Cairoli wins dune duel to claim first DTM victory at Zandvoort

Matteo Cairoli has been unstoppable in Zandvoort thus far. After topping qualifying, the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari driver kept a cool head in Saturday’s race and secured his first DTM victory in just his third race.

“What a feeling! Despite my lead, I had to stay fully focused in the final laps because the tires had dropped off quite a lot," he said. "I can still remember watching the DTM for the first time in 2013. Ever since then it was my dream to compete in the series one day. Which makes the victory even sweeter for me. I’m confident that this win will give us an added boost for the season.”

Trailing by 3.6s, Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) crossed the finish line in second place. With this result, the Austrian has secured a podium finish in all three DTM races so far and has taken the lead in the championship. Local hero Thierry Vermeulen in the second Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Emil Frey Racing finished in third

Polesitter Cairoli held his nerve at the start of the race at the Dutch Formula 1 track on Saturday afternoon and defended his lead. Auer moved up a place into P2 and pushed Vermeulen down into third place. Behind them followed the strong junior drivers Bastian Buus (Land-Motorsport) in the Porsche 911 GT3 R and Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter).

Cairoli had extended his lead to more than two seconds by the time the mandatory pit stop came around, put on new Pirelli slicks on lap 16 and returned to the track in first place. Auer, Vermeulen, Buus and Gounon emerged in positions two to five after equally strong pit stops. While the top three remained fairly evenly spaced, a thrilling duel unfolded behind them between Buus and the ever-attacking Gounan. However, the 22-year-old Dane kept his cool and, at the wheel of the 911, he fended off every attack from his French rival. After 36 flawless laps, Cairoli was the first to see the checkered flag waving, ahead of Auer, Vermeulen, Buus and Gounon.

McLaren driver Ben Dörr (Dörr Motorsport) finished the third DTM race in sixth place. A late tire change enabled Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) to move up into seventh place, however, he slipped to second in the standings, behind fellow Mercedes driver Auer. Porsche factory driver Thomas Preining (Manthey) secured P8, while the best Lamborghini driver was Luca Engstler (Red Bull Team Abt) in ninth place. Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 completed the top 10.

“P2 is a fantastic result. It was the first race with the new DTM tires in these warm conditions, so this gives us plenty of new data to learn from," said Auer. "Matteo Cairoli dominated the race and deserved his first win. Sunday is a fresh start, and we want to back up there fighting at the front.”

Sunday's Race 2 at Zandvoort airs LIVE on RACER Network and RACER+ starting at 7:00am ET.

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