Emil Frey Racing claimsimpressive victory at DTM at Lausitzring

📌 Fast Facts 📌
The second DTM race weekend of the season started turbulently for Emil Frey Racing on Saturday: After a chaotic start and an unfortunate incident, Thierry Vermeulen had to serve three penalty laps — yet the team still scored 16 points with their three Ferrari 296 GT3s. On Sunday, the team delivered an impressive response: Jack Aitken secured the team’s seventh Pole Position, defended the lead confidently, briefly lost it to René Rast in the BMW, but fought back in a dramatic finish to claim his first DTM win of 2025 — also marking his second race win at the Lausitzring.

Race 1 – Saturday, 24th May 2025
For the third DTM championship race, the Emil Frey Racing drivers started from mixed grid positions: Jack Aitken began from sixth place, Ben Green from eleventh, with Thierry Vermeulen directly behind him. In cold and cloudy conditions, the race which runs anti-clockwise around the 3.478-kilometer circuit, was neutralized by the Safety Car after the first lap due to numerous collisions that marked the turbulent start.

In the early phase, a team-internal battle developed between Ben Green and Thierry Vermeulen, with the Dutch driver initially gaining one position. However, an incident while braking into the first corner set Vermeulen back significantly: After contact with the reigning champion Mirko Bortolotti (#1 Lamborghini), the driver of car #69 was handed three penalty laps — resulting in a time loss of around twelve seconds. Despite a mixed race performance from the three Ferrari 296 GT3s, Emil Frey Racing finished Saturday with a total of 16 points.

Race 2 – Sunday, 25th May 2025
After the disappointment on Saturday, the tide turned on Sunday: Jack Aitken secured Emil Frey Racing’s seventh DTM Pole Position. Thierry Vermeulen and Ben Green completed a strong qualifying session by taking sixth and seventh positions.

Jack Aitken defended his Pole Position confidently in a turbulent race start, while Thierry Vermeulen made a strong launch to move up to fourth place. Ben Green also had a good start but had to retire early after contact in Turn 8.

A battle soon developed between Thierry Vermeulen (#69 Ferrari) and Maro Engel (#24 Mercedes-AMG), with the Emil Frey Racing driver reclaiming fourth position. New for the 2025 season are two mandatory pitstops in the Sunday race: Thierry Vermeulen’s stop took 8.7 seconds, while Jack Aitken came in as one of the last drivers with a 1.4-second lead and completed his pitstop in just 7.5 seconds, allowing him to return to the track once again in the lead.

However, René Rast in the #33 BMW, already on warmed-up tyres, quickly closed the gap, leaving Jack Aitken no chance to defend the lead. Unfortunately, barely after the overtaking maneuver, the Safety Car was deployed due to debris on the track.

Before the second pitstop, Jack Aitken had closed the gap again and came into the pits together with the leading #33 BMW. The #14 Ferrari driver re-joined the race in second place and gradually closed in on the BMW. In a thrilling final sprint, the Englishman used his well-working tyres to reduce the gap by around 0.8 seconds per lap and pulled off a decisive overtaking move in the last lap to claim his first DTM victory of the year — his second race win at the Lausitzring after 2023. His team-mate Thierry Vermeulen finished the race in a solid seventh place.

TEAM QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
“What a race on Sunday – it was a real thriller right to the very end. Unfortunately, we lost some time during the pitstops and on the out lap, as the BMW was extremely strong there. But Jack managed to pull-off a sensational overtaking move on the final lap to secure the lead. It was very disappointing to see Ben Green’s race end prematurely after being pushed from behind, so unfortunately, we couldn’t score points there. Thierry had a solid race weekend, and despite the three penalty laps yesterday, he still managed to take home a point, which was a strong result. Overall, we can be satisfied with the weekend, but we definitely need to work on our pitstops and out laps further more. With cold tyres, we are currently not as competitive as the others.”

Jürg Flach, Technical Director
“When we arrived at the Lausitzring, I wasn’t convinced we would be competitive. We had rated the opposition stronger. But after the second Free Practice, I was cautiously optimistic. Both qualifying sessions showed good potential, and the win on Sunday was the perfect finale and a huge relief. Many thanks to the whole team for the great work.”

DRIVER QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing 
Jack Aitken (Great Britain)
“What a great race. I really enjoyed racing against the guys — it was hard racing but very fair. I thought the win was out of reach for us, but then I was able to catch up on the older tyres and kept getting stronger. I’m very happy about the victory, it’s a well-deserved success for the entire team.”

Thierry Vermeulen (The Netherlands)
“Saturday certainly didn’t bring the result we hoped for, but that’s sometimes part of racing. I attempted an overtaking move that ended in a collision — and I got my penalty for it. That’s just part of the game. Apart from that, it was a promising weekend, which I was able to show on Sunday as well. My lap times were very competitive, and I was fighting for the front positions.”

Ben Green (Great Britain)
“The first lap was just crazy. In Turn 8, we went three-wide, and there was contact with another car. From that moment on, I was just a passenger. It’s frustrating, and I’m really sorry for the whole team. We have a strong package but haven’t yet been able to achieve the results we deserve this season.”