Lucas Auer has taken the win in the opening DTM race of the 2025 season at Oschersleben.
The Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf racer started the race from pole position on Saturday afternoon after Ben Green lost his initial pole position after his Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 failed the post-session technical checks.
Auer controlled the entire race from the head of the field. After 40 laps, he crossed the finish line first in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 to complete his tenth DTM success.
“A top start to the new season! The start of the race was superb. However, I later lost all the lead I had established when having to lap other cars. As such, I am delighted that the guys in the pit lane produced a really strong performance during the tyre change,” said Auer.
Behind him, Jordan Pepper from TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT took second place. Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing took his AMG GT3 Evo to third place, thanks to a clever pit stop strategy.
Auer made a perfect start in front of packed grandstands pulling clear of the field and opening up a lead of more than four seconds. He was followed by South African Pepper and Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon, who had managed to overtake Porsche works driver Thomas Preining. Engel slotted into fifth place.
After the first mandatory pit stops, Auer lost a lot of time behind drivers who were slower on new and cold tyres. Then came a showdown on lap 18, when Auer, Pepper and Preining came into the pits at the same time for their tyre change.
Despite being stationary for a little longer, Auer still managed to return to the track just ahead of the South African and his Austrian compatriot Preining.
Auer then set about opening a lead of roughly two seconds holding onto first place and going on to celebrate his first DTM victory for about two and a half years.
Pepper followed him home in second place. Auer’s fellow Mercedes-AMG driver made a later stop than most, beating Preining to third place. In contrast, Gounon dropped two positions after an earlier pit stop and eventually finished fifth.
Jack Aitken took sixth in his Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, while Ayhancan Güven brought the second Manthey EMA 911 to seventh.
Marco Wittmann was the best-placed BMW driver in eighth place for home team Schubert Motorsport with reigning DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti climbing three places from his grid position to end Saturday’s race in ninth place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 run by Abt Sportsline. Luca Engstler from TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT rounded out the top ten, dropping several positions after a pit lane speeding penalty.
Jordan Pepper: “Second place feels like a win to me. Lucas Auer was faster than me at the start, but as the race progressed I benefitted a little from traffic caused by the pit stops. Unfortunately, I did not manage to launch a decisive attack on Lucas. Despite that, it was awesome to drive in front of such a fantastic backdrop.”
Maro Engel: “The late pit stop was a spontaneous decision. I had the feeling that we still had enough pace and could stay out there a little longer. That strategy really paid dividends. Had I managed to stick around at the front for a tiny bit longer on the fresh and cold tyres, we could have won it.”
Top 5
- Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf)
- Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT), +0.641 seconds
- Maro Engel (D/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing), +3.885 seconds
- Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA), +7.905 seconds
- Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter), +8.325 seconds
