Zandvoort – Race 2: Kelvin van der Linde as boss!

Finally, Kelvin van der Linde is back on the winning track! After a year's break from the German category, the South African has made a triumphant return. He secured pole position for Race 2 at Zandvoort (Netherlands), and finished second in the... DTM 2024 put everything in place to clinch the victory. However, it wasn't always easy, and Van der Linde even lost the lead after a mistake entering turn 14. Thierry Vermeulen took advantage to slip through and seize the lead. The Dutchman long believed he could fight for the win, aided by Emil Frey Racing's perfectly timed pit stops. But Schubert Motorsport, Van der Linde's team, also had an ace up its sleeve: by pitting the South African a lap earlier than Vermeulen for the final stop, the BMW was able to regain the lead, benefiting from warmer tires. Vermeulen left the pit lane with cold tires, which take a long time to warm up in DTM where tire warmers are unavailable.

Van der Linde cruised to victory, while Thierry Vermeulen lost two positions in quick succession to Ben Dörr and Marco Wittmann, who both secured podium finishes. Vermeulen thus experienced the thrill of a top-three finish in his debut DTM season, while Wittmann delivered a strong overall result for Schubert Motorsport with a double podium. Maro Engel, who made a late charge, finished fourth, slightly improving the overall standings for the team. Mercedes BenzBecause his teammate Jules Gounon had a difficult race, marked by an excessively long pit stop and a very physical duel with Arjun Maini. The Ford Mustang driver and his French counterpart traded positions in a relentless battle where both were pushed off the track in turn.

Disappointment also for Lucas Auer at Mercedes. The championship leader had to settle for 13th place after spinning out following the restart after the safety car period. Hit by Swiss driver Ricardo Feller, Auer rejoined last and lacked the time to make up ground. His run of three podium finishes in as many races since the start of the season comes to an end here.

Race 1 winner Matteo Cairoli (Emil Frey Racing) narrowly missed out on points, while three Lamborghinis finished in the top 10, confirming the progress made by the Italian manufacturer with its Temerario since the start of the season. Luca Engstler finished 6th, a week after securing pole position for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in a Lamborghini Huracan he shared with Mirko Bortolotti. Bortolotti also scored points in Race 2 at Zandvoort, finishing 9th, two places behind Marco Mapelli, who finished 7th, also driving a Lamborghini Temerario.

DTM – Zandvoort 
The classification of Race 2