Nürburgring – Race 1: Sheldon van der Linde wins at the end of the wait

Three hours and forty-five minutes. This is the duration of the postponement of Race 1 in DTM. The reason ? Thick fog on the Nürburgring circuit, which did not seem to want to dissipate. Scheduled for 13:30 p.m., the departure was first postponed by an hour, before being postponed for an indefinite period, while waiting for the weather to improve. Finally, the fog gave way to the show at the end of the afternoon, with a start at 17:15 p.m.

The grid, constituted according to the championship classification since the qualifying was canceled on Saturday morning, therefore left leader Mirko Bortolotti to start on pole, ahead of his runner-up Sheldon van der Linde. At the start, Felipe Fraga was able to warm his tires better and took the lead at the end of the first lap, having started 6th.

After the pit stops, the driver Ferrari A.F. Corse Red Bull, then in the lead, was hit by the Lamborghini GRT of Bortolotti on the 29th lap. The Italian, who was closing in on the Brazilian, tried to overtake on the inside in the final corner, but Fraga closed the door and the two drivers spun.

In ambush, Sheldon van der Linde took the opportunity to get his 3rd victory this season and to regain the lead in the championship. The South African took advantage of Bortolotti's retirement to take a small cushion with a 16-point lead before Race 2 scheduled, barring any unforeseen events of course, at 13:30 p.m. on Sunday. His brother, Kelvin van der Linde, and Ricardo Feller complete the podium. For his first race, Theo Oeverhaus, the youngest driver in the DTM championship, finished in 19th place.

More information to follow…

The classification of Race 1

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