Tosa, Rivazza, Tamburello … names that make the hearts of motorsport fans beat faster. For the third race weekend of the 2022 season, the DTM will make its first appearance in its long history at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
And for this first time on the Emilia-Romagna track, the DTM will have a record number of participants: 30 cars, six different brands, drivers from 15 countries.
And at the Grand Prix circuit in Emilia-Romagna, two legendary brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini play at home in the DTM. The “Motor Valley”, where Ferrari has its headquarters in Maranello and Lamborghini in Sant’Agata Bolognese, is just over an hour from Imola.
Ferrari, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary as a manufacturer, is again represented in the DTM by the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team. Brazilian Felipe Fraga and New Zealander Nick Cassidy will be on the starting grid as drivers.
Lamborghini is involved in the DTM with a total of six cars: the Austrians of the Grasser Racing Team field the Huracáns at the debut in the series for the two Italians Mirko Bortolotti and Alessio Deledda, the Swiss Rolf Ineichen and the Austrian Clemens Schmid, while the Team T3 Motorsport has British Esmee Hawkey and Dane Nicki Thiim, son of DTM champion, Kurt Thiim.
“In addition to the Red Bull Ring, Imola, as Lamborghini’s home race, is the place where our heart beats faster – said the head of the GRT team, Gottfried Grasser – We are delighted to participate in the DTM in this legendary circuit. welcome many friends and partners of Automobili Lamborghini “.
“The headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese is only an hour away by car. Our goal, of course, is to be leading the races. We will have to wait and see how far we succeed. We did not have the opportunity. to do some tests in Imola “.
“We can draw on past experience, but for a successful weekend we need to make the most of the practice sessions to find the right base. It will be very exciting and we are excited for the Italian week of the DTM.”
Mirko Bortolotti, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3
Photo by: Andreas Beil
Bortolotti in particular, already on the podium in a DTM appearance last year, is performing well in his first full season in the series. At the opening of the season in Portimão, he secured the first pole position in the DTM for the Lamborghini brand and took two podiums.
At the Lausitzring he finished sixth in both races and goes to Imola for the home race in second place in the standings, behind the double winner of the Lausitzring, the South African Sheldon Van Der Linde (BMW – Schubert Motorsport).
Felipe Fraga also had an excellent debut in the DTM with the Red Bull-branded Ferrari thanks to second place and the additional point earned with the Autohero Fastest Lap in Sunday’s race in Portimão.
At Lausitz, however, the Brazilian experienced a weekend to forget: on Saturday he retired and on Sunday he was unable to start the race after his car caught fire during qualifying. But he has already shown that he can stay in the leading group and, of course, the AF Corse team prepared very well for the home race.
But in the DTM nothing is given away, and therefore there is curiosity in discovering how the other teams armed with Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche will behave. Many have already carried out tests in Imola and naturally want to do particularly well in Ferrari and Lamborghini territory.
The first two race weekends have already shown that the distance between the different brands is considerable. In Portimão, where Lucas Auer (Team WINWARD, Mercedes-AMG) and Nico Müller (Team Rosberg, Audi) took the victories, and at the Lausitzring, where S. Van Der Linde dominated with two wins, the drivers of five of the six DTM brands have already trod the podium. And everything will continue in Imola.
There will also be Timo Glock, who had retired from the DTM at the end of last season, but who will make a guest appearance on the BMW M4 of the Ceccato Motors Racing team. His team leader is none other than Roberto Ravaglia, 1989 DTM Champion with BMW.
There are therefore many reasons to look forward to the third race weekend of the DTM 2022. Live on location in Italy (tickets on tickets.dtm.com and 01806 991166), on Motorsport.com (races live on Saturday and Sunday at 1.30pm) or in streaming on grid.dtm.com. It pays to be there!
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