen behind him into second position. In the backfield, there were minor skirmishes and contacts, as a result of which Timo Glock (Dörr-McLaren) suffered tire damage.
The ex-Formula 1 driver, who had started the race from 20th place anyway due to a technical defect in qualifying, collided with Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert-BMW) and fell far back already in the early phase. The race control examined the incident but did not issue any penalties.
At the front, Cairoli pulled away from Auer by more than a second within a few laps. Behind them followed Thierry Vermeulen, Bastian Buus, and Jules Gounon. Ben Dörr was in sixth place ahead of Maro Engel and Luca Engstler.
Apart from a duel between Mirko Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert-BMW) with several light contacts, including a Grasser-Lamborghini driver swearing on the radio, the race was largely calm until the pit stop window opened.
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Mandatory pit stop brings no position changes
In lap 13, Buus and Dörr were the first drivers from the leading group to come to the pits for the mandatory tire change. Shortly after, an “unsafe release” by the Abt team caused excitement: Marco Mapelli touched Bortolotti’s Lamborghini while exiting.
In the following laps, other drivers also made their stops, only Engel and Kelvin van der Linde stayed out longer than the competition. The Mercedes-AMG driver pitted in lap 18, while Kelvin van der Linde waited until lap 24 but shortly after retired his Schubert-BMW.
The pit stop phase did not bring major shifts in the standings overall, as the positions within the top 8 remained unchanged. Only Preining was able to gain one position and move ahead of Luca Engstler into ninth place.
There were no more changes at the front: Cairoli controlled the race ahead of Auer and teammate Vermeulen, while Gounon had stuck to Buus’s bumper. The Winward-AMG driver launched several attacks in the final phase but found no way past.
A few minutes before the end of the race, Gounon moved alongside Buus’s Land-Porsche in the first corner, slightly pushing the Frenchman off the track. Race control also investigated this incident but left it at a warning against the Dane.
Glock and Van der Linde retire early
Timo Glock stopped his Dörr-McLaren shortly after the halfway point of the race at the pits. “The accelerator pedal failed,” explains the 44-year-old on ProSieben. However, this had nothing to do with the collision at the start. “Kelvin van der Linde moved over and his rear wheel hit my front wheel, damaging the rim.”
Besides Glock and van der Linde, Tom Kalender (Landgraf-Mercedes) also did not see the checkered flag on Saturday. His teammate Lucas Auer takes over the lead in the overall standings from Maro Engel with his second place. Matteo Cairoli improves to third overall thanks to his DTM debut victory.
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The second DTM race in Zandvoort starts on Sunday (May 24) at 1:30 pm. The starting positions will be determined beforehand in another qualifying (Here in the livestream!), which starts at 9:40 am on the dune course on the Dutch North Sea coast.
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