Race report
DTM Oschersleben
DTM Oschersleben: Aitken wins season-opener, heartbreak for Wittmann
Jack Aitken won the opening race of the 2024 DTM at Oschersleben after Marco Wittmann’s BMW stopped on track with mechanical issues with just three minutes to run.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Apr 27, 2024, 4:39 PM
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BMW driver Wittmann was on course to take an unlikely victory from the last row of the grid after timing his pitstop to perfection, with Schubert Motorsport having brought him in for his mandatory stop just before a Full Course Yellow was deployed.
But with the end of the race in sight, his BMW M4 GT3 crawled to a halt at the start/finish straight due to a fuel pressure alarm, allowing Aitken to retake the position and claim his second career victory in the DTM.
Aitken had made a clean start from pole position as the 2024 campaign began at Oschersleben, with Mirko Bortolotti likewise holding on to second in the SSR Performance Lamborghini.
But as the initial laps wore on, Bortolotti started coming under pressure from the Abt Sportsline Audi of Ricardo Feller, who had passed HRT Mercedes of Arjun Maini for third at the start.
This allowed Aitken to build a buffer for himself at the front of the pack, the British driver pulling in an advantage of three seconds as the pit window opened after 20 minutes of racing.
Bortolotti was among the first of the frontrunners to peel into the pitlane, with Aitken and Feller following him into the pits on the next lap.
Aitken resumed the race in the net lead, but Feller managed to get the jump on Bortolotti as the overcut proved to be the superior strategy on a track where drivers struggled to get heat into their tyres.
It appeared Aitken would have a clean run to the finish, but the race was turned on his head when Ben Dorr lost a wheel on his McLaren exiting the final corner around the halfway point of the race.
With the loose wheel rolling its way onto the track, a caution period was necessitated, before the race control decided to bring out the full safety car.
However, just before the FCY came into force, Schubert cleverly called in Wittmann to the pits, the BMW driver having decided to go long in the first stint after a red flag in qualifying left him on 19th on the grid.
It appeared to be a masterstroke from Schubert, as Wittmann cycled back on track well clear of the chasing pack. Even as the safety car that followed closed the pack back up, Wittmann was able to make a brilliant restart as Bortolotti repassed Feller for third.
However, a first win since the 2022 finale at Hockenheim wasn't to be, as a rare mechanical issue left the German stranded on track and put Aitken back in front.
The safety car was brought back on track to help retrieve Wittmann's stranded BMW, but the track could be cleared for a one-lap dash to the finish.
Aitken made no mistakes as the SC peeled into the pits, keeping himself well clear of the competition to start the season with a stunning win.
Bortolotti claimed second for Lamborghini, while Feller resisted the other Schubert BMW of Sheldon van der Linde on the final lap to claim the third spot on the podium.
Mercedes duo Luca Stolz (HRT) and Lucas Auer (Winward) finished fifth and sixth behind van der Linde, while Rene Rast ended up seventh in the third of the three Schubert BMWs.
A decision to stop early dropped Stolz's team-mate Arjun Maini from fourth on lap 1 to eighth at the finish, ahead of the Emil Frey Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen and reigning champion Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA), who was the only Porsche runner inside the top 10.
Apart from Wittmann and Dorr, the only other driver to fail to finish the race was SSR's Nicki Thiim, who retired after just 10 laps with technical issues of his own.
DTM Oschersleben - Race results:
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