2021 Nürburgring Race 1

2021 Nürburgring Race 1
The Nürburgring Sprint circuit for 2021.
Race Information
Date	21 August 2021
No.	276
Event	DTM Nürburg 2021
Location	Nürburgring Sprint Circuit Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Format	55 min + 1 lap
Lap length	3.629 km (2.255 mi)
Distance	40 laps / 145.160 km (90.198 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Kelvin van der Linde
Team	Team ABT Sportsline
Time	1:26.052
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kelvin van der Linde
Team	Team ABT Sportsline
Time	1:27.622 on lap 11
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Kelvin van der Linde	Philip Ellis	Mike Rockenfeller
Winner Team	Team ABT Sportsline
Time	1:00:55.726
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2021 Zolder Race 2		2021 Nürburgring Race 2

The 2021 Nürburgring Race 1, formally known as the DTM Nürburg 2021 Race 1, was the seventh race of the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Nürburgring Sprint Circuit in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on 21 August 2021. The race, which served as the debut of Porsche in the DTM, would see Championship leader Kelvin van der Linde claim a dominant victory.

Indeed, van der Linde was the man to beat across the whole day, with the #3 Team ABT Sportsline Audi storming to pole position by two tenths of a second. Philip Ellis was the closest challenger to the South African ace in second, with 22 of the inflated 23 car field covered by less than a second.

The start of the race would see van der Linde initially launch into the lead, although as the field plunged towards the first corner both Ellis and third placed Marco Wittmann would draw alongside. Wittmann subsequently braked first and gave the other two room, allowing van der Linde to run Ellis wide to claim the lead, while the Anglo-Swiss racer scrambled back on just ahead of the #11 BMW.

As the fight for the lead came through the rest of the opening sector the Safety Car was scrambled, for Maximilian Buhk had been spun around and stopped on track, while Christopher Haase and debutante Michael Ammermüller came together in avoidance. After two laps the race resumed with van der Linde again finding Ellis right alongside heading into the first corner, although once again the #3 Audi was able to elbow the #57 Mercedes-AMG wide.

After that van der Linde was away, establishing a healthy five second cushion over Ellis, who duly settled into second. Behind, debutante Luca Stolz stole the show by elbowing his way past Wittmann to claim third in the early laps, Liam Lawson was spun to the back of the field by the returning Markus Winkelhock, while Mike Rockenfeller made some limited progress after starting from sixteenth.

The pitstop phase would see van der Linde retain the net lead, and duly set the fastest lap of the race shortly after his stop. Behind, Rockenfeller would complete a long first stint and would briefly lead the race in a bid to overhaul his competitors, and would rejoin from his stop in eighth with eight laps to go.

As Rockenfeller set about storming up the order with his fresh tyres in the closing stages, Ellis would cost himself second by making a mistake in the chicane, getting out of shape and passing Alexander Albon by cutting the chicane. In handing the position back to the #23 Ferrari, which was due to stop a few moments later, Ellis also slipped behind Stolz, who had hit a mechanic in his pitstop and was under investigation.

Out front, meanwhile, van der Linde was able to cruise to the chequered flag to secure victory, five seconds ahead of Stolz and Ellis. Rockenfeller, meanwhile, would sweep to fourth in the final laps with a pair of late moves on Maximilian Götz and Wittmann, while Sheldon van der Linde was the best of the "Junior" drivers in seventh. Nico Müller was next up in eighth after serving two time penalties, with Daniel Juncadella, Arjun Maini and Lucas Auer completing the scorers.

After the race Stolz was hit with a thirty second time penalty for an unsafe pitstop after striking a mechanic in the GruppeM Racing pitbox. That penalty pushed Stolz back down to ninth between Juncadella and Maini, although the German racer was still comfortably the best placed of the debutantes in the field.

Background

After twice visiting the Nürburgring during the condensed 2020 campaign the DTM series returned to the infamous circuit nestled in the Eifel Mountains for the fourth round of the 2021 season. However, in-spite of using the full GP-Strecke for the second of its visits in 2020, the DTM would return to using the Sprint Circuit at the Nürburgring in 2021, which was unchanged from the 2020 trip. In contrast there would be several changes to the entry list for the seventh race of the campaign, with the grid swelling to 23 entries with a number of guest entries, and a seventh manufacturer, joining the fray.

Porsche Performer

The big news ahead of the trip to the Nürburgring would be that Porsche would finally make their DTM debut, as SSR Performance confirmed that they would enter a single 911 GT3 R at what would be their home race. Part of an assessment into joining the DTM in 2022, SSR would choose Michael Ammermüller as their pilot for their debut appearance in the DTM, with both team and driver having experience of GT3 racing via the ADAC GT Masters. At the time there were no plans for SSR to enter any other rounds of the 2021 season, with the squad instead focused on GT Masters.

Mercedes Masters

Elsewhere, Mercedes-AMG had their ranks increased to nine cars for the trip to the Nürburgring, with the addition of a third car for Haupt Racing Team and a new entry for Toksport WRT. The first car, fielded by HRT, would be for team boss Hubert Haupt, marking his first start in the series since the 2001 Hockenheim Finale Feature Race. The second car, fielded by local squad Toksport whose headquarters were to be found in Quiddelbach within the boundaries of the Nordschleife, was to be piloted by GT3 veteran Luca Stolz, who had raced for Toksport in the GT Masters.

Winkelhock and Haase

There were also changes in the Audi ranks ahead of the trip to the Nürburgring, with two of the marque's drivers unavailable. The first absence was a planned one, with Sophia Flörsch, the marque's only Junior entry, unable to compete in the fourth round as she had a prior commitment in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was to be staged on the same weekend as the trip to the Nürburgring. Her place was instead taken by Markus Winkelhock, who would return to the series in the #99 Team ABT entry having previously raced in the DTM in 2004 and between 2007 and 2010.

Elsewhere the Covid-19 Pandemic showed it could still impact on the 2021 season, as Dev Gore was ruled out of competing at the Nürburgring due to travel restrictions between Germany and the USA. His seat within the Team Rosberg team was hence handed to Christopher Haase, a former European GT3 Champion and regular runner in the GT Masters.

Seven-Score Similarity

With the addition of Porsche to the DTM field there were some more changes to the Balance of Performance calculations for the trip to the Eifel Mountains. For Porsche, the BoP calculations would ballast their lone entry at 1,310 kg for the trip to the Nürburgring, with a pair 48 mm air restrictors for their DTM debut. Elsewhere, Audi secured a 10 kg weight reduction, balanced out by a 0.5 mm reduction in their restrictor size, while Ferrari would lose 15 kg from their pair of cars.

Outlined below are the BoP calculations and success ballast allocations for the 2021 Nürburgring Race 1:

2021 Nürburgring Race 1 BoP
Manufacturer	Weight	Boost/Restrictor
Audi	1,325 kg (▼ 10 kg)	2 x 43 mm (▼ 0.5 mm)
BMW	1,335 kg (—)	2.135 bar (—)
Ferrari	1,315 kg (▼ 15 kg)	1.622 bar (—)
Lamborghini	1,305 kg (—)	2 x 42.5 mm (—)
McLaren	1,265 kg (—)	1.539 bar (—)
Mercedes-AMG	1,335 kg (—)	2 x 37.5 mm (—)
Porsche	1,310 kg (—)	2 x 48 mm (—)
2021 Nürburgring Race 1 Ballast Allocation
Marco Wittmann	Maximilian Götz	Liam Lawson
25 kg	18 kg	15 kg

ABT Aces

Kelvin van der Linde retained the lead in the Championship leaving Zolder, the South African ace sat on 101 points after six races. Liam Lawson was in second, 21 off the lead, while Maximilian Götz rounded out the top three, 29 off the leader. Lawson also continued to head the Junior Championship standings, 46 points ahead of Sheldon van der Linde.

In the Teams' Championship Team ABT Sportsline continued to lead the way after the sixth race of the campaign, having moved onto 147 points for the season. AF Corse had, however, closed in on the German squad, thirteen points behind, while Mercedes Team Winward were in third on 93. In the Manufacturers' Championship Mercedes AMG continued to head the charge, sixteen clear of Audi, while Ferrari occupied third.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2021 Nürburgring Race 1 is displayed below:

2021 Nürburgring Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
7	Luca Stolz	Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	Lamborghini	Huracán GT3 Evo
11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	BMW	M6 GT3
12	Christopher Haase	Team Rosberg	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
15	Christian Klien	JP Motorsport	McLaren	720S GT3
16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	BMW	M6 GT3
18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	Ferrari	488 GT3 Evo 2020
26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	Lamborghini	Huracán GT3 Evo
30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	Ferrari	488 GT3 Evo 2020
31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	BMW	M6 GT3
36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	Mercedes-AMG	GT3-Evo
92	Michael Ammermüller	SSR Performance	Porsche	911 GT3 R
99	Markus Winkelhock	Team ABT	Audi	R8 LMS Evo
Source:

• Numbers with a green background indicate an entrant in the Junior Championship.
• Numbers with a black background indicate a guest entrant.

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2021 Nürburgring Race 1 are outlined below:

2021 Nürburgring Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	1:26.052	—	151.819 km/h	1
2nd	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	1:26.263	+0.211s	151.448 km/h	2
3rd	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	1:26.322	+0.270s	151.344 km/h	3
4th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	1:26.344	+0.292s	151.306 km/h	4
5th	7	Luca Stolz	Mercedes Team Toksport	1:26.345	+0.293s	151.304 km/h	5
6th	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	1:26.427	+0.375s	151.161 km/h	6
7th	12	Christopher Haase	Team Rosberg	1:26.444	+0.392s	151.131 km/h	7
8th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	1:26.501	+0.449s	151.031 km/h	8
9th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	1:26.504	+0.452s	151.026 km/h	9
10th	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	1:26.511	+0.459s	151.014 km/h	10
11th	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	1:26.511	+0.459s	151.014 km/h	11
12th	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	1:26.534	+0.482s	150.974 km/h	12
13th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	1:26.553	+0.501s	150.941 km/h	13
14th	15	Christian Klien	JP Motorsport	1:26.602	+0.550s	150.855 km/h	14
15th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	1:26.630	+0.578s	150.806 km/h	15
16th	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	1:26.681	+0.629s	150.718 km/h	16
17th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	1:26.689	+0.637s	150.704 km/h	17
18th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	1:26.742	+0.690s	150.612 km/h	18
19th	99	Markus Winkelhock	Team ABT	1:26.747	+0.695s	150.603 km/h	19
20th	92	Michael Ammermüller	SSR Performance	1:26.963	+0.911s	150.229 km/h	20
21st	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	1:26.964	+0.912s	150.227 km/h	21
22nd	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	1:26.999	+0.947s	150.167 km/h	22
23rd	6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes Team HRT	1:27.180	+1.128s	149.855 km/h	23
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2021 Nürburgring Race 1 in shown below:

		6	Hubert Haupt	1:27.180			26	Esmee Hawkey	1:26.964			99	Markus Winkelhock	1:26.747			51	Nico Müller	1:26.689			22	Lucas Auer	1:26.630			5	Vincent Abril	1:26.553			30	Liam Lawson	1:26.511			23	Alexander Albon	1:26.504			12	Christopher Haase	1:26.444			7	Luca Stolz	1:26.345			11	Marco Wittmann	1:26.322			3	Kelvin van der Linde	1:26.052
						16	Timo Glock		1:26.999		92	Michael Ammermüller		1:26.963		31	Sheldon van der Linde		1:26.742		9	Mike Rockenfeller		1:26.681		15	Christian Klien		1:26.602		36	Arjun Maini		1:26.534		18	Maximilian Buhk		1:26.511		10	Esteban Muth		1:26.501		4	Maximilian Götz		1:26.427		8	Daniel Juncadella		1:26.344		57	Philip Ellis		1:26.263

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2021 Nürburgring Race 1 is displayed below:

2021 Nürburgring Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	40	1:00:55.726	1:27.622	253
2nd	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	40	+13.503s	1:27.767	182
3rd	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	40	+14.050s	1:27.703	15
4th	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	40	+23.676s	1:27.711	12
5th	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	40	+29.262s	1:28.058	101
6th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	40	+33.058s	1:28.273	8
7th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	40	+34.495s	1:28.001	6
8th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	40	+34.723s	1:28.117	4
9th*	7	Luca Stolz	Mercedes Team Toksport	40	+34.749s	1:27.868
10th	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	40	+39.935s	1:28.224	2
11th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	40	+44.411s	1:27.829	1
12th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	40	+45.788s	1:28.015
13th	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	40	+46.588s	1:27.956
14th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	40	+49.722s	1:28.165
15th	15	Christian Klien	JP Motorsport	40	+50.162s	1:28.157
16th	99	Markus Winkelhock	Team ABT	40	+50.449s	1:28.117
17th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	40	+56.459s	1:28.355
18th	6	Hubert Haupt	Mercedes Team HRT	40	+57.599s	1:28.540
19th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	40	+1:09.126	1:28.172
20th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	32	+8 Laps	1:27.984
Ret	92	Michael Ammermüller	SSR Performance	6	Damage	1:33.575
Ret	12	Christopher Haase	Team Rosberg	1	Damage	—
Ret	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	0	Collision	—
Source:

• ³ Indicates a driver was awarded points for qualifying in the top three.
• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Stolz was handed a thirty second time penalty for dangerous driving in the pitlane.

Milestones

• Porsche made their DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship debut as a manufacturer.
• First race for SSR Performance and Toksport WRT as entrants.
• First race for Hubert Haupt since the 2001 Hockenheim Finale Feature Race.
• Markus Winkelhock made his first start since the 2010 Hockenheim Finale Race.
• Debut race for Michael Ammermüller, Christopher Haase and Luca Stolz.
• Third victory for Kelvin van der Linde.
• Maiden points finish for Arjun Maini.
  • Maini became the first Indian driver to score points in the DTM.

Standings

Kelvin van der Linde used his dominant victory to extend his lead in the Championship, the South African racer having moved onto 129 points for the campaign. His closest challenger would be Maximilian Götz at the halfway point in the trip to the Eifel Mountains, the German veteran having eclipsed Liam Lawson by four points after the opening bout around the Nürburgring. Lawson would, however, retain the initiative in the Junior Championship, although his lead had been reduced to 38 points by Sheldon van der Linde.

In the Teams' Championship it had been another strong day for Team ABT Sportsline, with the DTM veterans having moved onto 190 points after their third win of the season. That meant that they had moved 56 points clear of AF Corse in second, while Mercedes Team Winward had slipped 76 points behind in third. In the Manufactuers' Championship Mercedes-AMG continued to head the charge, although their lead had been cut to just three points by Audi.

2021 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Kelvin van der Linde 129 ◄0 2nd Maximilian Götz 84 ▲1 3rd Liam Lawson 80 ▼1 4th Marco Wittmann 78 ◄0 5th Philip Ellis 72 ▲1 6th Mike Rockenfeller 61 ▲1 7th Alexander Albon 54 ▼2 8th Nico Müller 44 ▲1 9th Sheldon van der Linde 42 ▲1 10th Lucas Auer 42 ▼2 11th Daniel Juncadella 23 ◄0 12th Esteban Muth 17 ◄0 13th Vincent Abril 12 ◄0 14th Maximilian Buhk 9 ◄0 15th Arjun Maini 2 ▲1 2021 Junior Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Liam Lawson 80 ◄0 2nd Sheldon van der Linde 42 ◄0 3rd Esteban Muth 17 ◄0 4th Sophia Flörsch 0 ◄0

2021 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team ABT Sportsline 190 ◄0 2nd AF Corse 134 ◄0 3rd Mercedes Team Winward 114 ◄0 4th Mercedes Team HRT 96 ◄0 5th Walkenhorst Motorsport 78 ◄0 6th Team Rosberg 42 ◄0 7th ROWE Racing 42 ◄0 8th Mercedes Team GruppeM 23 ◄0 9th T3 Motorsport 17 ◄0 10th Mercedes Team Mücke 9 ◄0 11th Mercedes Team GetSpeed 2 ◄0 2021 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG 237 ◄0 2nd Audi 234 ◄0 3rd Ferrari 134 ◄0 4th BMW 120 ◄0 5th Lamborghini 17 ◄0 6th McLaren 0 ◄0 7th Porsche 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2021)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2021), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2021), (Accessed 29/05/2020)

References: