ABT Sportline: Huge disappointed after getting spun by Rival.
09-07-2024 06:20 - MOTORSPORT
A collision through no fault of his own cost Kelvin van der Linde the lead in the overall DTM standings at ABT Sportsline's home race at the Norisring. At the halfway point of the 2024 season, the ABT driver is now five points behind Mirko Bortolotti in second place.
Van der Linde shone on both days with a strong qualifying performance. On Saturday, he was just 0.042 seconds off first place in his group, on Sunday he was only eight thousandths off the pace. And this despite the fact the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II was not the fastest car at the Norisring either.
In the first race on Saturday, van der Linde initially defended his championship lead with sixth place. When heavy rain started to fall on some parts of the track 20 minutes before the end of the race, his team played it safe and, like most of his direct rivals in the title fight, switched to wet tyres.
On Sunday, the ABT driver started from row two and maintained fourth until his pit stop on lap 24, which was the fastest of the entire race at 6.586 seconds. He came within a whisker of overtaking the Mercedes of Marco Engel, who ultimately finished second. However, van der Linde had to slow down in the pit lane to avoid crashing into the Mercedes.
The situation was much more annoying on lap 27, when Jack Aitken came out of the pits on cold tyres and touched van der Linde at the rear entering the chicane, forcing him into a spin. A comeback drive brought van der Linde up to ninth. Nevertheless, the disappointment at losing the championship lead and the potential podium was huge.
Van der Linde's team-mate Ricardo Feller had a difficult weekend at the Norisring. The Swiss driver failed to make it into the top ten on either day, dropping from third to seventh in the standings. In the team standings, ABT Sportsline is 16 points behind Schubert Motorsport, the only team to compete with three cars.
After a five-week summer break, the second half of the DTM season begins on 17/18 August at the Nürburgring. ABT Sportsline will use one of the test days permitted by the regulations at this circuit in the run-up to the event.
Van der Linde shone on both days with a strong qualifying performance. On Saturday, he was just 0.042 seconds off first place in his group, on Sunday he was only eight thousandths off the pace. And this despite the fact the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II was not the fastest car at the Norisring either.
In the first race on Saturday, van der Linde initially defended his championship lead with sixth place. When heavy rain started to fall on some parts of the track 20 minutes before the end of the race, his team played it safe and, like most of his direct rivals in the title fight, switched to wet tyres.
On Sunday, the ABT driver started from row two and maintained fourth until his pit stop on lap 24, which was the fastest of the entire race at 6.586 seconds. He came within a whisker of overtaking the Mercedes of Marco Engel, who ultimately finished second. However, van der Linde had to slow down in the pit lane to avoid crashing into the Mercedes.
The situation was much more annoying on lap 27, when Jack Aitken came out of the pits on cold tyres and touched van der Linde at the rear entering the chicane, forcing him into a spin. A comeback drive brought van der Linde up to ninth. Nevertheless, the disappointment at losing the championship lead and the potential podium was huge.
Van der Linde's team-mate Ricardo Feller had a difficult weekend at the Norisring. The Swiss driver failed to make it into the top ten on either day, dropping from third to seventh in the standings. In the team standings, ABT Sportsline is 16 points behind Schubert Motorsport, the only team to compete with three cars.
After a five-week summer break, the second half of the DTM season begins on 17/18 August at the Nürburgring. ABT Sportsline will use one of the test days permitted by the regulations at this circuit in the run-up to the event.