DTM Sachsenring: Bortolotti strikes back with victory ahead of Stolz

Another steamy afternoon on an abrasive track not known for its overtaking opportunities began – perhaps inevitably under these circumstances – with multiple cars in the gravel trap in the first sequence of corners.

Two separate incidents at the 'Omega' right-hander meant an early red flag and a handful of cars – including the likes of BMW racer Sheldon van der Linde and Mercedes man Maro Engel - would be unable to take the restart.

With the field having crossed a timing beam before the red flag was thrown, the race resumed behind the safety car in the same order that had been established during the brief first attempt: Bortolotti, Luca Stolz and Jack Aitken, whose attempt to grab the lead around the outside of the first corner had cost the Ferrari driver a place at the initial start.

Bortolotti was in charge from the restart all the way to the flag. Though his chasers kept him in sight for most of the day, he stretched his lead out to around three seconds just before ducking into the pits one lap after the window opened.

A smooth stop by his SSR Performance team enabled him to emerge comfortably ahead of his rivals, all of whom also stopped early in the window.

The Italian did have a mid-race scare when he noticed his oil pressure dropping. His team was at a loss to explain it, and told him to race on as best he could.

His lead dropped to under a second at around three-quarter distance, but Bortolotti was able to extend it to more than a second once again and manage the gap to the end.

Saturday winner Stolz, whose Team HRT Mercedes was saddled with 20kg of success ballast for this race, led the chasing pack throughout the afternoon.

Jack Aitken, Emil Frey Racing Ferrari Ferrari 296 GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

The most exciting moment of the race came when Aitken tried to change that situation after emerging from his pitstop alongside Stolz, who had come in one lap earlier.

Aitken raced side-by-side with Stolz throughout the first complex of corners, using more than just the asphalt at one point. Then it all unravelled as they emerged from Omega: Stolz finally shook off the Briton, who then had a small moment in the first of the long series of left-handers.

Abt Audi's Ricardo Feller saw this as an opportunity, went for a half-gap and hit Aitken's left rear. The damage was enough to put the Ferrari out of the race.

From that point onwards, the podium was set, with Feller following Stolz home ahead of Franck Perera (SSR Performance).

Thomas Preining had taken the championship lead from Bortolotti after the latter could only manage ninth on Saturday, following ABS problems and a penalty.

The Manthey EMA man took fifth in Sunday's race despite heavy pressure from Thierry Vermeulen's Ferrari in the second half of the contest – but it wasn't enough to prevent Bortolotti from returning to the top of the points table ahead of the penultimate race weekend in Austria.

Race result:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	M. Bortolotti SSR Performance	92		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	46				25
2	L. Stolz Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	4		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	46	1.541			20
3	R. Feller Abt Sportsline	7		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	46	0.627			16
4	F. Perera SSR Performance	94		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	46	0.469			13
5	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91		Porsche 911 GT3 R	46	2.107			11
6	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69		Ferrari 296 GT3	46	0.541			10
7	A. Maini Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	36		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	46	2.418			9
8	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33		BMW M4 GT3	46	2.377			8
9	J. Owega Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	84		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	46	2.180			7
10	P. Niederhauser Tresor Orange1	83		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	46	1.004			6
11	D. Schumacher Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	27		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	46	6.214			5
12	M. Wittmann Project 1 Motorsport	11		BMW M4 GT3	46	2.569			4
13	K. van der Linde Abt Sportsline	3		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	46	0.356			3
14	T. Heinemann Toksport WRT	9		Porsche 911 GT3 R	46	4.503			2
15	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	22		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	46	5.717			1
16	S. Holzem Project 1 Motorsport	56		BMW M4 GT3	46	17.586
17	C. Schmid GRT Grasser Racing Team	63		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	46	0.849
18	A. Deledda SSR Performance	6		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	45	1 lap
19	L. Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler	8		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	31	14 laps
20	M. Drudi Tresor Orange1	40		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	30	1 lap
21	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14		Ferrari 296 GT3	17	13 laps
22	A. Güven KÜS Team Bernhard	24		Porsche 911 GT3 R	16	1 lap
23	D. Olsen Manthey EMA	90		Porsche 911 GT3 R	2	14 laps
24	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	48		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	1	1 lap
	S. Van Der Linde Schubert Motorsport	1		BMW M4 GT3	0
	L. Heinrich KÜS Team Bernhard	75		Porsche 911 GT3 R	0
	M. Dienst Toksport WRT	99		Porsche 911 GT3 R	0
View full results