Paul Tames Wet Nürburgring to Take Breakthrough Win

Maximilian Paul battled his way through challenging conditions at a wet Nürburgring to take his first DTM victory in only his fourth race in the series.

Paul, who stepped into the No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 this weekend to replace Mick Wishofer, crossed the line under safety car ahead of Laurin Heinrich and Lucas Auer to win.

It marked a breakthrough victory for Paul, who joined Grasser with only two previous DTM starts to his name thanks to a guest start with T3 Motorsports at the Red Bull Ring in 2021.

It was also the first win for Gottfried Grasser’s eponymous outfit in its second season in DTM.

Paul started the race from outside the top ten, but ran seventh at the end of the opening lap.

He then came on top out in a battle for seventh place with Heinrich and Luca Engstler as Auer first assumed the lead.

The Austrian moved his No. 22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo past struggling pole-sitter Ricardo Feller, who dropped to sixth place before pitting.

As the rain intensified, Paul made steady progress through the field, trading second place back and forth with the No. 9 Toksport WRT Porsche 911 GT3 R of Tim Heinemann.

He then pitted under Full Course Yellow along with Auer and Heinrich with just over 20 minutes remaining after Alessio Deledda slid into the gravel at Turn 1.

After the restart, Paul caught and pressured Auer’s No. 22 machine, eventually passing the Austrian at Turn 5 to take the race lead.

Now in first place, Paul opened up a gap as a struggling Auer was also overtaken by Heinrich for second place, while a late-race safety car prevented the Winward driver from losing third place to a charging Maro Engel.

The race needed to be neutralized after Arjun Maini slid off the track and into the barriers at Turn 5.

Engel crossed the line in fourth, while Thomas Preining came up from sixteenth on the grid to complete the top five aboard the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche.

Feller finished sixth, ahead of Luca Engstler and Emil Frey Racing’s Thierry Vermeulen, who moved up into the top ten after pitting on the brink of the pitstop window under Full Course Yellow.

TV graphics appeared to show the Dutchman entering the pits after the window had closed, although race control deemed no further action was necessary.

David Schumacher faded from an early top three position to ninth place, while Franck Perera completed the top ten.

RESULTS: Race 2