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After the sixth of eight DTM weekends, ABT driver Kelvin van der Linde is still at the top of the standings in the most important German racing series. After losing first place in the overall standings to Mirko Bortolotti (Lamborghini) at the Sachsenring on Saturday, the German-South African regained the top spot in the standings on Sunday with a hard-fought second place. Ahead of the Red Bull Ring (28/29 September), van der Linde has a seven-point lead over the Italian.
At his favourite track on the DTM calendar, van der Linde had to settle for a disappointing tenth place on the grid on Saturday. His Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II was ten kilograms heavier than last year at the Sachsenring. Secondly, the ABT driver lost around three tenths of a second on his fastest lap when another driver left the track immediately in front of him.
With a strong first lap, van der Linde made up four positions in the race. However, he then lacked pace, so the ABT driver had to switch to defence mode and defend extremely hard to at least save eighth place at the finish.
Overnight, the team was allowed to unload ten kilograms from the two Audi R8s and start again with the previous year’s weight. With second place on the grid, van der Linde exceeded his own expectations. In the race, he initially lost two positions before mistakes by competitors allowed him to move up to second place again. However, the Mercedes of Luca Stolz was out of reach for van der Linde.
Team-mate Ricardo Feller had to park his Audi on both days, on Saturday with brake problems and on Sunday with damage to the car. This ended a run of 26 consecutive DTM finishes in the points for the Swiss driver.
Martin Tomczyk (ABT Motorsport Director): “For me, it was one of the most emotional DTM weekends ever. You saw how quickly things can turn in the DTM. We had problems on Saturday and had to relinquish the championship lead, but on Sunday we regained the lead with Kelvin. That shows how strong we are as a team. We have to find the fault in Ricky’s car before the Red Bull Ring. It’s getting tighter and tighter in the title fight and we need two drivers fighting at the front.”
Kelvin van der Linde (Saturday 8th/Sunday 2nd, 30 points): “It was a very difficult weekend. It felt like I was constantly having to defend myself and look rearwards rather than forwards. Our car simply wasn’t fast enough. The fact that we still scored good points and regained the championship lead makes me proud. My qualifying lap on Sunday was one of the best I’ve ever done. Thanks also to the whole team for their great work. At the Red Bull Ring, however, we either need rain or a little miracle.”
Ricardo Feller (Saturday DNF/Sunday DNF, 0 points): “That was obviously a super disappointing weekend. I also feel extremely sorry for my crew, who are doing everything they can to find the fault in the car. But somehow the fault just won’t be found. It’s incredibly tough and frustrating for all of us right now.”
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