After a month long delay, GSR DTM finally made it to the Nurburgring after reports were showing record low turnouts for the initial race on Memorial Day weekend. The fans had to wait about a month to see the drivers on track, as they were treated with a special practice session in the middle of the week free of charge.

The turnout for the race included 11 drivers, with the fastest lap time done in practice by LifeHigh at a 1:52:9. The common theme of the race: tires and close side-by-side racing.

Dakinca won both races, but without a little luck and some good fortune. We caught up with him to ask about his thoughts of both races:

“Race one I had pole, had a bad start and Bullet took the lead turn 1. I had to defend just to keep second. We followed in formation pulling away but I was unable to pass. Then on about lap 5 Mission clipped too much kerb or put the power down too fast and the back end came around. I took advantage because I was not going to get around him. Lifehigh was right on my tail. He would get from 1.3 seconds down to .4 seconds and it would fluctuate. He wasn't able to get around and I was lucky to win. Race 2: had a bad start, then just got back into form picking people off 1 at a time. I knew I was faster but couldn't get around. Which made for awesome racing. Then I just help form for 10 laps occasionally passing and being passed. But the medium tires eventually came in and I was able to keep pace well others fell away. Topgear had it won but lost it in the chicane. Just got lucky today and had a great race and stayed patient.”

Dan’s teammate in the LMP3 championship DeadArm also had some words to say about the weekend:

“After seeing the times from practice I knew I was a little off the pace. That said I managed to pull out a couple of decent results. A few too many unforced errors in race one put me at the back of the pack but I managed to claw my way back up to 5th. Great battle in the second race with quite a few people running nose to tail. I somehow managed to sneak 3rd so a decent points haul overall. Great racing by everyone, I can see this championship going down to the wire. Congratulations to Dan for two solid victories.”

As we went through the paddock at the end of the day, we decided to catch up with some of the other drivers involved in the race. We were thankfully enough to hear from BCK, Mr Blonde, and the MikeScott Autosport crew.

BCK: “The first race I just couldn't find any speed. Got shuffled to the back at the start trying to avoid the stalled cars and just stayed there. I figured I didn't have much to lose for the feature, so I tried to gamble with the soft tires. We luckily managed to get up front early and had a really good battle with Mike, Deadarm, and Topgear for the lead, but the tires fell off after about 10 laps. I wasn't able to build up much of a gap, so pitting pretty much took us out of contention.”

Mr Blonde: “We didn't have time to install the DRS this weekend, so I had to make the best of the things. Before the feature race, we took a gamble and the crew put on some special tires. We had a scare in turn 1 but recovered and passed a couple of cars late in the race to pick up my first top 5 finish of the season. Hopefully we can get the DRS solved in time for Oschersleben."

Murphys Laaawl: “Race 1 we put on the harder tire thinking everyone else would lose so much grip, but that actually hurt us more. I couldn’t really find my stride with the harder compound and somehow finished in 6th. Race 2 was, just.. wow. Where to begin? I remember Blonde spinning out in the hairpin and just stopping my car as I hit him. Then I ended up in the lead and figured since I was on the softer tire, I could hold everyone off for 18 laps, but that didn’t work out too well. But I could see the action behind me and you could literally put a blanket on the first 8 cars cause they were so close together. All in all, a subpar day for me but it was great to see Mission running well. Can’t wait for Oscar Meyer, or however it’s pronounced.”

Mission: “Two great races full of tight battles and clean driving. race two was the hardest drive I've ever had, completing the last 5 or 6 laps with no front tires left and just missed the podium both races but I'm pleased to pull in good points for the championship and I'm looking forward to the next rounds.”

GSR DTM heads to the Oschersleben circuit, a popular circuit in the DTM community and famous for its literal 90 degree left hand turn as a driver starts their lap. Will we see the same action that produced an exciting Nurburgrig, or will everyone overshoot turn 1 like in real life? Find out July 8th!

Results:

Race 1:
1. dakinca91
2. Lifehigh999
3. TopSoCalledGear
4. MissionBULLITT
5. Dead Arm Tzar
6. Murphys Laaawl
7. BCKracer71
8. Mr Blonde V
9. Canadian 2Four
10. Throwawaygra71
11. DA TOPPERHARLEE

Race 2:
1. dakinca91
2. TopsSoCalledGear
3. Dead Arm Tzar
4. MissionBULLITT
5. Mr Blonde V
6. Throwawaygra71
7. Murphys Laaawl
8. BCKracer71
9. Canadian 2Four
10. Lifehigh999
11. DA TOPPERHARLEE

Points Standings:
1. Dead Arm Tzar - 99
2. dakinca91 - 97
3. MissionBULLITT - 68
4. Murphys Laaawl - 66
5. Lifehigh999 - 65
6. Throwawaygra71 - 61
7. BCKracer71 - 59
8. xl MAVERICK lx - 54
9. Mr Blonde V - 51
10. colibrimb2 - 44
11. TopSoCalledGear - 44
12. Canadian 2Four - 24
13. LMP Basher - 22
14. DA TOPPERHARLEE - 20