Audi and BMW leave Zolder with one win a piece after two thrilling races in the heart of Belgium.
Race One – Eng on Top
On Saturday BMW’s Philipp Eng took his first DTM win during the first race of the weekend at Zolder.
In the early stages, Bruno Spengler, René Rast and Marco Wittmann looked set for a three-way fight for the podium with Spengler leading after a stunning start from third on the grid.
Unfortunately a few laps later, both Daniel Juncadella and Jake Dennis stopped on track almost simultaneously. This caught out the top three as the safety car came out when they had yet to make their mandatory pitstops.
As the race unfolded, Eng made his way into first place, claiming the lead after Robin Frijns received a five second stop and go penalty for a jump start.
The Austrian was then able to hold off Joel Eriksson and Nico Mueller to claim his first ever DTM victory.
“I am probably the happiest person in the world,” said Eng.
“I’m so glad to be in the DTM, so happy to be racing for BMW. There was some luck involved as well, but I reckon we deserved this win.” Eng also dedicate the win to his mentor Charly Lamm.
Rene Rast, who had taken a miraculous win in race two at Hockenheim did not finish, with the Audi driver retiring with a mechanical failure.
Pole sitter Marco Wittmann only managing seventh with the Aston Martin duo of Paul di Resta and Ferdinand. BMW’s Bruno Spengler ended the race in tenth place.
Zolder Race Two –
After retiring on Saturday, René Rast recovered to claim his second DTM victory of the season at Zolder.
Philipp Eng build upon his race one win to finished second, with Jamie Green in third.
South African Rookie Sheldon Van Der Linde started from pole for BMW and held off both Rast and Eng early on.
On Lap 11, Van Der Linde was eventually passed by the Audi of Rast for the lead.
Rene Rast's move past Sheldon van der Linde that earned him the lead and – essentially – the victory in today's sensational #DTMZolder race. pic.twitter.com/VDPAmubGcD
— DTM (@DTM) May 19, 2019
Marco Wittmann later punted Frijns into the barrier on the exit of turn one. This resulted in the appearance of the safety car and earned Wittman a drive-through penalty.
After the safety car, Rast was pressured from both BMW’s before pulling away to take victory. Van Der Linde, meanwhile, was passed by both Jamie Green and Mike Rockenfeller on the final lap.
This dropped him down sixth place, ahead of Aston Martin’s Jake Dennis, who was the only R-Motorsport driver to finish.
Both Habsburg and Juncadella retired with mechanical issues, while Di Resta didn’t start after an engine issue in qualifying. The top ten was completed by Bruno Spengler, Nico Müller, Pietro Fittipaldi.
Here are the Championship Standings after Round 2 at Zolder:
The #DTM championship order after four rounds:
1 ENG ?? 5⃣9⃣
2 RAS ?? 5⃣4⃣
3 WIT ?? 4⃣3⃣
4 ROC ?? 4⃣2⃣
5 MUL ?? 4⃣1⃣
6 FRI ?? 3⃣1⃣
7 GRE ?? 2⃣5⃣
8 SPE ?? 2⃣4⃣
9 DUV ?? 2⃣2⃣
10 VAN ?? 2⃣1⃣#DTMnewera ???— DTM (@DTM) May 19, 2019
The teams will now head to Misano, Italy, for Round Three of the 2019 DTM Championship which takes place in early June.
Can Aston Martin get a win? Will Eng be abld extend his lead? We’ll find out soon!
