Lucas Auer wins the Champions League after leading from start to finish.

Lucas Auer didn't waste any time, he completely dominated this round, which got a little wilder after the pit stops. The Austrian built up a solid lead from the start of the race. The safety car came out to clear away debris from the mid-pack ruckus at the first corner. When the race restarted, Auer got back into his stride, and Engel (Team WinWard) was still close behind. They were followed by René Rast, who overtook a struggling Jules Gounon with his 10kg success ballast following his performance at Oschersleben.

Pit stops boost the end of the race

When the pit window opens, Mirko Bortolotti (ABT Sportsline) is the first to dive into the pit lane. The Italian tries to reverse the trend after a spoiled start to the race following contact with Fabio Scherer (Ford Mustang- HRT Performance). 17th at the time of his stop, the 2024 champion will unfortunately not be able to move up beyond 13th position, just ahead of his teammate Nicki Thiim. The race, however, took on a lot of spice after the tire changes. Several battles pitted drivers on cold tires against those on warmer compounds. In this little game, Auer took back the reins of the race, not without having fought door to door with Maro Engel. The Austrian was no longer worried until the checkered flag and was able to celebrate his second victory in DTM this season. He is ahead of Maro Engel and René Rast. The battle for the top 5 was absolutely superb between many riders. Jules Gounon managed to better manage his second stint. The Franco-Andorran crossed the finish line in 4th position. He moved into provisional second place in the general classification, 15 points behind leader Lucas Auer. 

A new race is scheduled for this Sunday starting at 13:10 p.m.  

DTM - Race 1 Results - Lausitzring