Lausitzring DTM: Ellis scores Mercedes' first win since return

At the start of the race, Sheldon van der Linde made a clean getaway from pole position in the Rowe Racing BMW, leading the Abt Sportsline Audi of elder brother Kelvin van der Linde as Lamborghini driver Esteban Muth and Red Bull junior Liam Lawson battled over third position.

The safety car was deployed just three laps into the race when Esmee Hawkey crashed heavily into the concrete wall at the banked Turn 1, sustaining heavy damage to her T3 Motorsport Lamborghini.

When the action resumed, Winward driver Ellis was on the move, laying the foundation to his first win in the DTM. 

Having already moved from ninth to fifth in the opening laps, the Swiss driver took the inside line into the banked Turn 1 to pass both Muth and Mike Rockenfeller in one move and then overtake Kelvin van der Linde under braking for Turn 2.

After the mandatory round of pitstops, Sheldon van der Linde appeared to lose pace, allowing Ellis to come through and take the lead heading into the opening turn on lap 20.

Lawson, who had recovered from a difficult opening few laps with a rapid pitstop in the AF Corse Ferrari, also managed to pass van der Linde to move up to second, setting up a two-way fight for victory.

The 19-year-old initially kept Ellis honest as they circulated at the head of the pack, but the Mercedes driver managed to pull clear soon after to take his maiden victory in the series.

It also marked the Stuttgart-based manufacturer’s first win in the DTM since it returned to the championship this season to coincide with its switch to GT3 regulations.

Behind Ellis and Lawson, Sheldon van der Linde managed to fend off 2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller to finish third on the road, but a five-second penalty for a pitstop infringement dropped him down to ninth.

That elevated Abt driver Rockenfeller to the final spot on the podium, the German driver leading his teammate Kelvin van der Linde, who lost several places during the pitstop cycle and could only manage fourth at the flag.

Red Bull driver Alex Albon, who was retroactively promoted to a podium spot in Monza following the disqualification of Mercedes driver Vincent Abril, was classified fifth in the second of the AF Corse Ferraris.

Ellis’ teammate Lucas Auer ended up sixth ahead of two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann (Walkenhorst BMW), with T3 Motorsport driver Muth slipping to eighth at the flag.

A mid-race pass over Rowe Racing’s Timo Glock ensured Mucke Motorsport Mercedes driver Maximilian Buhk picked the final point in 10th behind Sheldon van der Linde.

Last year’s runner up Nico Muller (Team Rosberg Audi) was unable to recover from his poor qualifying effort and was the last of the classified finishers in 13th after making a late pitstop two laps from the finish.

There were six retirees from the race, as several Mercedes runners were hit with technical issues.

Race results:

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Gap
1	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
2	30	Liam Lawson	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	1.682
3	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi R8 LMS Evo	5.833
4	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Audi R8 LMS Evo	6.789
5	23	Alex Albon	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	7.797
6	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	9.019
7	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW M6 GT3	9.336
8	10	Esteban Muth	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	9.649
9	31	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M6 GT3	10.314
10	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	24.388
11	16	Timo Glock	BMW M6 GT3	26.444
12	12	Dev Gore	Audi R8 LMS Evo	34.073
13	51	Nico Müller	Audi R8 LMS Evo	34.090
	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	14 Laps
	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	16 Laps
	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	25 Laps
	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	26 Laps
	99	Sophia Flörsch	Audi R8 LMS Evo	32 Laps
	26	Esmee Hawkey	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	34 Laps
View full results