Imola – Race 1: Rast wins, fantastic comeback from Bortolotti

For its second race outside German territory this season, the DTM a décidé de s’exporter en Italie, sur le tracé d’Imola. Avec dix kilos de moins grâce à la Balance de Performance, les Audi verrouillaient la première ligne de cette course 1 avec René Rast devant Nico Mueller. Les deux pilotes étaient au coude-à-coude à l’envol et l’Allemand devait escalader le premier vibreur pour conserver l’avantage devant le Suisse et l’Autrichien Thomas Preining (Porsche). Pour son retour dans le championnat, Timo Glock was caught in a collision on the first lap and this weekend's guest BMW driver had to retire.

Leaders follow one another

René Rast stopped after only a quarter of an hour of racing, leaving the controls to Mueller, who covered the strategy on the following lap. It was Kelvin van der Linde's turn to take charge, while Mueller came out behind Rast and especially under pressure from Preining. The Austrian had also stopped on the previous lap, but the Audi driver resisted. Riccardo Feller was the next to inherit the lead of the race through pit stops, followed by Mirko Bortolotti. The Lamborghini driver, far away on the starting grid, took the opportunity to lead his home race.

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The Transalpine remained on the track until the last quarter of an hour. Mirko Bortolotti performed well with this offbeat strategy as he found himself in eighth position, although he started 16th on the grid after being penalized ten places for having used an incorrect set of tires during Free Practice 2. The driver from the Sant'Agata Bolognese firm took advantage of his fresh tires to recover and set the best lap in the race, taking advantage of Feller's retirement due to a mechanical problem. In total attack, Bortolotti even offered himself his third podium of the season by depriving Preining of his first career on the penultimate lap. Not worried, René Rast concluded a quiet race for his part to take victory ahead of Nico Mueller.

Find the rankings for Race 1 HERE