Lausitzring, 24 July 2021

Race 1

Liam Lawson’s second place and Alex Albon’s fifth in Race-1 of round two of the DTM at the Lausitzring were brilliant results given a Balance of Performance that reduced the power of AF Corse’s 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

On the podium
Starting from fifth on the grid, the New Zealander of Red Bull AF Corse lost a couple of positions in the first few laps. However, he took advantage of the Safety Car, which came on after Hawkey’s accident in Turn 1, to turn the race around. Following another fast pit stop, Lawson came back out behind Sheldon van der Linde and Philip Ellis while leader Nico Müller extended his stint until the last lap. Twenty minutes from the end, Ellis passed van der Linde, who was suffering tyre trouble. Lawson did likewise with a throttle-down that left no room for the BMW driver to respond, earning him second place. At the end of the race, van der Linde suffered a five-second penalty for an infraction during the pit stop, which gifted fifth position to Alex Albon.

Battle
The AlphaTauri AF Corse driver put in an excellent performance, constantly battling with the Audi of Kevin van der Linde. Like his teammate, Albon struggled in the first few minutes of the race but went on the attack and climbed the leaderboard after his mandatory stop, one lap after Lawson’s. The Thai gained another three positions on top of van der Linde’s penalty for a fifth-place finish that gives grounds for optimism in Race-2 scheduled for Sunday at 1.30pm local time. This was despite the fact that the Balance of Performance robbed the Prancing Horse cars of 15Hp of power, leaving the 488 GT3 Evo 2020s without the necessary acceleration to attack their rivals on the long straights.

Race 2

Excitement swirled at the Lausitzring as the second weekend of the DTM season came to a close, with Liam Lawson’s Ferrari taking second place and Alex Albon’s eleventh.

Passes
Today’s result comes with its share of regrets for the New Zealander of Red Bull AF Corse. After a splendid passing move on the outside of poleman Ellis, Lawson took the lead and exploited the car’s potential. Lap by lap, he gradually built up a two-second advantage over Kelvin van der Linde who, in the meantime, had overcome the Mercedes driver, moving up behind the Ferrari man. After a tough qualifying session, Alex Albon attempted a challenging comeback, first passing Müller and then Rockenfeller for eleventh. The Thai pitted on lap seven, followed two laps later by his teammate.

Twists and turns
The AF Corse mechanics’ pit stops were again lightning-fast, but Lawson stalled the 488 GT3 Evo 2020?s engine and returned to the track third, behind Kevin van der Linde and Maximilian Götz. In the middle of the pack, Albon fought a great duel with Maini, getting the better of the Mercedes driver with a perfect passing move at Turn 2, while race leader van der Linde’s car suddenly slowed down on the return straight, leaving the way clear for the German and the New Zealander. The championship leader’s Audi recovered its pace and got back into Lawson’s slipstream. Despite van der Linde’s insistent pressing and the 15hp loss due to the Balance of Performance, Lawson neatly fended him off to cross the line in second place. However, Albon struggled to stay in the top ten, ending the fifty-five minute and one-lap race in eleventh place. The Balance of Performance differential with his rivals severely hampered the AlphaTauri AF Corse driver from attacking or defending himself.

Standings
These results compact the championship table with Lawson in second place on 65, just four lengths behind Kelvin van der Linde, while Albon is fifth on 31 points.

The next round of the German series will run in Zolder, Belgium, from 6 to 8 August.