Race two of DTM Lausitzring showcased an interesting race with a lot of close calls and sharp overtakes. The race was won by Maximilian Gotz (Mercedes-AMG Team HRT), followed by Liam Lawson (Red Bull AF Corse) at P2 and Kelvin Van Der Linde (Team ABT Sportsline) completing the top three positions. Arjun Maini, racing for Mercedes-AMG Team Getspeed painted in the colours of the Indian flag, finished P12 after a very controlled drive. Arjun started from P9 on the grid, lost a position from holeshot but managed to stay within the top 10 till his first pit stop. But by the end of the race, Maini started to struggle on tyre life and had to make way for Nico Muller (Team Rosberg Audi) and Alex Albon (Alpha Tauri AF Corse Ferrari). Maini finished the race ahead of ex F1 driver Timo Glock (Rowe Racing) proving the progress made by the young Indian at DTM.
Arjun Maini had a redemption day at Lausitzring after facing a retirement at the first race. He qualified P9 on the grid, and unlike the previous race, did not allow cars to pass through from the holeshot and fought harder to keep his position. He dropped a place during the first few laps, but as the race settled in, he found a rhythm and maintained a competitive race pace. Maini pitted on lap eight with the intention to continue on the new sets till the end of the race. By this point, he was fighting within the points scoring positions. But at the end of the race, Maini started struggling on tyre life and was losing the gap to the cars behind. He eventually had to let Nico Muller and Alex Albon pass by and settled for P12. This was a much needed experience for Maini after retiring from race one at Lausitzring.
The pack in front had huge drama and action throughout the race. Sheldon Van Der Linde and Marco Wittmann exchanged paint towards the latter stages of the race. Sheldon had a faster car but could not find a way past Wittmann. But it took just one mistake from Wittmann and Sheldon took the advantage and finished P5. His brother, Kelvin Van Der Linde was leading the race in his Audi when suddenly his car switched off and lost drive out of turn one. He lost two positions trying to get the car to switch on again. The reason for the malfunction is still unclear but luckily, it didn’t strike again. Kelvin joined behind Liam Lawson who defended all the attacks from Kelvin and managed to hold on to P2 till the end of the race.
With the experience of a full race and more track time, Maini seems to be inching ahead with every race. Even though he is yet to score points in the championship table, the progress of his race craft is undeniable. Speaking of the drivers championship table, Kelvin Van Der Linde leads the table with 69 points followed closely by Liam Lawson with 65 points. Philip Ellis stands P3 in the table with 48 points with Maximilian Gotz closing in with 46 points. Round 3 of DTM will be hosted at Zolder in Belgium on August 6. Stay tuned for more updates.