Kiwi Lawson sets sight on DTM lead at ‘Cathedral of Motorsport’

Liam Lawson will be gunning for the lead in the 2021 DTM drivers’ championship at the Assen Circuit in Holland this weekend as Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse teammate Alex Albon also eyes race wins at the ‘Cathedral of Motorsport’.

Lawson is just 12-points behind championship leader Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) after the team’s home event last time out at the Red Bull Ring in Austria where he won both races in the #30 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

“Assen is a track that I haven’t been to before but what I have seen and heard about it, it’s quite a fast, flowing track,” commented Lawson. “It should hopefully produce some nice racing.”

Lawson could claim the championship lead for the first time since the opening race at Monza and take a big step towards winning the title in his rookie season following the biggest points haul (55 out of 56) by any one driver at a race weekend in 2021 back in Spielberg.

“After a successful event in Red Bull Ring, we arrive at a track which is new to us,” said Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse Team Manager Andrea Guidotti. “It should suit our Ferraris quite well with its flowing sweeps. We hope we can carry on the momentum and add some more silverware.”

Assen has hosted DTM since 2019 and the TT Circuit enjoys a long tradition, particularly in the Motorcycle World Championship, which has held Grands Prix at the ‘Cathedral’ every year since 1949.

Like the Red Bull Ring, the MotoGP circuit is very fast at 4.555km long with 12 right-handers and six left corners. ‘Ramshoek’ is one of the fastest corners of the entire DTM season and takes the field back onto the start/finish straight, lined by the longest grandstand in Europe at 1.1km.

2021 DTM drivers’ championship standings
1/ Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) – Team ABT Sportsline 147 points
2/ Liam Lawson (NZL) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 135
3/ Maximilian Götz (GER) – Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 131
4/ Marco Wittmann (GER) – Walkenhorst Motorsport 121
5/ Philip Ellis (SUI) – Mercedes-AMG Team Winward 99
6/ Alex Albon (THA) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 94

2021 DTM team championship standings
1/ Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 229 points
2/ Team ABT Sportsline 208
3/ Mercedes-AMG Team Winward 163
4/ Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 153
5/ Walkenhorst Motorsport 121