Jack Aitken took the Race 1 win at Nurburging ahead of teammate Ben Green, as Rene Rast Rast won in Race 2 from Marco Wittmann.
Race 1 –
Race nine of the DTM season began on Saturday afternoon with a hectic start, and had to be suspended after multiple collisions. Pole-sitter Aitken held onto the lead at the restart, with Green slotting into second place. Luca Engstler (Kempten/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT), Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) and Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) followed in positions three to five.
Feller, who had battled his way into seventh place, was the first driver to come in for his mandatory pit stop – a tactic that allowed him to gain further places. Aitken came in last for his new Pirelli slicks, after which he was soon overtaken on cold tyres by the Audi driver. Spectators were then treated to a fantastic scrap between the Swiss and the Brit, which lasted several laps.
The attack that ultimately earned Aitken the victory came on lap 29. Green was also able to pass Feller, having come out on top in a door-to-door battle with Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) shortly beforehand. The top three went on to cross the finish line in this order. Fourth place went to Pepper. Wittmann made up nine positions, thanks in part to another early pit stop, and ended the race in fifth place.
Auer, who came into the race as the championship leader, finished sixth after a slow tyre change. He now lies second in the table. Engstler was seventh in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, while Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) delivered another strong performance to finish eighth in his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Thomas Preining (A) guided the Porsche 911 GT3 R of local team Manthey EMA to ninth place. Behind him, Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen/Dörr Motorsport) claimed his second top-ten result of the season.
Result: https://www.dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
Race 2 –
Shortly after the start of Sunday’s race, it was clear that Rast had the bit between his teeth in race ten of the DTM season. The 38-year-old climbed three places and slotted into third place behind pole-sitter Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Auer. A further two overtaking manoeuvres saw the BMW driver take the lead on lap six, after which he proceeded to pull clear of the rest of the field.
Rast was the last driver to complete his first mandatory pit stop, and he rejoined the race in the lead, ahead of Auer. Team-mate Wittmann moved into third place after an early tyre change. Gilles Magnus (B/Comtoyou Racing) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Ford Mustang driver Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Performance) followed in fourth and fifth place.
The second pit stop again saw the Schubert Motorsport crew send Rast back out onto the 3.629-kilometre track quickly and with a comfortable lead. Shortly after that, Wittmann was able to overtake Auer, who, as on Saturday, lost a lot of time during the tyre change. Behind the BMW duo and Auer, Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) produced an intelligent drive to claim fourth place in Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring. Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) completed the top five at his team’s home event, after an inconspicuous race in the Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Sixth place was Maini’s reward for another impressive performance in the Ford Mustang GT3. Belgian Magnus finished seventh to claim the first top ten result for himself and his team. Pole-sitter Dörr was unable to match the pace at the front of the field, but did pick up points again for eighth place. Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) guided his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to ninth place and now lies third in the overall standings. Thomas Preining (A) could do no better than tenth place in the second Manthey EMA Porsche 911.
Result: https://www.dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
[The story is as per press release]
