Emil Frey Racing at DTM Showdown in Hockenheim: Ben Green’s maiden pole position, Jack Aitken’s battle for the title

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The DTM season finale at the Hockenheimring offered Emil Frey Racing the full range of emotions: Ben Green crowned his rookie season with the first pole position of his DTM career, while Jack Aitken fought for the championship in a thrilling title battle with eight contenders. But what began as a promising weekend ended on Sunday with bitter setbacks: Ben Green retired early after an accident through no fault of his own, and Jack Aitken lost valuable points in the championship battle due to a penalty. Thierry Vermeulen rounded off a difficult weekend with 12th place despite damage to his car.

Ben Green celebrates maiden pole position in the DTM
While all eyes were on the drivers battling for the championship, Ben Green provided a ray of hope. The rookie secured pole position for the first time in his DTM career, underlining his consistent development over the season. With teammate and championship contender Jack Aitken in second place on the grid, Emil Frey Racing occupied the entire front row – an achievement the team has now accomplished for the third time this season after Norisring and the Nürburgring.

Rain chaos on Saturday
The race itself proved challenging in heavy rain. Ben Green lost the lead to teammate Jack Aitken after braking too late on the first lap and also had to let Thomas Preining in the Porsche pass him. Jack Aitken, on the other hand, lost touch with the leaders after his tyre change and had to let several competitors pass him. Thierry Vermeulen fought his way up from the back of the field after a disqualified time in qualifying, but a puncture caused by debris on the track set him back to 19th place. 

Eight drivers in the title race on Sunday
The Sunday race became the decisive final with eight title contenders. Jack Aitken started from fourth position, his teammate Ben Green from third.

But disaster struck early on: several cars collided on the approach to the hairpin bend, with Ben Green caught up in the middle of the action. A car approaching from behind pushed him into a car in front of him. Ben Green was unable to do anything and had to retire his car early in the pits. The subsequent Safety Car initially played into the hands of Jack Aitken, who fought his way up to third place. However, after the first pitstop, the Brit fell back to fifth place. With fast sector times, Jack Aitken worked his way back up to fourth place and overtook Maro Engel in the Mercedes with start number 24. When the Aston Martin retired with damage to the car, Jack Aitken moved up to third place.

Ten minutes before the end of the race, the English driver overtook Jordan Pepper in the Lamborghini (#63), who was driving on cold tyres, and regained fourth place.

But then came the shock: Jack Aitken was investigated for overtaking under yellow flags and received three penalty laps. However, the time penalty was not served within the prescribed laps – and the number 14 was ultimately excluded from the race results. 

Thierry Vermeulen, who qualified in 10th place on Sunday, had made up two positions at the start – but was also hit by another car in the scramble at the hairpin bend. Despite damage to the rear right of his Ferrari, he finished the race in 12th place and still scored four points.

TEAM QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
“We gave it our all this weekend – but it wasn’t to be. We had an excellent qualifying session on Saturday, but the changing conditions made it difficult for us. On Sunday, we were still in contention for the title and also well placed for third place in the team standings. Unfortunately, a harsh penalty prevented us from achieving a better position. My thanks go to the team for a consistently strong performance throughout the year – we will be back on the attack next year. Congratulations to Güven and Porsche on winning the championship."

Jürg Flach, Technical Director
“We travelled to the Hockenheimring trailing by 21 points in the drivers' championship. After a strong performance in the first qualifying session, Jack Aitken managed to reduce the deficit to 13 points despite a poor pace in the first race, meaning our title chances were still alive. Unfortunately, the end of Sunday's race was very disappointing, as Jack received an unjustified penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. I would have liked to see a more conciliatory end to the season for Ben, Thierry and the entire team. Many thanks to everyone for their great efforts."

DRIVER QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing
Jack Aitken (Great Britain)
“Looking at the whole weekend, it was evident that we were very strong in both dry and wet conditions – we only had problems in mixed conditions, such as those on Saturday, and lost places as a result. Personally, I didn't think the penalty on Sunday was justified. I would like to thank the entire team; we had an extremely strong season and were consistently among the front-runners, and that in such a prestigious championship as the DTM."

Thierry Vermeulen (The Netherlands)
“The team performed well throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, my time in the first qualifying session on Saturday was disallowed, so I started from the back and after a tyre puncture, I couldn't get back to the front. On Sunday, we had more bad luck when I was hit from behind by another car. All in all, it was a disappointing weekend to end the season, even though I still managed to score four points.”

Ben Green (Great Britain)
“We had a very good starting position in both races but were unable to finish in the positions we had expected. Sunday was particularly frustrating because it felt like everyone was driving too fast into the hairpin bend and a fast car simply hit me from behind. After that, the damage was too severe to continue. It was a disappointing end to a season that had been going very well for us since the halfway point.“