Kelvin Van der Linde has struck a new blow on the DTM table after winning the first leg of Zolder. The South African rider of the Abt Sportsline team has managed to perfection the start and the subsequent highlight to secure a first position that he has only lost due to the different strategies of some drivers. Behind Van der Linde has finished the German Mike Rockenfeller, thus ensuring the 1-2 of Audi and the Abt team. For its part, Alex Albon has been third, which is the second podium of the Thai career in his first year in the DTM.
Van der Linde managed to retain the first position in a start in which Marco Wittmann slipped second, ahead of Maximilian Götz. Despite the fact that the first corners passed with a fairly clean script, the first chicane of the circuit left a multiple accident in which Liam Lawson was out of the race. They were also affected in this mishap Arjun Maini, Nico Müller and Dani Juncadella. The Spaniard managed to return to the pits with the Safety Car already present, but he lost almost all the options to achieve a good result. In front, Mike Rockenfeller overtook Götz for third place before neutralization.
Kelvin Van der Linde repeated performance in the highlight to retain Marco Wittmann from behind. With a cleaner development, it didn’t take long for the drivers at the bottom of the group to make the mandatory pit stop. Vincent Abril stopped, Philip Ellis did and also Sheldon Van der Linde. Then they answered in the lead. Leader Kelvin Van der Linde was in charge of leading a wave of stops that also participated Marco Wittmann, Maximilian Götz, Esteban Muth or Lucas Auer. An exchange of steps for pits that left winners and losers, as Vincent Abril sneaked in just behind Van der Linde.
With a completely different strategy, Mike Rockenfeller managed to take the second virtual position after leaving the pits between Van der Linde and Abril. A movement that gave way to a phase of certain tranquility as the stops of the pilots who decided to extend their first stint even more were consumed and in which Sheldon Van der Linde received a five-second penalty for his incorrect position at the start. Beyond this point, the race passed with some tranquility while Kelvin Van der Linde escaped from the presence of Mike Rockenfeller to defend his still virtual leadership.
You had to wait until the final ten minutes of the race to see the real positions after the last pit stops. Kelvin Van der Linde regained the lead ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, while Alex Albon managed to occupy the third position ahead of a Maximilian Buhk who ended up retiring, making good your strategy of delaying your stop to the maximum. Thus was Vincent Abril in fourth position. Behind, Esteban Muth took seventh position after beating Philip Ellis in one of the few overtaking that occurred in a Zolder circuit not very conducive to this section.
Without further opposition, Kelvin Van der Linde secured the victory ahead of his teammate Mike Rockenfeller, in the double of the Abt Sportsline team. For its part, Alex Albon took third position in the wake of the two Audi R8 LMS GT3, without any pressure. In fact, Vincent Abril finished the race fourth, although more than 20 seconds behind the Thai pilot after being in no man’s land during the last third of the race. Marco Wittmann closed his participation with a fifth place ahead of Esteban Muth and Maximilian Götz. Inside the ‘top 10’ they finished Philip Ellis, Lucas Auer and Nico Müller.
Results race 1 of the DTM 2021 in Zolder