Abt Sportsline driver Kelvin van der Linde finally scored his first win of the 2023 DTM season today in the first race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
With this success, the South African also scored Abt Sportsline with its 250th podium in the DTM.
“What an exciting race,” he said. “We did nearly everything perfectly today. The key to the success was the fact that we came into the pits for our tyre change earlier than our rivals. We took a risk and were rewarded for doing so. The early stop gave me enough time to get my slicks up to the right temperature.
Behind the winning #3 Audi, DTM newcomer Laurin Heinrich crossed the finish line 1.306 seconds behind van der Linde in his Porsche 911 GT3 R.
That earned him his second podium of the season. Ricardo Feller meanwhile, produced a sensational fightback in his Abt Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, fighting to third from 26th on the grid.
The weather played a major role in the 13th race of the season at the picturesque Austrian circuit.
With light rain falling, almost all the drivers started on wet tyres and the spectators were treated to one of the most exciting and action-packed races of the season, with fierce wheel-to-wheel battles and a host of overtaking manoeuvres throughout the field.
Pole-sitter Heinrich immediately pulled clear at the start and was able to open a lead of over two seconds. The man from Würzburg was followed by his team-mate Ayhancan Güven, Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel, Preining, and Kelvin van der Linde. The latter worked his way into second place and was the first of the top three to come in for his mandatory pit stop.
Shortly after, having had time to get some heat into his Pirelli slicks, van der Linde passed Heinrich, whose tyres were not yet up to their optimal temperature. After 37 laps of racing, the 27-year-old took the chequered flag ahead of Heinrich.
For Ricardo Feller, it was one of the drives of his career. Having started from 26th on the grid, the Swiss overtook Preining and Engel after a short safety car period to move into third place. He was then embroiled in a heated battle with René Rast in the closing stages, but was able to fend off the attacks from the three-time DTM champion.
In doing so, Feller made it quite clear that he still has his sights set on the title. Behind Rast, Engel crossed the finish line at the Formula 1 circuit in Spielberg in fifth place.
“Starting from 26th on the grid, I did not expect to make up any ground at the top of the table,” Feller admitted after the race. “However, that just goes to show how close it is in the DTM. A super strategy, a fast pit stop and, of course, that little bit of luck that you need were the factors behind that fightback. In the final few laps, I went ‘all in’ against René Rast. I was determined not to lose third place.”
Preining, who currently lies second in the table, guided the Porsche 911 GT3 R or Manthey EMA to sixth place and closed to within six points of the lead in the process. Luca Stolz climbed seven places to finish seventh in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Marco Wittmann ended the 13th race of the season in eighth place in his BMW M4 GT3.
Championship leader Mirko Bortolotti had worked his way up to sixth place by the mandatory pit stop, but dropped back to ninth after the tyre change. However, that was still enough for the Lamborghini driver to hold onto the overall lead. Dennis Olsen was tenth for Manthey EMA in the team’s second Porsche 911.
Race two at the Red Bull Ring gets underway at 13:30 on Sunday. German free-to-air TV station ProSieben begins its coverage at 13:00.
Image courtesy of ADAC
