Race report
DTM Hockenheimring
Hockenheim DTM: Van der Linde wins to draw level with Lawson
Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde converted pole position into victory in the first DTM race at Hockenheim to draw level on points with Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, as Alex Albon finished second.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Oct 2, 2021, 1:49 PM
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Van der Linde held the lead in the opening two corners from a charging Lucas Auer, but a bigger battle was brewing right behind the leading duo.
Having witnessed Lawson bang wheels with Maximilian Gotz as they exited Turn 2, Arjun Maini cleared both Gotz and Daniel Juncadella on the back straight and then set about chasing Lawson and Auer for second.
But the GetSpeed driver misjudged his braking into the Turn 6 hairpin, slamming into the side of Auer’s Winward Mercedes and bringing out the safety car before the end of the opening lap.
Gotz emerged from the chaos in second position behind race leader van der Linde, with Lawson dropping to third after having to go around the crashed cars of Maini and Lawson.
When the pit window opened at the end of lap 5, Gotz and Lawson pitted at the first opportunity, hoping to undercut van der Linde - who had built a small gap for himself at the restart.
But when the Abt Sportline driver did stop a lap later, he emerged well clear of the chasing duo, staving off any threat of being jumped in the pits.
From there on the South African enjoyed a clear run to the finish, scoring his fourth victory of the season - and first since the second race at the Nurburgring in August.
With Lawson dropping to fourth on the final lap, van der Linde has managed to completely wipe out what had been a 15-point deficit coming into the penultimate round of the season.
Second place in the race went to Lawson's AF Corse teammate Albon, who charged his way up the pack from ninth on the grid after making a relatively late pitstop on lap 12.
Eight laps after bolting on fresh tyres, Albon passed Lawson into Turn 6 and then muscled his way past Juncadella’s Mercedes to secure his fourth podium finish of the season.
2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller completed an even more impressive recovery drive from 17th on the grid to finish third, playing a big role in teammate van der Linde’s title bid in the process.
Stopping for new tyres just 11 laps from the finish, Rockenfeller picked up drivers one by one in the final stages of the race, putting himself on the cusp of a rostrum result going into the final tour.
Lawson covered the inside line into Turn 6 and was able to fend off Rockenfeller into the following right-hander, but the Abt Sportsline driver managed to snatch third place from his AF Corse rival into Turn 8.
Gotz eventually finished fifth behind Lawson having run second for the majority of the race after complaining about brake issues over team radio.
Esteban Muth finished an excellent sixth in the lead T3 Lamborghini ahead of the Mercedes cars of Juncadella (GruppeM), Philip Ellis (Winward) and Vincent Abril (HRT).
The top 10 was rounded out by Rowe Racing’s Timo Glock, the BMW driver bagging the final point following a long tussle with the Mucke Motorsport of debutant Marvin Dienst, who was substituting for the absent Maximilian Buhk.
Making his maiden appearance in the DTM in a fourth Abt-run Audi, Lucas di Grassi finished in 15th place behind another guest driver Hubert Haupt of the HRT Mercedes team.
While Lawson and van der Linde are now level on points in the standings, Marco Wittmann’s title hopes took a big hit after he was forced to retire his Walkenhorst BMW with accidental damage.
The two-time DTM champion had slipped from 13th to 17th after damaging his car in the opening lap incident between Auer and Maini and could never recover thereafter, bringing his car into the pits on lap 24 while running outside the points.
Race results:
Cla Driver Car Gap 1 Kelvin van der Linde
Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 Alex Albon
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 5.886 3 Mike Rockenfeller
Audi R8 LMS Evo 15.601 4 Liam Lawson
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 17.233 5 Maximilian Götz
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 17.940 6 Esteban Muth
BMW M6 GT3 18.779 7 Daniel Juncadella
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 19.966 8 Philip Ellis
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 21.119 9 Vincent Abril
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 28.817 10 Timo Glock
BMW M6 GT3 36.432 11 Marvin Dienst
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 39.674 12 Sophia Flörsch
Audi R8 LMS Evo 40.662 13 Esmee Hawkey
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 44.633 14 Hubert Haupt
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 46.641 15 Lucas di Grassi
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'02.029 16 Dev Gore
Audi R8 LMS Evo 1'03.246 Nico Müller
Audi R8 LMS Evo 9 Laps Sheldon Van Der Linde
BMW M6 GT3 10 Laps Marco Wittmann
BMW M6 GT3 12 Laps Lucas Auer
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 31 Laps Arjun Maini
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo View full results
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