Cairoli dominates opening DTM race at the Nürburgring

Matteo Cairoli (Emil Frey Racing) won the 11th DTM race of the season in commanding fashion at the Nürburgring on Saturday. The Ferrari driver started from pole and managed the race superbly in high temperatures, taking the checkered flag after 39 laps with a lead of almost 10 seconds.

"This win feels awesome after the rather disappointing weekends of late," said a delighted Cairoli, who already has three wins to his name in his rookie season in the DTM. "Our team has done a mega job in the past few weeks, and has done everything it can to get us back on track. That has really paid dividends. First pole position, then victory and the fastest lap – the car was an absolute rocket."

Porsche driver Thomas Preining was runner-up at the home circuit of his Manthey team. Third place went to Marco Wittmann (Schubert Motorsport) in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo.

Pole-sitter Cairoli made a perfect start to take an early lead, followed by Preining. Behind him, Ben Dörr (Dörr Motorsport) slotted into third place ahead of Wittmann and Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who lost two places. While there were some fierce battles further down the field, the gaps between the top five remained constant. 30-year-old Cairoli had opened a lead of more than three seconds by the time he came in for his mandatory pit stop, and returned to the track in first place again after a rapid tire change.

Preining had come in a lap earlier to put a new set of Pirelli slicks on his Porsche 911 GT3 R. However, despite closing the gap to the Italian, he never managed to get within striking distance. Wittmann overtook Dörr after an early pit stop, and Auer remained fifth. While Cairoli continued to extend his lead, Dörr closed back in on Wittmann, but was unable to put the experienced man from Fürth under any real pressure. The Ferrari driver eventually wrapped up his third win with a big lead, and now has more wins to his name this season than any other DTM driver.

Second place was enough to propel Preining into second in the overall standings. Wittmann and Dörr followed in third and fourth place. Auer came home fifth and remains third in the table.

Championship leader Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) intelligently stayed clear of any robust battles, finishing sixth and retaining his lead in the drivers' championship. The best-placed Lamborghini racer was Luca Engstler (Red Bull Team Abt) in seventh. Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) came home eighth. Ricardo Feller placed ninth in the second Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. Bastian Buus completed the top ten in a Land-Motorsport 911.

Race 2 of the DTM at the Nurburgring airs live Sunday on RACER Network and the RACER+ App starting at 7:15am ET.