The challenging conditions began on Saturday right on time for the start: with rain. Almost all the teams had therefore opted for rain tires. But only almost all of them. For Dennis Olsen (Manthey EMA/Porsche 911 GT3 R #90), things went less well on Saturday. But on Sunday he and his team were to make up ground.

 

Because of the rain, race control had scheduled two formation laps behind the safety car. Laurin Heinrich (Team75 Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #75), who had secured the pole position in qualifying, got off to a good start. However, the pressure from behind that Kelvin van der Linde in his Audi #3 had already built up from the start was taken over by Ayhancan Güven (Team75 Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #24) in minute four after a duel over several corners. This meant that there were now two Porsches in the lead. By the end of the race, however, a number of places had been swapped - because there were already intense duels throughout the field in the first few minutes of the race.

 

The slick drivers breathed a sigh of relief in minute ten - the rain had stopped, at least for the moment. While Laurin Heinrich (Team75 Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #75) was able to gain a 2.8-second lead on the wet track, several drivers were dueling behind him. Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91) and Ayhancan Güven had to give up their positions to René Rast in the BMW #33 and Maro Engel in the Mercedes-AMG #48.

 

The light rain which started again in minute 16 raised the question again: slicks or rain tires? Four minutes were still to go until the pit stop window was opened. Laurin Heinrich had already gained a three-second lead. Understandably, he didn't come into the pits until minute 36, where there was a lot going on in the meanwhile. And the weather was still challenging. Dennis Olsen's pit team also heard this over the radio.

After the closing of the pit stop window and a safety car phase caused by an accident of Thierry Vermeulen's Ferrari #69, Laurin Heinrich was now in second place and Thomas Preining and Ricardo Feller in the Audi #7 in positions four and five. Even though Heinrich had to give up his top position to Kelvin van der Linde, things were going well for the Porsche teams in the front field. However, not so for Ayhancan Güven, who had dropped back to 14th position after a promising start into the race. By the end of the race, however, he was able to make up places.

Laurin Heinrich lost touch with van der Linde, but now had pressure from behind from Maro Engel. There were only ten minutes to go - ten tough minutes for Thomas Preining as well, who was fighting hard with Maro Engel in fourth position and was under pressure from behind from his pursuer Riccardo Feller.

The duel between Preining and Engel was to last until the last minute of the race. At the end of the race, Thomas Preining was not on the podium, but in sixth place in the points' standings - important points for the DTM drivers' standings.

One Team75 Motorsport driver was also particularly happy: Laurin Heinrich in second place and thus the second podium finish of his young career - only +1.306 seconds behind Kelvin van der Linde in first place, but with a respectable lead of +5.325 seconds over Riccardo Feller in third.

 

The result of the first race of the DTM at the Red Bull Ring:

1. Kelvin van der Linde (ZA), Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II #3, 37 laps

2. Laurin Heinrich (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +1.306 seconds

3. Ricardo Feller (CH), Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II #7, +6.631 seconds

6. Thomas Preining (AT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +9.863 seconds

10. Dennis Olsen (NL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +11.374 seconds

11. Ayhancan Güven (TR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #24, +11.845 seconds

21. Tim Heinemann (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +17.802 seconds

22. Marvin Dienst (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, +19.931 seconds

After Thomas Preising's sixth place on Saturday, he started the second race on the Red Bull Ring from fourth position - and thus under the best conditions for regaining the championship lead. Six points separated him from Mirko Bortoletti (SSR Performance, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 #92) after race 13. And also for Dennis Olsen and Ayhancan Güven the race Sunday turned out to be more pleasant than the day before. Even though it started to drizzle again after 18 minutes of racing.

 

This time, however, the start was dry. Nevertheless, yesterday's winner, Kelvin van der Linde, had little luck - he spun on lap one. Mirko Bortoletti, the championship leader, was also unlucky: after a lot of smoke in minute two, he had to pit a minute later with a tire puncture. Thomas Preising, on the other hand, was able to move up to third position after Jack Aitken's equally unlucky start in the #14 Ferrari. Later on, Marco Wittmann's BMW #11 put him under pressure.

 

Race control had a lot to do after the mess of the first few minutes, while the previous day's runner-up Laurin Heinrich fought tough duels with Patric Niederhauser in the Audi #83. Heinrich showed the bite of Saturday on Sunday as well, although - or because - he had to settle for 20th position after qualifying today. In minute eleven, however, he had already fought his way up three places. 

 

Further ahead, Thomas Preining drove confidently to position three. However, Marco Wittmann was already approaching and overtook the Lamborghini #63 Clemens Schmid in minute 17. Then suddenly: rain drops. Tension among teams and drivers - only three minutes left until the pit stop window was opened. Rain tires or slicks again? The question from yesterday seemed to repeat itself.

 

But there were only a few drops, rain tires didn't make sense yet. So continuing on slicks - also Tim Heinemann (Toksport WRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #9), who came into the pits in minute 25. However, he had to swap positions with Ricardo Feller: The new tires, which were still cold, simply didn't provide enough grip compared to Feller's tires, which had already been warmed up for over three minutes.

 

A quarter of an hour after the pit stop window opened, Thomas Preising also came into the pits. He managed to get back on the track as the leader of the drivers who had already stopped. Shortly afterwards, the rain had finally stopped, the slicks were the right decision.

From the front of the field, only Sheldon van der Linde in the BMW #1 and René Rast still had to pit. Their teams did a good job and both rejoined back in their positions. Thomas Preising was thus third again. And Marco Wittmann was already starting to push from behind; 2.6 seconds still separated him from Preining eleven minutes before the end of the race.

But he was not deterred and continued to drive across the finish line in third position - and collected his important points for regaining the lead in the standings. Dennis Olsen in fifth and Ayhancan Güven in seventh also finished with points. "This means we are now travelling back to Germany from Austria with the lead in all three classifications," said a delighted Sebastian Golz, Project Manager 911 GT3 R - and together with the teams and fans he is expecting an exciting finale at Hockenheim in four weeks.

The result of the second race of the DTM at the Red Bull Ring:

1. René Rast (DE), BMW M4 GT3 #33, 41 laps

2. Sheldon van der Linde (ZA), BMW M4 GT3 #1, +1.263 seconds

3. Thomas Preining (AT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +4.723 seconds

5. Dennis Olsen (NL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +11.907 seconds

7. Ayhancan Güven (TR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #24, +16.292 seconds

14. Marvin Dienst (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, +33.763 seconds

16. Laurin Heinrich (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +40.834 seconds

21. Tim Heinemann (DE), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +53.744 seconds