Lawson takes second and extends lead in DTM

Having moved to the top of the DTM standings after Race-1, Liam Lawson extended his championship lead with second place in Race-2 at Assen. A quick Alex Albon finished fifth.

Aggressive. The Ferraris started from the second row, attacking Wittmann while the poleman Auer pulled away from the group. Like yesterday, the BMW driver was very determined to protect his position and Lawson, despite getting off to a faster start than his rival, was forced to postpone his attack and was passed by his teammate.

Undercut. Lawson decided to imitate the strategy that had proved successful in Race-1 by pitting on lap six, one lap ahead of Wittmann and Albon. The New Zealander's undercut proved successful, allowing the Red Bull AF Corse driver to pull alongside the BMW man as he exited the pit lane, taking advantage of warmer tyres to pass him on turn two. With Auer in the virtual lead and Lawson in second, the race was still open, waiting for race leader Kelvin Van der Linde to pit.

Slipstream. The Audi driver made his mandatory stop on lap 21, returning just a few fractions ahead of Wittmann. In the BMW driver's slipstream and ahead of Maximilian Götz, Albon also tried to chase the South African, but with no luck. At the front, Lawson cut the gap to Auer to just over a second, while Albon was five-tenths down on Van der Linde, who was still battling it out with Wittmann.

Pulling away. A few seconds from the end of the 55-minute race, Juncadella, in third, stopped his Mercedes at the edge of the track, allowing Wittmann to take his place on the podium. Two laps later, the chequered flag marked Lucas Auer's first win of the season, second place for Liam Lawson's 488 GT3 Evo 2020 and Alex Albon's fifth. With two rounds to go, this result puts the Red Bull AF Corse driver on 175 points, extending his lead to 10 points over Marco Wittmann, 15 over Van der Linde and 20 over Maximilian Götz. Alex Albon is sixth on 104.

Appointments. With four races still to run, the DTM drivers will be back in action over the weekend of October 1-3 in Hockenheim.