Ahead of the eighth and final race weekend of 2021 at the German street circuit in Nuremberg, 19-year-old New Zealander Lawson holds a 14-point lead over closest rival Kelvin van der Linde (RSA). Lawson – driving the #30 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 with the Red Bull livery – has the best prospects of winning the title ahead of Van der Linde and Maximilian Götz (GER), who he leads by 26 points.
A maximum 56 points are up for grabs with Lawson on track to become the youngest champion in place of Pascal Wehrlein (GER), who was crowned champion in 2015 just one day before his 21st birthday. With his victory at the season-opener at Monza, Lawson took over from Wehrlein as the youngest ever race winner in the DTM and has already secured the title of Junior Champion 2021.
Last time out at the Hockenheimring, Lawson claimed his fifth second-place finish of the year in the Sunday race along with three previous race wins, a third and a fourth place to his name. Lawson said: “I’ve never been here before, but I’ve heard a lot about it and just from watching races there it looks absolutely epic. I’m already really really proud of the whole team that kept pushing the whole year long, so hopefully we can close off the championship.”
Fellow Kiwi Nick Cassidy, 27, will stand in for Alex Albon (THA) in the #23 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 sporting the colours of Red Bull’s premium fashion brand AlphaTauri as the duo are set to make DTM history as it will be the first time two New Zealanders have lined up on the starting grid.
As Cassidy was registered at the start of the season, he is classified in the championship and he is already familiar with the Norisring from his time in the FIA Formula E European Championship. Cassidy said: “I’m really excited to be joining the team. I really like the circuit, I’ve raced there before in Formula 3. I hope I can help the team secure the Team championship this season.”
Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse goes into the final two races with a 68-point lead over the second-placed team Team ABT Sportsline. A team can score a maximum 96 points with Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse winning four races and earning a further nine podiums already. Norisring aka the ‘German Monaco’ is traditionally the highlight of a DTM season with the bumpy, hard-braking 2.3km street circuit boasting four left turns, two right-handers and walls lining large sections of the course instead of run-off zones allowing no room for mistakes.
Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse Team Manager Andrea Guidotti said: “The team is working hard to prepare the cars after the eventful races at Hockenheim, everything is at stake and we will be ready to fight. It’s going to be a really close battle for both the team and driver titles.”
DTM Norisring facts
Event: Eighth of the eight DTM weekends in 2021
Date: October 8-10
Location: Nuremberg (GER)
Circuit: Norisring
2.3km
Drivers and cars
Nick Cassidy (NZ), #23 AlphaTauri Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, 0 pts.
Liam Lawson (NZL), #30 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, 206 pts.
2021 DTM driver standings
1. Liam Lawson (NZL) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 206 points
2. Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) – Team ABT Sportsline 192
3. Maximilian Götz (GER) – Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 180
4. Marco Wittmann (GER) – Walkenhorst Motorsport 165
5. Alex Albon (THA) – Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 130
2021 DTM team standings
1. Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse 336 points
2. Team ABT Sportsline 268
3. Mercedes-AMG Team Winward 252
4. Mercedes-AMG Team HRT 208
5. Walkenhorst Motorsport 165
Schedule
Friday, October 8
12:05 – 12:50: Free practice 1
16:05 – 16:50: Free practice 2
Saturday, October 9
10:00 – 10:20: Qualifying for race 1
13:30 – 15:00: Race 1
Sunday, October 10
10:00 – 10:20: Qualifying for race 2
13:30 – 15:00: Race 2