Zandvoort. The BMW M4 GT3 had its first podium of the 2023 DTM season with Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Schubert Motorsport finishing runner-up on Saturday, in the first of two races in Zandvoort (NED). In Sunday’s race, Marco Wittmann (GER) from the Project 1 team was battling for a spot on the podium right down to the finish and eventually finished fourth, missing out by mere tenths of a second. Dries Vanthoor (BEL), who was standing in for René Rast (GER) at Schubert Motorsport and was debuting in DTM, and secured a top-ten result in the opening race. Rast was in action in Formula E in Portland (USA) this weekend. The dune circuit in Zandvoort was the venue for the second event of this season’s DTM.
The weekend got off to a promising start in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. Van der Linde and Wittmann were second and third fastest, securing good grid positions for race one, while Vanthoor qualified 16th.
Van der Linde was the biggest threat to eventual winner Maro Engel (GER / Mercedes) from start to finish in race one. Second place gave the reigning DTM champion in the #1 BMW M4 GT3 his first podium of the season. For a long time, Wittmann was hot on the heels of van der Linde however, he dropped two positions at the pit stop. He crossed the line in fifth, his best result of the season so far. Vanthoor fought back strongly in the #33 BMW M4 GT3, coming through from 16th on the grid to finish ninth.
The second qualifying session on Sunday morning was suspended due to two crashes, and the pursuit of fast times became something of a lottery in the remaining three minutes after the re-start. Wittmann qualified seventh for race two, Vanthoor 14th, while van der Linde had to settle for 17th place.
Wittmann and van der Linde then showed their class in race two, delighting fans at the dune circuit with some courageous overtaking manoeuvres and fightbacks. Wittmann battled his way into fifth and climbed to fourth after the pit stop. The two-time DTM champion continued to battle for third place and a spot on the podium right up to the chequered flag. Ultimately, he narrowly missed out on the top three, but fourth place was again his best result of the season. Van der Linde climbed seven positions from 17th and crossed the finish line tenth. Vanthoor was unlucky and was forced to retire with a puncture resulting from a collision at the start. The race was won by Ricardo Feller (SUI / Audi).
The third race weekend of the 2023 DTM takes place from 7th to 9th July at the Norisring (GER).
Reactions from the DTM weekend in Zandvoort:
Sheldon van der Linde (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “I am very happy to be back on the podium yesterday, that was definitely the highlight of our season so far. It was not expected to be honest, which makes a podium even sweeter. It has put right back into the mix in the championship as well, even if it is still early days. But it proves that we can still do it and that we have a strong package. Now we will push for more podiums, and I can’t wait for Norisring in two weeks.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW M4 GT3, Project 1): “It was a much better weekend for us compared to the season opener in Oschersleben; with fifth and fourth places, we got some good points. Of course, as a new team, we need to continue working hard to be at the front and challenge for the podium. However, I believe that what we showed in the races as our battles demonstrated, that we have found an extremely good balance and set-up for race pace which is very positive. There are still areas where we need to improve, so we have some homework to do, but it was certainly a good step forward with two nice results. We fought hard and gave it our all. Ultimately, there wasn’t more to achieve but overall, it was a positive weekend.”
Dries Vanthoor (#33 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “Generally it was a fun weekend, and I was happy to make my debut in DTM as I have known the series since I was a little kid. Results wise it wasn’t the weekend we all wanted. We tried our best to get the car into the window as best as possible for me. Of course, it is difficult to come to a different racing series and a different team and immediately do a good job. But at the end, we had a great race yesterday. We had great fun coming back from P16 to P9. Today should have been another good day with a promising qualifying, and the changes we made overnight, but the red flag ruined our chances in qualifying and we had to start at the back of the pack. Unfortunately, I got a touch which led to a puncture early in the race, but that’s racing. I enjoyed working with the team very much and had a great weekend with Sheldon.”