Hockenheim – Kelvin van der Linde calm winner and leader again

Author of his 4th pole position of the season this Saturday morning, Kelvin van der Linde showed great solidity in the race at Hockenheim to relaunch himself in the championship. Very well off to a good start, the ABT driver escaped the various clashes of the first lap and in particular the one involving Lucas Auer and Arjun Maini, who were subsequently forced to retire.

Once the race was underway, the South African showed himself at ease at the wheel of his Audi R8 LMS and quickly created a gap with his closest pursuers, including Liam Lawson, who was challenged and jostled in the first few meters of the meeting.

Without delay and in order to avoid any surprises, Kelvin van der Linde covered the strategy of his rivals by quickly making his only pit stop. Behind, Liam Lawson, Daniel Juncadella and Maximilian Götz, bothered by the drivers without a pit stop, were unable to follow his set pace, which gave him the opportunity to fly alone and in complete peace to his 4th victory of the season.

First comment from today's winner @KelvinvdLinde.#TeamABTSportsline #DTMHockenheim #FeelTheRoar #ranDTM pic.twitter.com/dI2jroh5wE

- ABT Motorsport (@abtmotorsport) October 2, 2021

If at KVDL the race was relatively calm, behind him the places on the podium were decided until the last lap. Only 9th in qualifying and in tough conditions at the start of the game, Alex Albon finally achieved a very high quality 2nd stint. Passing through the pits 4 laps after his competitors, the Thai managed his new rubber perfectly to pull out all the stops and thus successively take the scalps of Liam Lawson, Maximilian Götz, Philip Ellis and Daniel Juncadella to climb onto the 2nd step of the podium.

A podium completed by a wild Mike Rockenfeller at the end of the race. With a shifted strategy and fresher tires, the German made a strong comeback in the final minutes until gaining the upper hand over Liam Lawson, long in 3rd, on the last lap, causing him to lose the lead in the championship!

Fourth under the checkerboard, the New Zealander sees Kelvin van der Linde return to his level with 188 points and drops to 2nd place in the championship since his counterpart has one more victory this season. Enough to spice up the fight for the coronation a little more while there are only three or three races left.

Still in the running for the title, Marco Wittmann lost big this Saturday at Hockenheim. Sandwiched in the Turn 6 incident on the first lap, the Walkenhorst Motorsport driver continued on his way but ultimately decided to return to his garage to retire. “ We lacked rhythm, he regretted after his abandonment. We will try to repair the damage for Sunday's race ».