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James Newbold

DTM Norisring: Fraga scores dominant win for Red Bull Ferrari

Fraga led every lap and was never challenged after holding the lead at the start, crossing the line 2.70 seconds clear of Grasser Lamborghini racer Bortolotti and treble champion Rene Rast to become the DTM's first Brazilian winner since Augusto Farfus in 2013.

Fraga held the lead at the start, which was noticeably better-behaved than in Saturday’s chaotic race, and proceeded to gradually pull away at the front.

Behind, he was chased by fellow front-row starter Bortolotti, Marco Wittmann’s Walkenhorst BMW and the Abt Audi of Rast, who made a good start to jump defending champion Maximilian Gotz (Winward Mercedes) and race one winner Thomas Preining (Team Bernhard Porsche) from sixth on the grid.

A tardy start from Preining meant he also slipped behind the SSR Performance Porsche of race one runner-up Dennis Olsen to sixth, which became seventh when Fraga’s teammate Ayhancan Guven finally made the pressure tell with a clean pass into Turn 4 on lap 22.

Up front, Fraga managed his advantage over Bortolotti and had extended his advantage to 3.3 seconds before his pitstop on lap 46.

That came two laps after Rast had become the first of the top four to peel into the pits, and one lap after a slow left-rear tyre change for Wittmann meant the two-time champion dropped behind the Audi.

Trouble-free stops for Fraga and Bortolotti meant the pair emerged safely ahead of Rast, who completed the podium for the second day in a row to cement third in the standings – despite carrying an additional 10kg in Balance of Performance and success ballast.

Wittmann took a comfortable fourth ahead of Olsen and Gotz, with Guven claiming seventh and Luca Stolz making use of an early stop to clear Preining for finish eighth.

Maro Engel completed the points finishers in tenth aboard the repaired Gruppe M Mercedes, after jumping Philipp Eng’s Schubert BMW in the pits and completing a well-executed double pass on Ricardo Feller (who retired after contact with David Schumacher and then touching the wall which damaged his suspension) and Sheldon van der Linde.

The South African eventually finished 15th, and now trails Bortolotti by eight points after also failing to finish race one when he was an innocent victim in the first corner pileup.

DTM Norisring - Race results:

 Cla   Nº   Driver   Car Gap
1 74  Felipe Fraga Ferrari  
2 63  Mirko Bortolotti Lamborghini 2.709
3 33  René Rast Audi 5.747
4 11  Marco Wittmann BMW 9.505
5 94  Dennis Olsen Porsche 15.172
6 Maximilian Götz Mercedes 17.429
7 37  Ayhancan Guven Ferrari 18.011
8 Luca Stolz Mercedes 22.510
9 24  Thomas Preining Porsche 24.294
10 88  Maro Engel Mercedes 24.747
11 25  Philipp Eng BMW 29.837
12 51  Nico Müller Audi 30.292
13 22  Lucas Auer Mercedes 30.896
14 36  Arjun Maini Mercedes 32.968
15 31  Sheldon van der Linde BMW 36.626
16 92  Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 39.082
17 85  Clemens Schmid Lamborghini 39.628
18 Alessio Deledda Lamborghini 1 lap /4.702
19 12  Dev Gore Audi 1 lap /13.601
(18) Kelvin van der Linde Audi Retirement
(21) 66  Marius Zug Audi Retirement
(22) 18  Maximilian Buhk Mercedes Retirement
(15) Ricardo Feller Audi Retirement
(24) 27  David Schumacher Mercedes Retirement
(25) 55  Mikaël Grenier Mercedes Retirement
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