Nick Cassidy has capitalized on his decision to race in the DTM and not the 6 Hours of Fuji by taking his first win of the season. With second place from him, Sheldon Van der Linde escapes in the general.
Nick Cassidy has achieved victory in the second race of the DTM in Spa, making good his decision to sacrifice his participation in the 6 Hours of Fuji to compete on the Belgian track. The AF Corse rider has prevailed over Sheldon Van der Lindealthough it is true that the BMW driver has achieved an excellent championship result after the withdrawal of René Rast.
René Rast fell asleep on the way out. At least just enough for the Sheldon Van der Linde with a wide line to win the first position. The DTM leader managed to beat his direct rival in the first meters and put the dusty feet while Rast got into a fight with Nick Cassidy. Behind, Lucas Auer moved perfectly in the group to climb four positions and place fourth.
Sheldon Van der Linde is 32 points ahead of his closest rival in the DTM overall
While the first runs were taking place in the pits, Nick Cassidy managed to overcome René Rast, previous touch and roll in parallel in ‘Eau Rouge’. In this situation, Rast responded with a different strategy and advanced his stop. Riders like Maro Engel followed in his footsteps, although by then more than half of the peloton had made their mandatory tire change.
One lap later Sheldon Van der Linde pitted to cover themselves from René Rast’s maneuver. He came out ahead in the first instance, but with cold tires the German driver returned to position himself in the wake of the South African. It was of little use to Rast, since he received a five-second penalty for his touch with Nick Cassidy. In the meantime, Cassidy himself asserted his strategy and came out on top.
Loading tweet…
1568943734267469824
fierce battle
Nick Cassidy defended the virtual lead tooth and nail on cold tires against Sheldon Van der Linde. This fierce battle allowed René Rast to hook up with both, although with the five-second penalty behind him the Audi driver’s actual position was not third place. Thomas Preining was placed in fourth position after beating Lucas Auerwhich did give Rast a certain air.
With the last two drivers closing their passage through the pits, Nick Cassidy became the race leader with Sheldon Van der Linde, René Rast and Thomas Preining in his wake. However, the three-time DTM champion was out of contention. René Rast suffered problems in his Audi and had to retire with less than ten minutes to go, leaving Sheldon Van der Linde free to escape to the top of the championship.
intense finish
René Rast’s breakdown produced a period of ‘Full Course Yellow’ which gave way to a final lap launched in agony in which Nick Cassidy managed to retain the first position to win the victory. Sheldon Van der Linde was second, but this result is worth its weight in gold in the fight for the championship. For its part, Thomas Preining has stayed with the third place.
Behind, Lucas Auer was fourth, while Luca Stolz has been in charge of closing the ‘top 5’ of the race by beating Mikaël Grenier by a narrow margin. Philipp Eng with the BMW and Felipe Fraga with the second of the Ferraris finished in seventh and eighth place, while the points zone has been completed by Marco Wittmann and Mirko Bortolotti after a great comeback that serves very little.
Results Race 2 of the 2022 DTM at Spa-Francorchamps
The DTM will return to competition between September 24 and 25 at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria.
Photos: DTM