SPORTSCAR

A great performance and a perfect strategy – in Oschersleben, Christian Engelhart was rewarded for a faultless performance in the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Toksport WRT with his maiden DTM win. On Sunday, the experienced 36-year-old driver had started the second race of the season from seventh on the grid and moved up to second place after a perfectly timed pit stop. His brand team-mate Thomas Preining (A) from Manthey EMA had been leading up that point, but a penalty for him saw Engelhart take the lead and he crossed the finishing line in first place after 41 laps. “That victory was clearly due to the whole team. The pit stop was sensational and I had great pace before and after it. This is a fantastic win,” said the jubilant Porsche driver, who topped the rostrum for the first time in what was just his fourth DTM race. His team-mate Tim Heinemann from Fichtenberg also had reason to celebrate. As he had on Saturday, the newcomer secured second place and moved into the lead in the overall standings. Preining completed the three-way Porsche podium. Around 35,000 spectators enjoyed a top-quality DTM opener in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, with thrilling qualifying sessions and two new winners.

That was a show of strength. Franck Perera (F) from the SSR Performance team produced a nerveless performance to claim a dominant start-finish victory in the first DTM race of the season. The former Formula 1 test driver thereby secured the first win in the series for Lamborghini at the opening race of the 37th DTM season. On Saturday, Perera started the race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in first place in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, controlling the field in a commanding fashion before and after the mandatory pit stop. “This win really means a lot to me. I have had some ups and downs in my career, but I knew that I still had plenty in the tank. The season still has a long way to go but I will enjoy this success and have a beer tonight,” explained the Lamborghini works driver, who is now a permanent driver in the popular race series for the first time after making a guest appearance last year. A “real” newcomer produced a sensational result, as Tim Heinemann from Fichtenberg secured second place in the Porsche 911 GT3 R for Toksport WRT. British driver Jack Aitken claimed the third spot on the podium for himself and his Emil Frey Racing team to mark his DTM debut in the Ferrari 296 GT3.

Fascinating GT racers, a new fully-electric racing series, spectacular prototypes and classics from throughout the history of the DTM – this season, the DTM offers visitors an entertaining motorsport package at every event. Thrilling motor racing comes courtesy of the ADAC GT Masters, which shares the bill with the DTM on four occasions, and ADAC GT4 Germany, which will start at six events. The support programme for the DTM will feature fiercely-contested one-make cups from BMW and Porsche, as well as the talented female drivers in the new F1 Academy for the first time. DTM Classic takes spectators on a journey back through almost four decades of the DTM. At the Nürburgring, the DTM event will include a new series with fully-electric race cars: the NXT Gen Cup.

Three Porsche customer teams head into the 2023 DTM season this coming weekend (26 to 28 May) in Oschersleben. Manthey EMA, Team75 Bernhard and Toksport WRT each field two 992-generation 416 kW (565 hp) 911 GT3 R racing cars. A total of 28 drivers will tackle the 16 races. Each of the eight racing weekends features two sprint events with the finale contested at the Hockenheimring.

This weekend marks the end of the long wait for the start of the new DTM season. Motorsport Arena Oschersleben (GER) will host the first two races out of a total of 16. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Team Schubert Motorsport aim to defend their titles in the driver and team championships.