Spielberg – Race 1: Cassidy, him again!

Nick Cassidy won his second consecutive victory at Spielberg, after his first success at Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of René Rast who is closing in on the DTM championship.

Published on 24/09/2022 à 14:34

Dorian Grangier

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Spielberg – Race 1: Cassidy, him again!

Second consecutive victory for Nick Cassidy in DTM © Hoch Zwei

And two for Nick Cassidy! The New Zealander, who won his first DTM race two weeks ago at Spa-Francorchamps, won again during Race 1 at Spielberg. The pilot Alpha Tauri AF Corse led the race from start to finish, having inherited pole position after application of the penalty for René Rast. The German, who started 4th, managed to move up a few places to finish in 2nd position and achieved the very good operation of the day for the championship. Another big winner of the day: Mirko Bortolotti, who took the 3rd step of the podium and the point for the best lap.

Hectic start to Spielberg

Nick Cassidy, who started in pole position, made an excellent start to escape from the first turns... and also to escape the mayhem behind him. Main victim of the first lap: Felipe Fraga, who suffered a puncture at turn 3 after contact at the left rear. A wasted race, the Brazilian quickly realized the facts and retired in the first laps, just like Dennis Olsen.

At the opening of the pit lane, Sheldon van der Linde, championship leader, took the gamble of stopping very early to make theundercut and move up a few positions. Lucas Auer also chose this option… but was penalized 10 seconds for speeding in the pits. Mikaël Grenier, started 22nd and penalized one drive-through at the start of the race, for a long time led the peloton of those who had already stopped by attempting a crazy bet, but the Quebecer finally had to give up 15 minutes from the end.

Excellent operation for Rast and Bortolotti

In the peloton, the show was provided by Thomas Preining. The pilot Porsche, incisive and aggressive, put on a show with multiple overtakes, sometimes beyond the limit. The Austrian took a 10s penalty for swerving and then making contact with Nico Müller off the track at turn 3. At the front, Cassidy, Rast and Bortolotti chose to stop at the last moment . After the final pit stops, the positions remained the same, although Bortolotti lost some time during his stop. The Italian finally saved his 3rd place by even setting the best lap time of the race.

In the championship, it was a bad operation for leader Sheldon van der Linde. The South African failed to reach points in Spielberg and saw René Rast return to 13 points. Mirko Bortolotti moved up to 3rd place, 20 points behind the BMW driver.

The rankings for Race 1 at Spielberg: 

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Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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