Kelvin van der Linde went into the final weekend at Hockenheim with a 15-point deficit. After Friday’s free practice sessions, he didn’t think he had much of a chance of catching championship leader Mirko Bortolotti in the Lamborghini. However, rain before the first qualifying session led to a wet track, on which the ABT driver secured pole position with a perfect lap. With a hard-fought victory in Saturday’s race, the German-South African sensationally regained the lead in the standings.
But on a dry track on Sunday, van der Linde had no chance against the Lamborghinis. He lost the lead in the standings again to Mirko Bortolotti who secured a commanding pole position and went on to build a half-minute gap over van der Linde in the race.
Ricardo Feller managed to qualify third on Sunday, making a mark at the end of a difficult DTM season for him. In the early stages of the race, he was third behind Bortolotti and eventual winner Luca Englster. However, after the mandatory pit stop, the Swiss driver briefly ran off the track on cold tyres, meaning he had to settle for sixth place.
For the team, it was the last race with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II before the upcoming switch to Lamborghini. With the R8, ABT Sportsline celebrated a total of eleven victories between 2021 and 2024. After third places for Kelvin van der Linde (2021), René Rast (2022) and Ricardo Feller (2023), ABT Sportsline took the runner-up position with Kelvin van der Linde this time missing the drivers’ title by just 17 points. ABT Sportsline also secured second place in the teams’ championship.
The 2025 DTM season begins at Oschersleben on the last weekend of April. From next year, Germany’s most important racing series will be powered by synthetic fuel.
Martin Tomczyk (ABT Motorsport Director): “It was clear that we were competing at the absolute limit with the Audi this year. I’m proud that we still managed to achieve a lot of success and keep the championship open until the last race. On Saturday, we once again made the most of our opportunities. On Sunday, unfortunately, we lacked the performance to keep up with the Lamborghini. Missing out on the title by such a small margin is hard for the team. But it was a thrilling fight – unfortunately with the wrong outcome for us. Nevertheless, congratulations to Mirko Bortolotti, SSR Performance and Lamborghini! We will come back stronger next year. I’m already looking forward to that!”
Kelvin van der Linde (Saturday 1st/Sunday 12th, 32 points/Championship 2nd, 221 points): “It was a very long season that sapped a lot of energy. We really got everything out of the Audi and only made a few mistakes. Everyone in the team can be proud of this performance, even if in the end it is not the result we had hoped for.”
Ricardo Feller (Saturday 12th, Sunday 6th, 14 points, Championship 11th, 115 points): “It’s a shame that the season is already over. I could have done better. Fortunately, I was able to make a mark in the last qualifying session, but looking at the season as a whole, I can’t be satisfied – especially after we fought for the title last year.”