Jordan Pepper dominated Race 1 in DTM weekend in Norisring, as Thomas Preining works through the pack in Race 2 win.
Race 1 –
Jordan Pepper (ZA) is unstoppable at the Norisring. The 28-year-old showed no signs of weakness in Saturday’s DTM race, claiming a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 run by TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT. Pepper’s first DTM win saw him continue an impressive run of success at the street circuit in Nuremberg, having also been the fastest man in practice and qualifying.
Pole-sitter Pepper underlined his top form at the start of Saturday’s seventh race of the DTM season. The South African did a great job of defending his lead, and proceeded to pull clear of the field as the race progressed. Behind him, Thierry Vermeulen (NL/Emil Frey Racing) in a Ferrari 296 GT3 and Preining slotted into second and third place. They both benefitted from a collision between Lamborghini drive Nicki Thiim (DN/Abt Sportsline), who had started from second place, and Engel. While the Dane dropped back, the Mercedes-AMG driver was able to continue in fourth. Jack Aitken (GB) found himself fifth in the second Emil Frey Racing Ferrari.
The leading duo of Pepper and Vermeulen did not come in for their tyre change until the end of the pit stop window. The two drivers’ teams took longer than the chasing pack to heat up the new Pirelli slicks. While Pepper’s lead of roughly five seconds allowed him to rejoin the race at the front of the field, Vermeulen fell back to fourth. Preining and Engel, on the other hand, climbed into second and third place after very quick stops. Pepper then continued to control proceedings from the front in the final third of the race, and took the chequered flag after 65 laps with a lead of more than three seconds. Aitken completed the top five, behind Preining, Engel and Vermeulen.
Lucas Auer (A) had an inconspicuous race in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. However, sixth place was enough for the 30-year-old from Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf to defend his lead at the top of the table, with Pepper now his closest rival in second place overall. Auer’s fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) was seventh, followed in eighth by Arjun Maini (IND) from HRT Ford Performance in a Ford Mustang GT3. Ricardo Feller (CH) made up six positions in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 to finish ninth for Land-Motorsport. BMW driver René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) finished tenth, having started down in 17th.
Result: https://dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
Race 2 –
Aggressive and tactically smart: Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) produced a strong performance on Sunday to claim his third DTM victory at the Norisring. The Porsche works driver piled on the pressure from the start and was rewarded for some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres with his first win of the season. After finishing runner-up in the Saturday race, the 2023 champion now climbs to second place in the overall standings.
The start of race eight of the season, which took place on Sunday afternoon at the Norisring, saw Preining immediately gain three positions and slot in behind pole-sitter Vermeulen and Aitken in third place. Even before the end of lap one, the race had to be suspended due to a collision involving multiple cars at the back of the field. The race resumed roughly half an hour later with Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Performance) in a Ford Mustang GT3 and Ben Green (GB) in the third Emil Frey Racing Ferrari running fourth and fifth.
After the first mandatory pit stop, Vermeulen, who had switched to the Pirelli slicks earlier than his two rivals at the front of the field, dropped back to third. The leading pair of Aitken and Preining then produced a spectacular battle for the lead. However, the Brit was initially able to fend off any attacks. The second tyre change proved to be the decisive point: Preining’s team performed a fast stop, sending him back out onto the track just behind Aitken. The Austrian wasted little time in passing Aitken, and went on to take the chequered flag after 64 laps of racing. Behind Aitken and Vermeulen, Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) took fourth place after a clever tactical display. He was followed home in fifth by India’s Maini, who claimed the best DTM result so far for the new Ford Mustang GT3.
Green achieved his best result of the season in sixth place, ahead of René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) climbed six places after an impressive fightback in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. Eight place was good enough for him to defend his championship lead ahead of his compatriot Preining. Saturday’s winner Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) had to settle for ninth place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, meaning he ends the first half of the season in third place in the table. Tenth place went to Jules Gounon (F) from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter.
Result: https://dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
[The story is as per press release]
