Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf’s Lucas Auer claimed his first DTM victory of the season in Race 1 at the Hockenheimring, as drama for the title contenders kept the Drivers’ Championship battle alive heading into tomorrow’s season finale.
Auer qualified second behind the Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Luca Engstler, who had scored the Temerario GT3’s maiden DTM pole in Qualifying.
On the second lap of the race, Auer passed Engstler for the lead at Turn 6, but the Lamborghini racer had a better exit and was able to draw back alongside. The pair made contact at the exit of Turn 7, which sent Engstler into the wall and brought out the Red Flag as his car was recovered.
The first lap after the restart saw Auer let his Mercedes-AMG stablemate Maro Engel, who had started from seventh, through for the lead, and the Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol driver opened up a gap of over three seconds before he came in for his mandatory pit stop.
A slow pit stop, however, dropped Engel to third behind Auer and TGI Team by GRT’s Mirko Bortolotti, with title rival Marco Wittmann also finding his way past soon after.
With under three minutes to go, Engel overtook Wittmann’s Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo for third at Turn 8, but was ordered to give the position back and was unable to mount another challenge as the leading quartet held station until the chequered flag.
“That was a tough race with many intense battles,” Auer said. “We have had a huge amount of bad luck recently, so I am unbelievably happy with this – even if the title is, unfortunately, no longer within reach for me. We want to back this up on Sunday and get another win.”
Second is 2024 champion Bortolotti’s best result of the season, whilst Wittmann and Engel have both closed in on Drivers’ Championship leader Thomas Preining.
The Austrian finished fifth, having climbed back through the field after running wide at the exit of Turn 4 on the opening lap aboard his Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2).
Entering tomorrow’s finale, 2023 champion Preining has a 20-point advantage over Wittmann, with Engel a further two points behind. Auer, Emil Frey Racing’s Matteo Cairoli and Comtoyou Racing’s Nicki Thiim have all fallen out of mathematical contention.
Kelvin van der Linde finished sixth in the second Schubert Motorsport BMW, ahead of Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter’s Jules Gounon, while HRT Ford Racing’s Arjun Maini ended the race in eighth place in a Ford Mustang GT3 Evo.
Red Bull Team Abt’s Marco Mapelli came home ninth, having fallen back in the second half of the race, with HRT Ford Racing’s Finn Wiebelhaus completing the top ten.
The final race of the 2026 DTM season will take place tomorrow afternoon at the Hockenheimring, Germany.
Image courtesy of Gruppe C Photography
