Thrills from the first minute to the last at the Norisring

• First win for Alessandro Ottaviani
• Isaac Price extends championship lead
• Tumultuous race in the Community Cup

Munich. Both DTM eSports Championship races at the virtual Norisring delivered thrilling action right up to the final moments. Viewers witnessed both Tim Jarschel (Falken Simracing Team) in the sprint race and Alessandro Ottaviani (R8G eSports) in the main race secure victory just as they crossed the finishing line. Championship leader Isaac Price (privateer) claimed second place on both occasions, extending his lead at the top of the table.

Thrills and spills all the way to the finish in the sprint race
Current championship leader Price went round in 0:49.712 during qualifying to claim pole position ahead of defending champion Jarschel. Lucas Müller and Alessandro Ottaviani formed the second row on the grid. The field was tightly-packed at the Norisring, just as it had been in Zandvoort – the top six were separated by less than one tenth of a second. Price was able to defend his lead at the start, only for Jarschel to overtake him shortly afterwards. The Falken Simracing driver then pulled away and seemed to be on course for victory. However, Price applied plenty of pressure as the final five minutes ticked by, closing the gap and crossing the line just 0.1 seconds behind the leader. Ottaviani followed them in third place, having fended off the efforts of Falken Simracing drivers Lucas Müller and Leonard Krippner.

Main race decided over the final metres
Price once again grabbed pole position in the second qualifying session, sharing the front row with Ottaviani on this occasion. Müller and Florian Hasse (Dörr Esports) were right behind them. Just like in the sprint race, the winner of the main race was only decided over the final metres. The British driver took the lead at the start and was initially able to defend his position, while Ottaviani waited for his opportunity in second place. However, with just five minutes remaining in the race, the Italian switched into attack mode. The two sim racers went through four turns at the Norisring side by side in a tough but fair battle. Price then made a fatal error at the Grundig hairpin – Ottaviani took his chance, moved into the lead, and claimed the win.

Price extends lead
Consistent performances enabled Price to extend his lead in the overall standings. Müller is in second place, followed by his team-mate Jarschel. At the next race at the Nürburgring (18th April 2025), they will be doing their utmost to close the gap to Price, who has secured another two entries for the Pole Position Award. Ottaviani went round in 0:49.716 to claim the prize for the fastest lap, a JBL Charge 6 speaker in DTM livery.

Isaac Price: “It wasn’t quite a perfect day, but it was pretty close. We put on a great show and I hope everyone had fun. Alessandro was just unbelievably fast in the second stint in the main race. I must have lost half a second during the pit stop as I wanted to be on the safe side. There was plenty of contact, but that is racing.”

Alessandro Ottaviani: “That really was a superb day. I would never have expected to record a win. The battle for victory in the main race was hard but fair. Of course there was contact, but we left space for one another.”

Lukas Müller: “That was a tough day’s racing. The car was a bit difficult to drive at times. Other than that, it was a brilliant day. Fourth and third places, and qualifying went well. The first race wasn’t quite perfect, the second one was OK. I am happy with today.”

Tumultuous race in the Community Cup
Viewers were treated to an action-packed race in the Community Cup at the virtual Norisring. At the wheels of the 1995 DTM cars, the community sim racers were giving no quarter - the leading group in particular. Victory went to Alexey Evtushenko (Twitch.tv/drivewithalexey) ahead of Sinan Gunay (Absolute Motorsport Racing) and Max Müller (Greenlion Motorsport). Polesitter Roland Senn (GGN-Simracing.de) moved into the lead for a while, only to tangle with Tomás Ribeiro (RR Shenanigans) and drop out of the battle for the podium spots.

Sinan Güray: “I was trying to win but it was not to be today. Overall, that was a good race for me. It was a lot of fun. I had never driven at the Norisring before.”