First DTM victory – cool Cairoli dominant at dune circuit

• Ferrari driver celebrates comfortable start-finish victory in Zandvoort
• Auer takes the lead in the championship after finishing second
• Local hero Vermeulen finishes third in front of his fans

Zandvoort. Matteo Cairoli (I/Emil Frey Racing) is unstoppable in Zandvoort. After finishing first in qualifying, the Ferrari driver kept a cool head in Saturday’s race and secured his maiden DTM victory in his third race. “What a feeling! Despite my lead, I had to stay fully focused in the final laps because the tyres had dropped off quite a lot. 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,” said a delighted Cairoli. Trailing by 3.6 seconds, Lucas Auer (A/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 on the podium in front of his fans.

Key Facts, Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Race 3 of 16

• Track length: 4,259 metres
• Weather: 28 degrees, sunny
• Pole position: Matteo Cairoli (Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo #14), 1:32.974 minutes
• Winner: Matteo Cairoli (Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo #14)
• Fastest race lap: Ricardo Feller (Manthey, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90), 1:34.600 minutes

Polesitter Cairoli held his nerve at the start of the race at the Dutch Formula 1 track on Satur-day 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 (DK/Land-Motorsport) in the Porsche 911 GT3 R and Jules Gounon (F/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 be-tween 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 chequered flag waving, ahead of Auer, Vermeulen, Buus and Gounon.

McLaren driver Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) finished the third DTM race in sixth place. A late tyre change enabled Maro Engel (Monaco/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 (A/Manthey) secured P8, while the best Lamborghini driver was Luca Engstler (Kempten/Red Bull Team Abt) in ninth place. Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 completed the top ten.

Lucas Auer: “P2 is a fantastic result. It was the first race with the new DTM tyres in these warm conditions, so this gives us plenty of new data to learn from. 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.”

Thierry Vermeulen: “I’m over the moon that I finally made it onto the podium at my DTM home race in Zandvoort. Together with Matteo Cairoli’s win, it is a fantastic result for the team. Unfortunately, I didn’t get away well at the start because the traction control kicked in sudden-ly. This allowed Lucas Auer to overtake me.”

Results, 3rd Championship Race, Circuit Zandvoort
1. Matteo Cairoli (I/Emil Frey Racing)
2. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), +3.622 seconds
3. Thierry Vermeulen (NL/Emil Frey Racing), +4.786 seconds
4. Bastian Buus (DK/Land-Motorsport), +6.823 seconds
5. Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter), +7.187 seconds

For the full results, see dtm.com/en/results.