Nürburgring – Race 2: Sheldon van der Linde imitates his brother and wins in the Eifel

• If we were evil tongues, we could talk about (dirty) teamwork at Schubert Motorsport. If Sheldon van der Linde won Race 2 organized on the short circuit of the Nürburgring this Sunday, it was partly thanks to his teammate René Rast who, leaving the pits, collided with the pole sitter and virtual leader of the race, Maro Engel. The German, sent into a spin, lost precious seconds and it didn't take that many for the South African to regain control of the race and win his first victory of the season!

Accident between @ReneRastRacing and @MaroEngel 🫣 @SheldonvdLinde is now leading the race.

Watch the last minutes live https://t.co/V2uEiERyXv# DTM2024 @nuerburgring pic.twitter.com/IdnCTVvAwJ

— DTM (@DTM) August 18, 2024

• The driver of the No. 31 BMW, however, built up his race tremendously with overtaking and very tough battles, first against Ricardo Feller, then against Maro Engel, to cross the checkerboard first. The 2022 champion of the discipline certainly took advantage of the accident between Maro Engel and René Rast, but he was able to keep the pace at the head of the race to contain the return of the Mercedes n ° 130.
• Schubert Motorsport still places two of its three cars on the podium since Marco Wittmann took the third and final step of the podium in the Eifel. As for René Rast, his race turned into a nightmare following his collision: the #33 BMW suffered a puncture during contact and the three-time DTM champion was logically penalized with three “Long Laps” for his maneuver on Maro Engel.
• The good operation of the day is for Kelvin van der Linde: 7th at the start, the South African had a difficult start and found himself 11th at the end of the first lap. However, thanks to a quick pit stop at ABT Sportsline and some excellent pit exit laps, the driver of the #3 Audi, winner the day before in the rain, was able to move up the hierarchy. Some well-inspired overtaking allowed him to move up to 4th place at the finish, far ahead of Mirko Bortolotti, only 9th. A result which allows him to increase his lead in the championship, now seven points ahead of the Italian.
• Thomas Preining was one of the great leaders of this muscular race: the reigning DTM champion chained the battles and daring overtakes with his Porsche “Grello” on the short route of the Nürburgring. The Austrian could have hoped for a better result without contact with Jack Aitken at the second corner. He finished 6th in Race 2 after a final duel with Thierry Vermeulen in the final laps.
• A top 10 for Franck Perera who, like Mirko Bortolotti, had difficulty with his Lamborghini during the pit stops phase despite a good starting position (6th). The Frenchman, however, held on to his 10th place, just behind the Italian.

DTM – Nürburgring
Race 2 – Ranking

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