Bortolotti Holds Off Feller to Win Lausitzring Thriller

Mirko Bortolotti moved to the lead in the DTM standings with victory in the Sunday race at the Lausitzring by defeating Ricardo Feller in a race-long battle.

Bortolotti’s No. 92 SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 took the checkered flag just 0.353 seconds ahead of the No. 7 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Feller.

The two drivers started from first and second and maintained those positions for the entirety of the race as Feller sought a way past the Lamborghini.

Despite running within striking distance of Bortolotti almost uninterrupted after the two drivers pitted together halfway through, the Audi driver proved unable to overtake.

As a result, Bortolotti became the first repeat winner of the 2023 campaign after the first nine races of the season produced nine different winners.

The Lamborghini factory driver also assumed the championship lead, his 138 points allowing him to move ahead of previous leader Preining’s 131.

Luca Stolz completed the podium aboard the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The German closed up to Bortolotti and Feller significantly in the closing stages of the race, crossing the line just 1.1 seconds behind the No. 92 Lamborghini.

Preining finished fourth in the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, with stablemate Dennis Olsen rounding out the top five.

Lucas Auer and Jack Aitken finished sixth and seventh, ahead of the No. 3 ABT Sportsline Audi of Kelvin van der Linde.

The BMW pairing of Marco Wittmann and Rene Rast rounded out the top ten, ahead of Thierry Vermeulen and Marvin Dienst.

Out of the 29 cars that took the start, ten failed to finish.

Notably, the Lamborghini duo of Clemens Schmid and Franck Perera were both eliminated from a potential podium finish when Perera rear-ended Schmid’s No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini at Turn 10 after 20 minutes.

RESULTS: Race 2