Mirko Bortolotti crowned 2024 DTM champion at Hockenheim

Last year Mirko Bortolotti lost the championship to Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA) in the grand finale. In 2024, the Italian returns to Hockenheim in the same configuration as in 2023. There are indeed 3 of them who could be crowned at this final meeting. "Borto", Kelvin van der Linde (Abt Sportsline) and Maro Engel (Team Winward) could hope to take the crown this season. Beaten last year, the official Lamborghini driver was careful not to repeat his mistakes. By finishing 5th in the C1 and letting van der Linde win, the Italian knew that the BoP would weigh down the South African's Audi R8LMS. It was therefore with a 20 kg lighter car that the Transalpine took pole position for race 2. Only one small point separated the two men before the last round of the season. Bortolotti on pole, van der Linde 5th, the task seemed difficult but not impossible for the eldest of the van der Linde siblings.

Bortolotti concludes as a boss

The official driver of the Italian brand had the perfect race by taking the best start from pole. He was ahead of his teammate Nicki Thiim who shared the front row with him. Further down the rankings, van der Linde fell back due to grip issues. He slipped to 11th position after only a few minutes of racing. In the lead, Bortolotti led the race with authority. He drove serenely knowing that his Danish teammate was watching over him. During the pit stops, van der Linde was the first to stop, hoping to reverse the trend with 4 new tires.

Unfortunately for him, as he left the pits, he was caught in a battle with his brother Sheldon (Schubert Motorsport) and Thierry Vermeulen and his Ferrari. When he stops in turn at the halfway point, Bortolotti makes a perfect pit stop allowing him to start again in the lead of the race. While he could have hoped to win, Lucas Engstler and his Huracan Evo (Grasser Motorsport) cut the priority to the transalpine who intelligently takes no risks, he does not need the victory to become the new champion.

Lucas Engstler wins his second victory of the season, ahead of Bortolotti and René Rast (Schubert Motorsport). Kelvin van der Linde crosses the finish line in 9th place and finishes runner-up to the Italian, Maro Engel is 3rd in the 2024 season. Bortolotti gets his revenge, he is the first Italian to win the title in DTM for 31 years (the last was Nicola Larini in 1993). He does not know what his program will be next year or if he will be able to defend his title in 2025, everything will depend on the choices of his employer also engaged in WEC. Schubert Motorsport saves BMW's season by taking the Teams' crown and Mercedes takes the Constructors title.

DTM – Hockenheim
Race 2 – Ranking

Championship – Standings

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