Podium and pole position at the start of the 2026 DTM season at the Red Bull Ring. Marco Wittmann made strong comeback drives in both races in the #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO. After finishing fifth from 15th on the grid on Saturday, he crowned his comeback on Sunday by moving up from ninth on the grid to second place, marking the 51st podium of his DTM career. Kelvin van der Linde secured pole position on Sunday in his first DTM weekend for BMW M Motorsport in the #3 Shell BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Both races turned out to be unfortunate for him however.
While Wittmann impressed with strong racing on both Saturday and Sunday, making up many positions, van der Linde was unlucky. On Saturday, he was running ahead of Wittmann in sixth place when a technical failure stopped him just a few laps before the finish. On Sunday, he initially defended the lead from pole position, but dropped back slightly during the pit stops in a close race and finished sixth. Wittmann was named “Driver of the Day” by the DTM on Sunday and is third in the drivers’ standings with 31 points. Van der Linde is tenth with 13 points. In the team standings, Schubert Motorsport is in fourth place.
Congratulations to the DTM on a spectacular opening weekend with packed grandstands, perfect weather, and exciting racing. For us, Saturday’s race didn’t go as hoped. We simply lacked a bit of pace. Sunday looked much better with pole position for Kelvin van der Linde in only his second DTM race for us, as well as the podium for Marco Wittmann. Congratulations to Marco on an overall strong weekend and to Schubert Motorsport for excellent pit stops.
It was a very nice weekend – especially for Marco Wittmann, who drove two great races and, with fifth and second place, is well positioned in the championship after the opener. The technical failure for Kelvin van der Linde on Saturday was unfortunate. We need to look into why he couldn’t maintain his top position on Sunday and analyse what we could have done better.
Driver statements.
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Race 1: 5th place, Race 2: 2nd place): “It was a strong weekend. I’m really happy with my comebacks from 15th to fifth on Saturday and from ninth to second on Sunday. It’s a good feeling to start the season so successfully, but ultimately it will be about maintaining this consistency throughout the whole season. Qualifying didn’t go quite as planned here. When you start in the midfield, things can get tricky in the opening laps. Fortunately, it worked out well, the race strategy was spot on, and the team did a great job with the pit stops.”
Kelvin van der Linde (#3 Shell BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 6th place): “It was a weekend of ups and downs and mixed feelings. First of all, it’s great to be back in the DTM. The pole position on Sunday was fantastic, but unfortunately, things didn’t go so well in either race. On Saturday, there was the technical failure, and on Sunday, there were some decisions where maybe we didn’t get everything quite right, but this is just the beginning of a long season. I’m looking forward to the upcoming races.”