Abt Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde moved into the lead of the championship with victory in the penultimate DTM race of 2024 at Hockenheim, as Mirko Bortolotti could only salvage fifth place.
Starting from pole position, van der Linde was able to outduel Winward Mercedes driver Lucas Auer to claim his third victory of the season and overturn a 12-point deficit to Bortolotti into a two-point advantage ahead of the title decider on Sunday.
Ayanchan Guven completed the podium spots for Manthey EMA Porsche, while Auer’s team-mate Maro Engel kept his slim championship hopes alive by finishing fourth ahead of SSR Lamborghini rival Bortolotti.
At the start of the race, van der Linde pulled away cleanly from pole position, with Auer consolidating second place after securing his first front-row start in the DTM since 2022.
Bortolotti and Engel had qualified out of position in seventh and ninth respectively, but both were able to climb up the order on the opening lap, rising up to fourth and fifth behind Guven.
When the pit window opened at the 20-minute mark, Engel immediately pulled into the pitlane, with Winward sending him back out after servicing his car in just six seconds.
Bortolotti followed him on the next lap, but a sluggish 8.2s stop - down to a slow front-left tyre change - left him vulnerable to his Mercedes rival.
Although the Italian managed to rejoin the track in front despite being delayed, Engel already had his tyres up to temperature and muscled his way past at Turn 8, taking fourth position away from him.
At the end of the same lap, van der Linde finally peeled into the pits from the lead of the race, with Auer - who had been on his tail in the first stint - covering him next time out.
Winward's decision to delay Auer's pitstop initially appeared to pay off as he rejoined the track at the front, but a lap later the Abt driver was able to pass him into Turn 2 to reinstate the status quo.
The Austrian kept the pressure up on van der Linde for the remainder of the race, with the two drivers even making contact at the hairpin on lap 30.
Ultimately, van der Linde was able to do enough to fend off his Mercedes rival, taking the chequered flag by 0.508s to put himself in the best position to win the 2024 DTM title in Sunday's finale.
Guven had a lonely race en route to third in the lead Porsche, while Engel held off Bortolotti to put himself 20 points behind van der Linde in the championship standings.
Jules Gounon, substituting for Luca Stolz at HRT Mercedes, rapidly closed in on Bortolotti in the closing stages of the races, but ultimately had to settle for sixth place on his DTM debut.
The top Schubert BMW driver on Saturday was Rene Rast in seventh, ahead of HRT driver Arjun Maini and team-mate Marco Wittmann. Nicki Thiim completed the top 10 for SSR Performance.
Emil Frey Ferrari’s Jack Aitken was the only retirement from the race, as 19 of 20 drivers made it to the finish.
