DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti still has theoretical chances of defending his title two weekends before the end, but the train has long since left Abbot due to its difficult season. But who would the Italian Lamborghini works driver rely on when it comes to his successor?
A question that is not so easy to answer for him. “I’m a bit confused after the Sachsenring because I saw things there that were really wild,” says Bortolotti in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. “And by that I basically mean the title fight. In any case, things are currently working differently than in previous years.”
What does he mean? “I did not see a single title candidate this year who would not have left great chances at some point or had really left really big points,” he explains. That was not the case in the past.
“Gives the reason why Luggi will run for the first time”
“That is why it is pure speculation this year,” Bortolotti, who, apart from this season, did not want to commit to the title in all of its three years of the DTM.
But if he has to commit himself? “I think there is a reason why the Luggi has been in the lead in the table since the first race and that she was able to defend them on bad weekends,” he refers to the Landgraf Mercedes pilot, who took the lead at the start in Oschersleben and only turned them back to Emil-Frey-Ferrari pilot Jack Aitken twice from Saturday.
“I believe that other drivers in the field who would have driven at the front of the chance to have 20 points now, but have left it out,” says Bortolotti. So if he had to make a tip, it would be the 30-year-old Austrian who, in the overall ranking before his Spielberg home game, leads two points in front of Aitken: “The Constance currently speaks for Luggi Auer.”
Bortolotti: Why the level is not higher this year
Nevertheless, the density at the top of the table is enormous: the top 9 are only separated from each other by 28 points – these are the maximum points that can be reached on a race day. And there are still four of them.
So is the level even higher than in the previous year when Bortolotti, Kelvin van der Linde and Maro Engel had settled in front of Spielberg and Aitken already left fourth place? “I wouldn’t say because the drivers who are now in the title fight were there last year,” replied Bortolotti.
“And if they were not in the title fight last year, there was a reason. It is difficult to compare. Every year has its own story.”
Apart from that, everything has to fit in the DTM, if you want to be there if you want to be there – I can’t say more about it. Let us surprise you who it will be, “he also looks at the hot title final in Austria next weekend and at the Hockenheimring in Germany.