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Breakthrough for Schubert Motorsport in the DTM: Sheldon van der Linde wins both races at the Lausitzring
Milestone for Schubert Motorsport on the second race weekend of the DTM 2022. At the Lausitzring, the team from Oschersleben achieved their sensational first victory in only their second appearance in the legendary series. BMW works driver Sheldon van der Linde dominated on the 4.60 km long circuit in Brandenburg, winning twice in commanding fashion. A pole position and a fastest lap are testament to the South African's flawless weekend. Team-mate Philipp Eng rounded off the Schubert Motorsport team performance with a fourth place in the second race. Saturday's success also meant the first triumph for the new BMW M4 GT3 in the DTM.
Sheldon van der Linde and Schubert Motorsport have now taken the lead in the overall standings with the double victory at the Lausitzring. In the driver standings, the 23-year-old leads with 66 points after two of eight stops. Schubert Motorsport leads the team standings with 79 points. The third round of the 2022 DTM for the squad around company founder Torsten Schubert will be held from 17 to 19 June at the iconic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy.
At the same time to the DTM event at the Lausitzring, Schubert Motorsport was also successful at the ADAC GT Masters in Austria this weekend. At the Red Bull Ring, Ben Green and Niklas Krütten sensationally celebrated two victories in the BMW M4 GT3. In the second race, BMW factory drivers Jesse Krohn and Nicky Catsburg finished second in the sister car, ensuring a double victory for the team.
Sheldon van der Linde (RSA)
BMW M4 GT3 - #31
Qualifying 1: P2 - Race 1: P1
Qualifying 2: P1 - Race 2: P1
After two strong points results at the season opener, Sheldon van der Linde held out the prospect of podiums and a victory for the BMW M4 GT3. At the Lausitzring, he promptly backed up his words from Portugal with action. In the first qualifying session, he missed repeating his pole position from last year by just 0.025 seconds. At the start of the race, he immediately corrected this shortcoming and took the lead, which he then didn’t held onto until the finish line. In the first stint he built up a comfortable lead. A perfect pit stop and the fastest lap, which is worth an extra championship point, rounded off the BMW factory driver's triumph after the race distance of 55 minutes and one lap.
Sheldon van der Linde demonstrated his impressive form even more impressively on Sunday. Despite 25 kilograms of success ballast for the previous day's victory, he took pole position for the second race in the morning qualifying session. At the start of the race at 13:30, he gave his rivals no chance right from the word go and comfortably maintained the leading position. In the early stages, he steadily pulled away. Another flawless pit stop by the Schubert Motorsport crew on the ninth lap paved the way for the third victory of his DTM career.
Sheldon van der Linde: "It's hard to realise what we have achieved here. It really was a dream weekend for Schubert Motorsport with two wins in the DTM and the ADAC GT Masters. That's absolutely crazy and I'm proud to have played my part. A big thank you to the whole team who made it possible with their fantastic work. The car felt like it was on rails since Friday and our pit stops were perfect. The team impressed me a lot, not only with their performance but also with their spirit. There is so much passion and will to win and that is the key."
Philipp Eng (AUT)
BMW M4 GT3 - #25
Qualifying 1: P7 - Race 1: DNF
Qualifying 2: P11- Race 2: P4
In the third qualifying session of the season, Philipp Eng showed the trend which was expected after Portimão. In the Saturday morning session, the Austrian put the BMW M4 GT3 on the fourth row of the grid in the field of 29 GT3 cars. However, luck was once again not on his side in the afternoon. On the way to a top-five result, he had to park his car with a technical problem on lap twelve.
On Sunday, the 32-year-old made an impressive comeback after this disappointment. In a chaotic qualifying, which was restarted after a red flag with only four minutes remaining, he initially finished in eleventh place. In the second race, he proved once again that the opening lap is one of his great strengths. The number 25 BMW M4 GT3 returned from the first lap in seventh place. A tyre change on the seventh lap gave him a run in clean air, allowing him to move up to fourth place after the pit stops. In a hard-fought second stint, he defended the position against his pursuers until the finish.
Philipp Eng: "It was an incredible weekend for Schubert Motorsport and BMW Motorsport with victories in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters. Congratulations to the whole team on this great success. For me, the race weekend was difficult. I had a technical problem in practice and couldn't do a long run. In the first qualifying the balance was spot on and the grid position promising. In the race I was on the way to a good result, but we had to park the car because of another problem. Sunday was a positive conclusion. The qualifying was not optimal due to external influences, but in the race it went very well and we can build on that."
Team Manager Marcel Schmidt: "I am really speechless. Coordinating races in the DTM and the ADAC GT Masters in parallel is one thing, but winning in both series is quite another. We would never have dreamt of that before this weekend. Our feeling was right from the start at the Lausitzring. We are getting to grips with the BMW M4 GT3 better and better and when it mattered, we turned our knowledge and good preparation into top results. The engineers, mechanics and pit crew did an incredible job and every single person in this team deserved these wins so much. Sheldon was incredibly strong. He executed perfect races and made us all proud with his performance. I feel sorry for Philipp having had to retire so early on Saturday. He could have done much better, because he had the pace for the podium. But his time will come. The season is still long and we will continue to work hard so that he will be up there as well."