Auer Dominates Oschersleben Season Opener

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Lucas Auer took a lights-to-flag victory in the opening race of the DTM season at Oschersleben after he was able to start from pole following a post-qualifying penalty for Ben Green.

The No. 22 Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo beat Jordan Pepper’s No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 by a margin of just under a second in the 55-minute contest.

Auer, who initially qualified second, was promoted to pole after the No. 10 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Ben Green was disqualified after it was found to have been underweight during post-qualifying checks.

The Austrian subsequently fended off Pepper at the start and opened up a gap of some four seconds before the mandatory pitstop window.

Although the No. 63 Lamborghini closed up in the pits and remained in striking distance for the remainder of the contest, he proved unable to stop Auer from claiming first series win since Race 1 at Hockenheim in 2022.

Maro Engel completed the overall podium aboard the No. 24 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, leapfrogging both Thomas Preining and Jules Gounon with an undercut strategy.

The No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG finished fourth and fifth, having spent practically the entire race locked in battle.

Gounon initially beat Preining into Turn 1 to gain second on the opening lap, only to drop back to fifth after he was undercut by the Austrian as well as Engel.

Jack Aitken finished sixth in the No. 14 Ferrari, ahead of the No. 90 Manthey EMA Porsche of Ayhancan Guven and the Marco Wittmann-driven No. 11 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Mirko Bortolotti kicked off his DTM title defense with ninth place aboard the No. 1 Lamborghini, while fellow Lamborghini factory driver Luca Engstler completed the top ten.

The German ran as high as sixth early on, but dropped back after serving a penalty lap for speeding in the pit lane.

Pit lane misfortune also struck the No. 29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Ricardo Feller after it was determined that the Swiss racer served his mandatory stop outside the pit window.

As a result, Feller had to come back in, condemning him to 22nd position.

The race saw one retirement, as Rene Rast parked the No. 33 Schubert Motorsport BMW with just under 20 minutes to go after suffering from engine issues.