Mirko Bortolotti steered his SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo II to victory in the first race of the DTM at the Nürburgring earlier today.
The result has seen him climb into second place in the overall standings. Bortolotti started from pole position and kept his nerve in a turbulent race, during which it rained intermittently.
After 39 laps of racing, he crossed the line in his Lamborghini with a lead of 1.199 seconds.
“I have waited a long time for this moment. So far, it has been a perfect weekend for me: fastest on Friday, and now pole position and victory on Saturday. It was important now the race winner on Saturday. On the one hand, it was important not to make any mistakes on the slicks during the short shower. On the other hand, I was also able to hold onto my lead,” said Bortolotti.
Team Winward Mercedes driver Lucas Auer crowned an impressive tactical display with a second place finish. His compatriot Thomas Preining came home third in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and was able to extend his lead at the top of the championship to 18 points.
Bortolotti made a good start and was able to control the field and gradually pull away. Behind him, Preining and Ricardo Feller held onto their positions ahead of Auer, who climbed from eighth to fourth place.
Emil Frey racer Jack Aitken rounded out the top five in his Ferrari 296 GT3.
Half an hour into the race, it began to drizzle. This was followed by a collision between Porsche drivers Christian Engelhart and Ayhancan Güven, which resulted in a yellow phase that most drivers used to make their mandatory pit stops. Despite the rain, almost all the drivers opted for Pirelli slicks, which proved to be the right call on a track that was drying quickly.
It all got a bit eventful on lap 28. Alessio Deledda skidded into the gravel bed and the safety car was called into action for two laps.
At that point Franck Perera, down in 22nd place, played a key role: the Frenchman, who had already been lapped, returned to the track after his pit stop behind his team-mate and race leader Bortolotti, but in front of the pursuing Preining and Feller.
When the race restarted, fourth-placed Auer overtook the two cars in front of him and was closing in on Bortolotti. However, the Lamborghini works driver produced a flawless display and Auer had to settle for a fine second place. Behind Preining and Feller, Dennis Olsen finished fifth after a controlled performance in his Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“What an intense race,” said Auer. “It was important that my start and the re-starts were really good. The team also performed superbly in the pit stop. They were the key moments. I was obviously hoping for a mistake from Mirko Bortolotti towards the end, but he had everything under control.”
The best-placed BMW driver was Marco Wittmann, who climbed from tenth on the grid to finish sixth. Fellow BMW racer Sheldon van der Linde made up no fewer than eight positions to cross the finish line in seventh place.
The fightback of the day, however, came from his brother Kelvin van der Linde.
After a collision on the opening lap, the Audi driver found himself in last place. However, he gradually worked his way through the field with some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres and was rewarded for his effort with eighth place.
Patric Niederhauser was ninth in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, while Thierry Vermeulen completed the top ten as the best of the Ferrari drivers.
Race 2 at the Nürburgring gets underway at 13:30 on Sunday.
Image courtesy of Gruppe C/ADAC
