Feller takes surprise win, Auer reclaims points lead

Ricardo Feller has pulled off a shock by taking his first DTM race win of the year in the second race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

The Land Audi driver, who is only competing in the DTM this season thanks to a last-minute decision by his team, took the lead after a mistake by polesitter Thierry Vermeulen and held on for his third career win in the DTM.

“A great feeling. I am very happy and incredibly proud of my entire crew,” Feller said on ran.de, praising his Land crew for the two good pitstops. “An amazing victory, just beautiful. It’s a pity that it’s Sunday now and everyone is leaving, so we can’t celebrate.

“Of course, I am extremely proud to give Land their first DTM win today. It’s wonderful. It hasn’t been an easy season so far. Winning a race here at the Red Bull Ring is something I never would have expected if someone had asked me beforehand. But that makes it all the sweeter. We have to enjoy this.”

Behind Feller and Emil Frey Ferrari’s Vermeulen, Landgraf Mercedes’ Lucas Auer completed the podium in third place, reclaiming the points lead in the process.

Maro Engel (Winward Mercedes) finished fourth, followed by HRT Ford’s Arjun Maini in fifth and Grasser Lamborghini driver Jordan Pepper in sixth.

Unlike Saturday’s race, the start was much more turbulent: while Vermeulen led from Feller and Jack Aitken, there were numerous collisions and incidents in the midfield, ending in drama for several title contenders.

Marco Wittmann was hit by Ben Dorr in the first corner, which almost spun the Schubert BMW driver and dropped him to the back of the field. Thomas Preining suffered a puncture in his Manthey Porsche in the chaos and dropped off the lead lap.

A few corners later, Abt Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim spun off the track, and then Aitken dropped back with a puncture, while Fabio Scherer retired his HRT Ford with a broken driveshaft.

When the first of the two pit windows opened, the field had largely settled at the front, with Vermeulen and Feller clear by six seconds of Auer in third place.

The leaders waited the longest to make their first tyre change, with the duel between Feller and Vermeulen starting before the pitstop. The Land Audi driver capitalised on a small mistake by the polesitter and took the lead before halfway through the race.

Two laps later, both rivals pitted simultaneously, as did their chasers. While Feller was able to defend his lead over Vermeulen, Auer lost his third place to HRT Ford driver Maini due to a slower stop.

Feller was able to extend his lead over Vermeulen to more than three seconds in the middle stint, suggesting the Audi driver had used his fresh tyre set in the middle stint.

Rene Rast, Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, Marco Wittmann, Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3

Photo by: ADAC Motorsport

The leading group came in together again, with the Land Audi team making no mistakes, allowing Feller to defend his lead over Vermeulen. For HRT Ford driver Maini, however, he suffered a slow pitstop and dropped behind Auer, Engel, and Rene Rast.

But Rast dropped back after race control handed him two penalty laps – one for the unsafe release and one for crossing the white line at pit entry – which sent the BMW driver to 13th place in the final phase.

With Schubert BMW driver Rast finishing down the order, it saw local hero Auer reclaim the points lead at his home race, and he now leads the standings by seven points over Grasser driver Pepper, with Rast in third, 11 points back.

The 2025 DTM season concludes at the Hockenhiem finale on 3-5 October.

DTM Red Bull Ring – Race 2 results

Results to follow