The mood at Team ABT Sportsline changed with the weather at Hockenheim: bright sunshine on Saturday was followed by gloomy clouds on Sunday.
On Saturday, the most successful active DTM team achieved a dream result: Kelvin van der Linde took his fourth win of the season and the maximum possible points score from pole position. He thus drew level with championship leader Liam Lawson in the Ferrari. The successful day for Team ABT Sportsline was completed by Mike Rockenfeller who, after a technical problem in qualifying (defective sensor), stormed from 17th on the grid to third and overtook Liam Lawson on the last lap.
Sunday started similarly well: Kelvin van der Linde again secured the three extra points for pole position. The South African, who lives near Kempten, thus took over the sole lead in the standings again. Mike Rockenfeller qualified sixth and thus also had a good starting position.
But the second race turned into a nightmare for Team ABT Sportsline: during Mike Rockenfeller’s compulsory pit stop, one of the mechanics suffered injuries to two fingers on his left hand. He was taken to the hospital in Ludwigshafen where he underwent surgery.
Kelvin van der Linde was without a chance in the second race with 25 kilograms of success weight on board his ABT Audi R8 LMS. After a contact with Liam Lawson, he collected twice a time penalty of five seconds. Finishing tenth, the ABT driver only scored just one point and is 14 points behind Liam Lawson in second place in the standings ahead of the finale at the Norisring next weekend.
Sophia Flörsch drove from 19th on the grid to twelfth on Saturday, narrowly missing out on points. On Sunday, she had to retire after a collision with Esmee Hawkey.
Lucas di Grassi finished 15th in his first DTM race. On Sunday, he had to retire his ABT Audi R8 LMS shortly before the end of the race due to a technical issue with the power train.