DTM Nurburgring: Sheldon van der Linde claims surprise victory from Engel

Sheldon van der Linde claimed a shock victory in the second one-hour race at the Nurburgring for his first win of the 2024 DTM season.

The 2022 series champion started ninth but a great start put him battling at the front before winning by 3.2s with Maro Engel, as Marco Wittmann completed the podium in dry conditions.

Polesitter Engel led Ricardo Feller into a congested Turn 1, where Sheldon van der Linde claimed third around the outside dropping Wittmann to fourth. Luca Stolz spun from that position after his rear-right tyre was tagged by Saturday’s winner Kelvin van der Linde.

Younger brother Sheldon, who came 13th on Saturday, continued his great start as he overtook Feller for second down the inside of Turn 9 after four minutes.

A safety car was called just a minute later when Nicki Thiim’s Lamborghini suffered a mechanical problem and green conditions returned 10 minutes into the race.

Engel controlled the restart well but Sheldon van der Linde attacked five minutes later around the outside of Turn 1 but the Winward Mercedes driver thwarted it.

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

The Schubert BMW driver continued his attack in the subsequent corners yet Engel continued to defend well, with the wheel-to-wheel battle allowing Feller and Wittmann to close in.

But no change of positions occurred before the second safety car period 20 minutes in, as Arjun Maini spun from ninth at Turn 2 resulting in the pit window being postponed.

Safety car conditions lasted for five minutes and drivers began pitting just before half distance, with Sheldon Van der Linde doing so at the earliest opportunity.

But he dropped behind Feller when he and Engel boxed the following lap, though that tour Sheldon van der Linde overtook the Abt Audi driver for net second at Turn 9.

It soon became the net lead as Engel spun at Turn 1 when his rear-right tyre was hit by Rene Rast, who was leaving the pitlane having made the overcut initially work.

The South African driver was soon leading on-track when others finally pitted and he led Engel by three seconds with 15 minutes left.

Kelvin van der Linde, Team ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

Engel gradually cut the gap but not by enough as Sheldon van der Linde eventually claimed his first victory since the Red Bull Ring in September 2023.

Wittmann finished 2.6s behind Engel, with Kelvin van der Linde and Ayhancan Guven completing the top five, while Feller eventually finished eighth after a poor second stint.

It means Kelvin van der Linde leads the championship by seven points ahead of Mirko Bortolotti, who finished ninth, with three rounds remaining.

DTM Nurburgring - Race 2 results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	S. Van Der Linde Schubert Motorsport	31		BMW M4 GT3	41	1:02'42.337			25
2	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	130		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	41	+3.256 1:02'45.593	3.256		20
3	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11		BMW M4 GT3	41	+5.813 1:02'48.150	2.557		16
4	K. van der Linde Abt Sportsline	3		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	41	+12.003 1:02'54.340	6.190		13
5	A. Güven Manthey EMA	90		Porsche 911 GT3 R	41	+12.714 1:02'55.051	0.711		11
6	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69		Ferrari 296 GT3	41	+14.742 1:02'57.079	2.028		10
7	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91		Porsche 911 GT3 R	41	+14.756 1:02'57.093	0.014		9
8	R. Feller Abt Sportsline	7		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	41	+17.955 1:03'00.292	3.199		8
9	M. Bortolotti SSR Performance	92		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	41	+20.361 1:03'02.698	2.406		7
10	F. Perera GRT Grasser Racing Team	63		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	41	+21.729 1:03'04.066	1.368		6
11	L. Stolz Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	4		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	41	+22.783 1:03'05.120	1.054		5
12	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	22		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	41	+23.154 1:03'05.491	0.371		4
13	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14		Ferrari 296 GT3	41	+23.555 1:03'05.892	0.401		3
14	P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport	71		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	41	+26.600 1:03'08.937	3.045		2
15	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	41	+28.761 1:03'11.098	2.161		1
16	L. Engstler GRT Grasser Racing Team	19		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	41	+30.238 1:03'12.575	1.477
17	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33		BMW M4 GT3	40	+1 Lap 1:02'51.824	1 Lap
dnf	A. Maini Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	36		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	12	+29 Laps 18'43.262	28 Laps
dnf	N. Thiim SSR Performance	94		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	2	+39 Laps 3'05.625	10 Laps
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