Klaus Weber · DTM-Korrespondent
After chaos in the opening phase, Marco Wittmann converted his pole position into a commanding victory, while five drivers saw their race end prematurely.
Marco Wittmann claimed the opening race of the DTM season at Sachsenring on September 12, 2026, converting his pole position into a straightforward victory. Ahead of Jules Gounon (+0.450 seconds) and Thomas Preining (+3.684 seconds, fastest lap), Wittmann maintained a consistent lead throughout, but a first-lap collision in the midfield decimated the grid within the opening corners.
Chaos unfolds after the start
Moments after the lights went out, a chain reaction in Turn 1 caught Bastian Buus, Marco Mapelli, Luca Engstler, and Timo Glock. Contact between the two Abt Sportsline Lamborghinis of Mapelli and Engstler left both cars with terminal damage, while Glock's McLaren also retired. Race control responded with a safety car period, which shifted the pit window forward for the remainder of the field.
Buus was pushed into the gravel trap by the contact and required assistance to rejoin. He continued initially but failed to see the checkered flag in the end. With Maximilian Paul also falling out, five drivers in total were eliminated, leaving just 17 of 22 starters classified at the finish, an unusually high attrition rate for a single DTM race.
Wittmann controls the lead
Following the safety car restart, Wittmann managed his advantage with precision. Gounon's deficit settled at just under a second and remained virtually constant through to the flag, suggesting both cars were evenly matched in race trim and the decision had been settled in qualifying rather than over the distance. Preining completed the podium 3.684 seconds back, though he secured the bonus point for fastest lap.
Kelvin van der Linde brought home the second Schubert entry in fourth, 14.991 seconds behind his teammate Wittmann. Combined with the victory, it made for a strong weekend for Schubert Motorsport with both cars in the top four. Maro Engel took fifth, missing fourth by just 0.274 seconds, the tightest margin in the entire upper midfield.
Charge through the midfield and comebacks
Lucas Auer, who could not set a time in first qualifying after a heavy crash at Turn 8, started from deep in the order yet finished eleventh, just 0.317 seconds behind Ben Dörr in tenth. That suggests his car's race pace was substantially stronger than his starting position indicated.
For Maximilian Paul, Sachsenring marked his DTM comeback following a serious accident at Norisring in July that left him with fractures to his tibia, fibula, and a lumbar vertebra. Missing the race on his home weekend in Saxony changes little in that regard; simply returning to the cockpit after roughly two months of rehabilitation likely represents the real success of his weekend. Qualifying 2 and Race 2 on Sunday offer the entire field an immediate opportunity to rewrite this opening day's results.
