DTM meets rock at the Dekra Lausitzring festival of horsepower

• Four races, four different winners: will the run continue in Lusatia?
• Motorsport meets music, with Dick Brave on the DTM Powerstage
• Open-air cinema and public screening of the football World Cup at the Lausitzring

Munich. Furious racing and rousing rock 'n' roll: the DTM will serve up a motorsport spectacle with a festival atmosphere when the Dekra Lausitzring hosts the first German round of the season from 19th to 21st June. Mercedes-AMG travels to Lusatia with a clear goal. Championship leader Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) and second-placed Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) have no intention of being shifted from the top of the table. Lurking behind them in third place is BMW driver Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport). Spectators can also look forward to XXL racing: 1,000-hp trucks will tear through Lusatia in the new TGP Championship. On Saturday evening, "Dick Brave" alias Sasha, Germany's best-known rock 'n' roller, will light up the "DTM Powerstage presented by Pirelli". Tickets start at € 59 and are available at dtm.com. Admission is free for under 16s when accompanied by an adult. ProSieben is showing the races live on free-to-air TV, with coverage starting at 13:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The two races will also be streamed free of charge on Joyn, ran.de, ServusTV ON and the DTM YouTube channel.

Key facts, Dekra Lausitzring, Schipkau, races 5 and 6 of 16

• Circuit length: 3,478 metres
• Layout: Twelve corners (five right, seven left), driven anti-clockwise
• 2025 winner, race 1: Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf, Mercedes-AMG GT3)
• 2025 winner, race 2: Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3)

Unpredictable DTM - four races, four different winners
Each of the four races so far has produced a different winner. Will that run continue this weekend? Auer is certainly hoping so: the Austrian is a genuine Lausitzring specialist, having won his first DTM race there in 2016 and celebrated his fourth victory in Lusatia last year. Were Auer to add to that record, he could find himself at the top of the table. Current leader Engel has impressed with clever strategies and rapid pit stops, which have allowed the Monaco resident to climb to the front of the field from the back of the grid. Engel has finished in the top six in all four of the season's races so far.

Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) arrives in Lusatia with the wind in his sails. The McLaren driver climbed into sixth place in the table on the back of a strong display in Zandvoort. "Last season we had the pace, but made too many unnecessary mistakes. Either I was fast, but the pit stops were not ideal, or vice versa. This year, we are spot on with everything," says the McLaren driver. Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert Motorsport) is another in fine form. The South African celebrated his first DTM victory for BMW in Zandvoort and has fond memories of the racetrack in Brandenburg. "I won at the Lausitzring in 2024 and also took a second place. The circuit is great fun and allows good racing. We travel there with good momentum and are fully motivated," says the BMW works driver. The same goes for newcomer Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen/HRT Ford Racing). The 20-year-old, at the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT3, was the fastest man at the DTM test at the Lausitzring just two weeks ago.

Home outing for Lamborghini works driver Paul
With twelve corners, some of them very slow, and a limited number of straights, the Lausitzring is one of the most technically difficult DTM tracks on the calendar. Another characteristic of the 3.478-kilometre circuit is the many bumps. Lamborghini driver Maximilian Paul (TGI Team by GRT) from Dresden is looking forward to his home event and will be hoping to take advantage of the support of the local fans. "It is always very special to race in front of a home crowd. That gives you extra motivation. You have to get every corner exactly right on the demanding track, otherwise the next turn is even tougher, and you lose a lot of time. The way the car handles on the many bumps is also particularly important," says the local favourite.

Raw entertainment, both on and off the track
The Lausitzring will offer a top programme both on and off the track at round three of the DTM. On Friday evening, the DTM Fan Zone hosts the Cinestar open-air cinema with the film "Need for Speed". The volume will then be ramped up on the "DTM Powerstage presented by Pirelli" on Saturday evening: Coldplay tribute band Goldplay.live and DJ Tomekk will get the party started, before Dick Brave alias Sasha will make for a festival feeling with his rock 'n' roll. The open-air concert is free for all ticket holders and is followed by a public screening of the football World Cup: the German national team takes on Ivory Coast at 22:00.

The on-track programme at the Lausitzring is also a busy one: the DTM will be joined by the ADAC GT Masters, the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland and the TGP Championship, while the new junior series, the BMW M2 Cup, lines up for the first time. On Friday morning, the Track Safari will allow fans to take to the Lausitzring track in a coach, while DTM cars race by at close quarters.