Emil Frey Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli has completed his perfect Saturday at Zandvoort with victory.
The Italian, who had already set the fastest time in Friday practice and secured pole position on Saturday morning, celebrated his maiden DTM victory in the first race.
Behind the victorious Ferrari driver, Landgraf Mercedes driver Lucas Auer and local hero as well as Cairoli’s team-mate Thierry Vermeulen complete the podium.
Bastian Buus (Land Porsche) held on to fourth place in the closing stages against the pushing Winward Mercedes driver Jules Gounon.
Ben Dorr kept hold of sixth place for Dorr McLaren, followed by Maro Engel (Winward Mercedes) and Manthey Porsche driver Thomas Preining. Luca Engstler (Abt Lamborghini) and Nicki Thiim (Comtoyou Aston Martin) who completed the top 10.
While Cairoli was able to convert his pole position into the lead without any threat, Auer pushed past Vermeulen to move into second, while at the back of the field, minor skirmishes and contact occurred, resulting in Timo Glock suffering a tyre puncture to his Dorr McLaren.
Matteo Cairoli celebrates his debut victory in the DTM at Zandvoort
Photo: ADAC Motorsport
The former Formula 1 driver, who had started the race down in 20th following a technical issue in qualifying, clashed with Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert BMW) and consequently fell far behind in the early stages.
At the front, Cairoli pulled away from Auer by more than a second within just a few laps. They were followed by Vermeulen, Buus, and Gounon.
Apart from a duel between Mirko Bortolotti and Van der Linde with several light touches, including a complaining Grasser Lamborghini driver on the team radio, the race remained largely quiet until the pitstop window opened.
On lap 13, Buus and Dorr were the first drivers from the leading group to come into the pits for their mandatory tyre change. Shortly after, an unsafe release by the Abt crew caused a stir: Marco Mapelli touched Bortolotti’s Lamborghini as he drove out.
Van der Linde was one of the drivers to go long into the first stint, having waited to pit until lap 24, but parked his Schubert BMW shortly afterwards with a technical problem.
At the front, there were no further changes: Cairoli controlled the race ahead of Auer and team-mate Vermeulen, while Gounon was glued to the bumper of Buus. The Winward AMG driver launched several attacks in the closing stages but found no way past.
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG EVO GT3
Photo by: ADAC Motorsport
Besides the Glock and van der Linde retirements, Tom Kalender (Landgraf Mercedes) also did not see the chequered flag.
Auer’s second place has enabled him to take over the lead in the drivers’ standings from Maro Engel, while Cairoli moves up to third overall thanks to his maiden DTM victory.
The second DTM race in Zandvoort starts on Sunday at 1:30pm local time.
DTM Zandvoort – Race 1 results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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