DTM Hockenheim: Lamborghini's Bortolotti clinches maiden title, Engstler wins finale

Factory Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti was crowned 2024 DTM champion after finishing second to Luca Engstler in the Hockenheim finale, as title rival Kelvin van der Linde struggled to 12th.

Having retaken the lead in the championship by scoring three bonus points in qualifying on Sunday morning, SSR Performance's Bortolotti became the first Lamborghini driver to clinch a title in the DTM despite dropping behind Engstler in the pitstop cycle in the hour-long race at the former German Grand Prix venue.

The Italian's success was made easy by a torrid start from Saturday winner van der Linde, who slipped from fifth to 11th on the opening lap and couldn't make any meaningful recovery while carrying 20kg of success ballast on his Abt Audi.

The podium was completed by three-time DTM champion Rene Rast for Schubert Motorsport, helping the BMW squad clinch the teams' title.

Bortolotti pulled away cleanly from pole position at the start of the race, with his team-mate Nicki Thiim acting as a rear-gunner in second ahead of Abt Audi's Ricardo Feller.

Engstler got the jump on van der Linde at the start and moved up to fifth, while the South African continued to slip down the order on lap one as he complained about a lack of grip on team radio.

Bortolotti pulled out an advantage of over four seconds in the opening stint, which allowed SSR Performance to play it safe when the pitlane window opened at the 20-minute mark.

Luca Engstler, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

While his chief rival van der Linde pitted at the first opportunity to get a new set of tyres fitted to his Audi, Bortolotti stayed out until lap 19, with SSR servicing his car in 6.8s.

That left him vulnerable to an undercut from GRT Lamborghini driver Engstler, whose tyres were already up to temperature, with the German driver making a brilliant pass at Turn 11 to snatch the lead.

The Italian came back at him in the final quarter of the race, but GRT Lamborghini's Engstler was able to hold him off to clinch a second career victory in the DTM.

While Bortolotti missed out on a second victory in as many race weekends, the runner-up finish was enough for him to win the DTM title for the first time after near-misses in both 2022 and 2023.

Rast staged an incredible drive from 11th on the grid to clinch his fourth podium of the year, closing to within eight tenths of Bortolotti with an impressive charge in the final stint.

Fourth place went to the Manthey EMA Porsche of Thomas Preining, while Thiim had to settle for fifth place after losing a likely podium finish by going off the track on his out-lap.

Feller held off the Schubert BMW of Marco Wittmann in the final laps to take seventh, while Winward Mercedes' Lucas Auer dropped from fifth to eighth in the closing stages of the race.

René Rast, Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

BMW's Sheldon van der Linde finished ninth, while championship contenders Maro Engel and brother Kelvin van der Linde languished in 10th and 12th respectively, separated by the Emil Frey Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen.

Mercedes was hit by an overnight Balance of Performance change that left Engel 15th on the grid, while van der Linde lacked the pace to put in a recovery drive from his disastrous opening lap of the race.

The list of points scorers was completed by HRT Mercedes' Arjun Maini and the Lamborghinis of Maximilian Paul (Paul Motorsport) and Franck Perera (GRT).

The only retiree from the race was Maini's team-mate Jules Gounon, who had to peel into the pits with nine laps to go with a right-rear puncture.

The manufacturers’ championship was won by Mercedes, meaning all three DTM titles went to different brands.

Race result (37 laps):

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	L. Engstler GRT Grasser Racing Team	19		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	37	1:01'52.396			25
2	M. Bortolotti SSR Performance	92		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	37	+0.455 1:01'52.851	0.455		20
3	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33		BMW M4 GT3	37	+1.834 1:01'54.230	1.379		16
4	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91		Porsche 911 GT3 R	37	+16.802 1:02'09.198	14.968		13
5	N. Thiim SSR Performance	94		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	37	+18.001 1:02'10.397	1.199		11
6	R. Feller Abt Sportsline	7		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	37	+18.664 1:02'11.060	0.663		10
7	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11		BMW M4 GT3	37	+19.465 1:02'11.861	0.801		9
8	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	22		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	37	+20.558 1:02'12.954	1.093		8
9	S. Van Der Linde Schubert Motorsport	31		BMW M4 GT3	37	+26.228 1:02'18.624	5.670		7
10	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	130		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	37	+29.463 1:02'21.859	3.235		6
11	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69		Ferrari 296 GT3	37	+30.196 1:02'22.592	0.733		5
12	K. van der Linde Abt Sportsline	3		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	37	+31.056 1:02'23.452	0.860		4
13	A. Maini Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	36		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	37	+32.785 1:02'25.181	1.729		3
14	P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport	71		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	37	+33.406 1:02'25.802	0.621		2
15	F. Perera GRT Grasser Racing Team	63		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	37	+33.935 1:02'26.331	0.529		1
16	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14		Ferrari 296 GT3	37	+34.431 1:02'26.827	0.496
17	C. Schmid Dörr Motorsport	85		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	37	+40.508 1:02'32.904	6.077
18	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	37	+1'31.926 1:03'24.322	51.418
19	A. Güven Manthey EMA	90		Porsche 911 GT3 R	35	+2 Laps 1:02'41.642	2 Laps
dnf	J. Gounon Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	4		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	26	+11 Laps 44'58.587	9 Laps
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