Third place for 2021 DTM Series leader Liam Lawson in the penultimate race of the season held at the Norisring has extended the his lead to 18-points over Kelvin van de Linde, who finished fourth. Race winner, Maximilian Götz, stayed in title contention (19-points behind Lawson) which is now a three-way fight in the final race on Sunday. Fellow Kiwi, Nick Cassidy, in his only DTM Series appearance this season, finished in fifth.
With a maximum of 28-points at stake, three for pole position and 25 for the final race win of the season, Lawson is in a good position to become the youngest-ever DTM champion.
The race for Lawson wasn’t without its drama. “In the turmoil after the start, I was right in the middle of the action,” commented Lawson. “Initially, I feared that I had a puncture, but thankfully, I hadn’t. I was a bit surprised when the Audi (of van der Linde) suddenly came up.
“Then there was some slight contact with Philip Ellis, but I couldn’t just disappear in the air. I was surprised that he spun as the contact was really slight. My team told me lap after lap to keep calm and not to take any risks. Nice that the teams’ title has already been decided. That is a great reward for my crew. For Sunday, I am still cool. I think that I will be able to sleep.”
With the result, Lawson has put himself in the best possible position for the 15th race of the season.
The stage was set for a tough battle between Lawson and Kelvin van der Linde, as the South African secured himself second place on the grid, also on the front row. However, the first corner again lived up to its reputation. Before Lawson was able to turn into the hairpin, van der Linde shot past on the inside, apparently having missed his braking point. Then, Lawson was collected by Arjun Maini, who eventually finished in second.
Philip Ellis found the best way out of the turmoil and took the lead from Lawson and Cassidy, who is racing the AlphaTauri Ferrari in place of of Alex Albon (THA) this weekend. Behind them, Götz was already biding his chance, making up one place after another and eventually taking the lead.
Throughout the distance, Götz was on course for victory in a commanding way, even though other drivers were temporarily in the lead due to the mandatory pit stops. One of them, leading for a long time, was Cassidy, who staged a thrilling duel with van der Linde over many laps.
With third place for Lawson and fifth place for Cassidy, the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team secured an early title win in the DTM teams’ classification. Previously, Mercedes-AMG had already sealed the manufacturers’ title. Liam Lawson was crowned as the junior title winner with two race weekends remaining.
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