2021 Zolder Race 2

2021 Zolder Race 2
The Circuit Zolder returned to the DTM in 2021.
Race Information
Date	8 August 2021
No.	275
Event	DTM Zolder 2021
Location	Circuit Zolder Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium
Format	55 min + 1 lap
Lap length	4.011 km (2.492 mi)
Distance	39 laps / 156.429 km (97.200 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Marco Wittmann
Team	Walkenhorst Motorsport
Time	1:26.687
Fastest Lap
Driver	Nico Müller
Team	Team Rosberg
Time	1:27.257 on lap 29
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Marco Wittmann	Maximilian Götz	Liam Lawson
Winner Team	Walkenhorst Motorsport
Time	1:00:05.214
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2021 Zolder Race 1		2021 Nürburgring Race 1

The 2021 Zolder Race 2, formally known as the DTM Zolder 2021 Race 2, was the sixth race of the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium on 8 August 2021. The race would see Marco Wittmann sweep to his first victory since 2019, having also secured his first pole position of the campaign.

Indeed, in-spite of BMW's own belief that their car was not suited to the Zolder circuit, Wittmann pushed the #11 Walkenhorst Motorsport car to pole position, beating Lucas Auer by 0.214s. Mike Rockenfeller and Kelvin van der Linde would share the second row, while Daniel Juncadella and Nico Müller would share the third ahead of Liam Lawson.

The start of the race saw Wittmann instantly dart into the lead from pole position, with the rest of the field getting away largely in grid order. Indeed, Auer tried to challenge into the first corner but was too far back to seriously threaten the former Champion, while the rest made it through the left hander with only minor rubbing.

Yet, much like the first race the clean running would not last through the opening lap, with Philip Ellis accidently nudging the sister Mercedes of Vincent Abril into the gravel at the chicane. The Safety Car was scrambled to allow the #5 Mercedes Team HRT car to be snatched to safety, which took several minutes to accomplish.

At the restart Wittmann would again make a perfect launch, although the #11 BMW would move across to protect the inside line from Auer into the first corner. With that Wittmann was in the clear, establishing a narrow two second lead which he held until the pit phase began.

Auer was the first of the leaders to stop in a bid to undercut Wittmann, although a technical infringement during his stop would see the Austrian placed under investigation. Wittmann, meanwhile, would complete two more tours of Zolder before coming in to serve his stop, and would just manage to scramble out of the pits ahead of Auer.

After a tense lap fending off the attentions of Auer on cold tyres, Wittmann would re-establish his control of the race, which was soon enhanced as Auer was slapped with a five second time penalty. Behind, Maximilian Götz ascended to third on the road after making a very early stop, although he had Lawson glued to his tail.

When the chequered flag flew Wittmann had a comfortable advantage at the head of the field, securing his first win in two years. Auer was second on the road but ended up in fifth due to his penalty, Götz and Auer having remained within five seconds of the #22 Mercedes, while a barnstorming run for Müller in the closing stages after a late stop also carried him into the window behind Auer. Alexander Albon was next up ahead of Sheldon van der Linde, Kelvin van der Linde, Esteban Muth and Mike Rockenfeller, before a penalty for the former van der Linde relegated him back to ninth behind Muth.

Background

There were no changes to the Circuit Zolder ahead of the second race of the weekend, with the weather likewise unchanged. There would, however, be a change to the entry list, with Arjun Maini set to miss out on starting the race due to the damage his car sustained in Race 1.

Zolder Performance

Ahead of the second race around Zolder the DMSB announced a revision to the Balance of Performance calculations, although only three of the manufacturers would be affected. McLaren received the biggest break, gaining 0.109 bar in boost pressure for the second race, while remaining at their Race 1 weight of 1,305 kg. Audi, meanwhile, would have their minimum weight increased to 1,335 kg, up by 20 kg, while Ferrari saw their minimum weight increased to 1,330 kg.

Outlined below are the BoP calculations and success ballast allocations for the 2021 Zolder Race 2:

2021 Zolder Race 2 BoP
Manufacturer	Weight	Boost/Restrictor
Audi	1,335 kg (▲ 20 kg)	2 x 43.5 mm (—)
BMW	1,335 kg (—)	2.135 bar (—)
Ferrari	1,330 kg (▲ 15 kg)	1.622 bar (—)
Lamborghini	1,305 kg (—)	2 x 42.5 mm (—)
McLaren	1,265 kg (—)	1.539 bar (▲ 0.109 bar)
Mercedes-AMG	1,335 kg (—)	2 x 37.5 mm (—)
2021 Zolder Race 2 Ballast Allocation
Kelvin van der Linde	Mike Rockenfeller	Alexander Albon
25 kg	18 kg	15 kg

van der Linde Virtue

A second victory of the campaign had moved Kelvin van der Linde a full race's worth of points clear at the head of the Championship, after main rival Liam Lawson failed to score. Indeed, the New Zealander had slipped 32 behind midway through the third race weekend, while Maximilian Götz had closed to within nine points of him back in third. Elsewhere it was status quo in the Junior Championship, with Lawson and Sheldon van der Linde having both failed to score, while Esteban Muth had inched closer to the latter in third.

Team ABT Sportsline had reclaimed lead atop the Teams' Championship after the fifth race of the campaign, and had moved 30 points clear atop the table. AF Corse, former leaders, had slipped to second while Mercedes Team Winward were in third, 60 off the lead. In the Manufacturers' Championship Mercedes-AMG had seen their lead cut to four points midway through the trip to Zolder, with Audi having remained as their closest challengers.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2021 Zolder Race 2 is displayed below:

2021 Zolder Race 2 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
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	Dev Gore	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
99	Sophia Flörsch	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 Zolder Race 2 are outlined below:

2021 Zolder Race 2 Qualifying Result
Super Pole Results
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	1:26.687	—	166.114 km/h	1
2nd	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	1:26.901	+0.214s	165.705 km/h	2
3rd	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	1:26.956	+0.269s	165.600 km/h	3
4th	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	1:27.048	+0.361s	165.425 km/h	4
5th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	1:27.452	+0.765s	164.661 km/h	15
6th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	1:27.519	+0.832s	164.535 km/h	5
7th	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	1:27.605	+0.918s	164.374 km/h	6
8th	15	Christian Klien	JP Motorsport	1:27.789	+1.102s	164.029 km/h	7
9th	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	1:27.844	+1.157s	163.926 km/h	8
10th	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	1:27.903	+1.216s	163.816 km/h	9
11th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	1:27.962	+1.275s	163.707 km/h	10
12th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	1:27.984	+1.297s	163.666 km/h	11
13th	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	1:28.006	+1.319s	163.625 km/h	12
14th	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	1:28.122	+1.435s	163.409 km/h	13
15th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	1:28.569	+1.882s	162.585 km/h	14
16th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	1:28.590	+1.903s	162.546 km/h	16
17th	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	1:29.186	+2.499s	161.460 km/h	17
18th	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	1:30.248	+3.561s	159.560 km/h	18
19th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	1:40.489	+13.802s	143.299 km/h	19
NC†	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed	—			20
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * Juncadella served a ten place grid penalty.
• ^† Maini was unable to set a time in qualifying as he had sustained too much damage to his car in the 2021 Zolder Race 1.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2021 Zolder Race 2 in shown below:

		16	Timo Glock	1:40.489			99	Sophia Flörsch	1:29.186			8	Daniel Juncadella	1:27.452			5	Vincent Abril	1:28.122			23	Alexander Albon	1:27.984			18	Maximilian Buhk	1:27.903			15	Christian Klien	1:27.789			51	Nico Müller	1:27.519			9	Mike Rockenfeller	1:26.956			11	Marco Wittmann	1:26.687
						57	Philip Ellis		1:30.248		31	Sheldon van der Linde		1:28.590		10	Esteban Muth		1:28.569		12	Dev Gore		1:28.006		26	Esmee Hawkey		1:27.962		4	Maximilian Götz		1:27.844		30	Liam Lawson		1:27.605		3	Kelvin van der Linde		1:27.048		22	Lucas Auer		1:26.901

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2021 Zolder Race 2 is displayed below:

2021 Zolder Race 2 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	11	Marco Wittmann	Walkenhorst Motorsport	39	1:00:05.214	1:27.491	253
2nd	4	Maximilian Götz	Mercedes Team HRT	39	+1.711s	1:27.304	18
3rd	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull AF Corse	39	+3.557s	1:27.589	15
4th	51	Nico Müller	Team Rosberg	39	+4.286s	1:27.257	12
5th	22	Lucas Auer	Mercedes Team Winward	39	+10.666s	1:27.571	10
6th	23	Alexander Albon	AlphaTauri AF Corse	39	+10.851s	1:27.490	8
7th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	ROWE Racing	39	+19.894s	1:27.657	6
8th	3	Kelvin van der Linde	Team ABT Sportsline	39	+23.775s	1:28.232	4
9th	10	Esteban Muth	T3 Motorsport	39	+24.249s	1:27.654	2
10th	9	Mike Rockenfeller	Team ABT Sportsline	39	+25.111s	1:28.059	11
11th	18	Maximilian Buhk	Mercedes Team Mücke	39	+27.887s	1:27.980
12th	8	Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes Team GruppeM	39	+28.557s	1:27.980
13th	26	Esmee Hawkey	T3 Motorsport	39	+30.661s	1:28.040
14th	15	Christian Klien	JP Motorsport	39	+32.882s	1:28.252
15th	57	Philip Ellis	Mercedes Team Winward	39	+57.895s	1:28.009
16th	16	Timo Glock	ROWE Racing	39	+1:04.428	1:28.648
17th	12	Dev Gore	Team Rosberg	39	+1:11.145	1:28.508
Ret	99	Sophia Flörsch	Team ABT	25	Retired	1:29.419
Ret	5	Vincent Abril	Mercedes Team HRT	0	Collision	—
DNS	36	Arjun Maini	Mercedes Team GetSpeed
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.

Milestones

• Sixteenth win for Marco Wittmann.
  • Also Wittmann's first win since the 2019 Brands Hatch Race 1.

Standings

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.

2021 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Kelvin van der Linde 101 ◄0 2nd Liam Lawson 80 ◄0 3rd Maximilian Götz 72 ◄0 4th Marco Wittmann 67 ▲3 5th Alexander Albon 54 ◄0 6th Philip Ellis 52 ▼2 7th Mike Rockenfeller 46 ▼1 8th Lucas Auer 41 ◄0 9th Nico Müller 38 ▲1 10th Sheldon van der Linde 34 ▼1 11th Daniel Juncadella 19 ◄0 12th Esteban Muth 17 ◄0 13th Vincent Abril 12 ◄0 14th Maximilian Buhk 9 ◄0 2021 Junior Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Liam Lawson 80 ◄0 2nd Sheldon van der Linde 34 ◄0 3rd Esteban Muth 17 ◄0 4th Sophia Flörsch 0 ◄0

2021 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team ABT Sportsline 147 ◄0 2nd AF Corse 134 ◄0 3rd Mercedes Team Winward 93 ◄0 4th Mercedes Team HRT 84 ◄0 5th Walkenhorst Motorsport 67 ◄0 6th Team Rosberg 38 ▲1 7th ROWE Racing 34 ▼1 8th Mercedes Team GruppeM 19 ◄0 9th T3 Motorsport 17 ◄0 10th Mercedes Team Mücke 9 ◄0 2021 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mercedes-AMG 201 ◄0 2nd Audi 185 ◄0 3rd Ferrari 134 ◄0 4th BMW 101 ◄0 5th Lamborghini 17 ◄0 6th McLaren 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: