Sheldon Van der Linde was the great protagonist of the second event of the DTM 2022. The South African driver claimed the two victories at stake at the Lausitzring, as well as a pole position, thus giving the new BMW M4 GT3 its first successes in the competition. A masterful performance, without any kind of but, that has taken Van der Linde to the top of the German championship standings. With 66 points, Sheldon Van der Linde will land in Imola with a 15-point advantage over Mirko Bortolottilocal hero in the third date of the contest.
If on Saturday’s day Sheldon Van der Linde got the victory after signing a huge start and setting the fastest lap, on Sunday he won the victory after achieving pole position and dominating the times of the race from start to finish. Two similar but different scripts, in which Van der Linde moved like a fish to water, making tire management his best virtue. Luca Stolz, in the first race, and Maro Engel, in the second, could do nothing to stop the South African’s drive at the controls of the Team Schnitzer BMW.
Van der Linde has 66 points to Mirko Bortolotti’s 51. The Italian had a much more discreet weekend, but managed to optimize his performance and leave the Lausitzring with a couple of sixth places that allow him to occupy second place ahead of Lucas Auer, third with 48 units, despite getting on the podium at the German event. For his part, Nico Müller ranks fourth with 38 points, for Luca Stolz’s 37 after finishing second in Saturday’s race, as he did in Portimao. In both appointments of the DTM, he did not score points on Sunday.
After a poor start to the season, René Rast has taken a step forward and has added his first podium in the GT3 era of the DTM. The German driver is seventh with 21 points, so he has to continue this improvement at Imola if he wants to cling to the top positions. Something similar happens to Philip Fragaalthough in this case not for lack of performance. The Portuguese came out with a double 0 from Lausitzringultimately caused by the fire of his Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.
Fruit of the successes of Sheldon Van der Linde, Schubert Motorsport sits first in the team standings with 79 points. In this case, the advantage over Mirko Bortolotti’s GRT Grasser team is 28 units, since the Italian is the only driver who has scored points for the formation linked to Lamborghini. Team Winward of Mercedes occupies the third position with 48 points, the same as Team HRT. Team Rosberg is the best Audi team in the standings with 38 units, two more than Abt Sportsline.
Photos: DTM