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DTM Nurburgring: Sheldon van der Linde claims surprise victory from Engel

Sheldon van der Linde claimed a shock victory in the second one-hour race at the Nurburgring for his first win of the 2024 DTM season.

The 2022 series champion started ninth but a great start put him battling at the front before winning by 3.2s with Maro Engel, as Marco Wittmann completed the podium in dry conditions.

Polesitter Engel led Ricardo Feller into a congested Turn 1, where Sheldon van der Linde claimed third around the outside dropping Wittmann to fourth. Luca Stolz spun from that position after his rear-right tyre was tagged by Saturday’s winner Kelvin van der Linde.

Younger brother Sheldon, who came 13th on Saturday, continued his great start as he overtook Feller for second down the inside of Turn 9 after four minutes.

A safety car was called just a minute later when Nicki Thiim’s Lamborghini suffered a mechanical problem and green conditions returned 10 minutes into the race.

Engel controlled the restart well but Sheldon van der Linde attacked five minutes later around the outside of Turn 1 but the Winward Mercedes driver thwarted it.

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

The Schubert BMW driver continued his attack in the subsequent corners yet Engel continued to defend well, with the wheel-to-wheel battle allowing Feller and Wittmann to close in.

But no change of positions occurred before the second safety car period 20 minutes in, as Arjun Maini spun from ninth at Turn 2 resulting in the pit window being postponed.

Safety car conditions lasted for five minutes and drivers began pitting just before half distance, with Sheldon Van der Linde doing so at the earliest opportunity.

But he dropped behind Feller when he and Engel boxed the following lap, though that tour Sheldon van der Linde overtook the Abt Audi driver for net second at Turn 9.

It soon became the net lead as Engel spun at Turn 1 when his rear-right tyre was hit by Rene Rast, who was leaving the pitlane having made the overcut initially work.

The South African driver was soon leading on-track when others finally pitted and he led Engel by three seconds with 15 minutes left.

Kelvin van der Linde, Team ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

Engel gradually cut the gap but not by enough as Sheldon van der Linde eventually claimed his first victory since the Red Bull Ring in September 2023.

Wittmann finished 2.6s behind Engel, with Kelvin van der Linde and Ayhancan Guven completing the top five, while Feller eventually finished eighth after a poor second stint.

It means Kelvin van der Linde leads the championship by seven points ahead of Mirko Bortolotti, who finished ninth, with three rounds remaining.

DTM Nurburgring - Race 2 results

1
 - 
4
1
 - 
2
Cla Driver # Car Laps Time Interval Pits Points
1 South Africa S. Van Der Linde Schubert Motorsport 31 BMW M4 GT3 41

1:02'42.337

25
2 Germany M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward 130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 41

+3.256

1:02'45.593

3.256 20
3 Germany M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport 11 BMW M4 GT3 41

+5.813

1:02'48.150

2.557 16
4 South Africa K. van der Linde Abt Sportsline 3 Audi R8 LMS Evo II 41

+12.003

1:02'54.340

6.190 13
5 Turkey A. Güven Manthey EMA 90 Porsche 911 GT3 R 41

+12.714

1:02'55.051

0.711 11
6
T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing
69 Ferrari 296 GT3 41

+14.742

1:02'57.079

2.028 10
7 Austria T. Preining Manthey EMA 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R 41

+14.756

1:02'57.093

0.014 9
8 Switzerland R. Feller Abt Sportsline 7 Audi R8 LMS Evo II 41

+17.955

1:03'00.292

3.199 8
9 Italy M. Bortolotti SSR Performance 92 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 41

+20.361

1:03'02.698

2.406 7
10
F. Perera GRT Grasser Racing Team
63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 41

+21.729

1:03'04.066

1.368 6
11 Germany L. Stolz Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 41

+22.783

1:03'05.120

1.054 5
12 Austria L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter 22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 41

+23.154

1:03'05.491

0.371 4
13 United Kingdom J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing 14 Ferrari 296 GT3 41

+23.555

1:03'05.892

0.401 3
14 Germany P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport 71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 41

+26.600

1:03'08.937

3.045 2
15
B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport
25 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 41

+28.761

1:03'11.098

2.161 1
16 Germany L. Engstler GRT Grasser Racing Team 19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 41

+30.238

1:03'12.575

1.477
17 Germany R. Rast Schubert Motorsport 33 BMW M4 GT3 40

+1 Lap

1:02'51.824

1 Lap
dnf India A. Maini Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 36 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 12

+29 Laps

18'43.262

28 Laps
dnf Denmark N. Thiim SSR Performance 94 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 2

+39 Laps

3'05.625

10 Laps
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