Emil Frey Racing scores points at DTM round in Oschersleben thanks to fastest pitstop of the field

Fast Facts – The Press Bulletin
Emil Frey Racing leaves a hard-fought Oschersleben weekend behind at the fifth DTM round at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Thierry Vermeulen secured ninth place in the first race, while Matteo Cairoli scored points reliably in both races. The pitstops once again set the benchmark – with 5.9 seconds, the team achieved the fastest pitstop time in the entire field for the fourth time this season on Saturday.

Press Release
The fifth round of the 2026 DTM season took Emil Frey Racing to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben – and as anticipated beforehand, a challenging weekend awaited the team, with the BoP situation posing no easy task for the two Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos.

Race 1 – Saturday, 25th July 2026 
In the first qualifying session of the weekend, Matteo Cairoli secured a solid eighth place on the grid in the #14 Ferrari, while teammate Thierry Vermeulen brought the #69 Ferrari to position six for the start.

Right at the start, skill was required: Matteo Cairoli adeptly avoided Jules Gounon in the #48 Mercedes, who ran off the circuit ahead of him, but lost several positions in the process and rejoined the race in 14th place. Thierry Vermeulen, on the other hand, used the opening chaos to his advantage and immediately gained three positions.

As the race developed, Matteo Cairoli engaged in an entertaining battle for position with Ben Dörr in the #25 McLaren before pitting first from the group. The Emil Frey Racing crew dispatched the Italian in a lightning-fast 6.0 seconds – shortly afterwards, Thierry Vermeulen followed with an even quicker stop of 5.9 seconds. With that, Emil Frey Racing claimed the fastest pitstop time in the entire field for the fourth time this season. After the stops, the #69 Ferrari sat in 11th place and the #14 Ferrari in 13^th place.

In the closing stages, Thierry Vermeulen showed his strength once more and overtook Ricardo Feller in the #90 Porsche to take the chequered flag in ninth place. Matteo Cairoli secured further valuable championship points with P11.

Race 2 – Sunday, 26th July 2026 
Both Emil Frey Racing drivers headed into the second race from P8 (#14 Ferrari) and P11 (#69 Ferrari) – as is customary in DTM, on already used tyres for the one-hour race.

In warm conditions of 28 degrees, Matteo Cairoli held his eighth position at the start, while Thierry Vermeulen lost two places in the opening battle and subsequently also had to concede a position to Finn Wiebelhaus in the #64 Ford. Matteo Cairoli also came under early pressure and was unable to hold P8 against Ricardo Feller in the #90 Porsche.

Shortly before the first pitstop window, Ben Dörr in the #25 McLaren attempted an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre on the #69 Ferrari, forcing Thierry Vermeulen to cut through the chicane. The entire group fighting around P15 then came in together for their pitstops. The Emil Frey Racing crew serviced the Dutchman in 6.3 seconds – the battle with Ben Dörr continued in the pit lane, but Thierry Vermeulen was able to settle it in his favour on the outlap. Matteo Cairoli's stop took 6.5 seconds, and the Italian returned to the race to engage in a close fight with Jules Gounon in the #48 Mercedes for ninth place.

With 22 minutes remaining, a brief shower of rain fell – not enough to warrant a switch to wet tyres. When the second pit stop window opened, Matteo Cairoli came in as he was stuck in traffic and returned to the track after a 6.2-second stop. In the closing stages, the Italian showed fighting spirit and overtook Nicki Thiim in the #7 Aston Martin to temporarily claim seventh place. Thierry Vermeulen also delivered another strong stop of 6.1 seconds.

At the end, Matteo Cairoli finished in tenth place, while Thierry Vermeulen classified in 15th. For the Italian, who has already claimed two DTM race wins this season, it was his first return to Oschersleben in eight years.

TEAM QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
"It was a difficult weekend for us. Already in qualifying we were lacking pace, and in the races, we had to fight very hard to hold our positions. The clear highlight were once again our pitstops, which were outstanding – that was great to see. We hope to be back on the attack in the coming races."

Jürg Flach, Technical Director 
"As expected beforehand, it was not an easy weekend for us – the competition from Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini and McLaren was clearly noticeable. Even more pleasing was Matteo's strong eighth place on the grid on Saturday, which we had not anticipated. With a solid team performance, we were able to convert that into a ninth place for Thierry in the first race. For Sunday, we had hoped for better grid positions following the BoP adjustment but were unfortunately unable to deliver on that as expected. The pit stops were once again at the highest level – 5.9 seconds on Saturday speaks for itself."

DRIVER QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Matteo Cairoli (Italy)
"On Saturday I was in the wrong place at the wrong time at the start and lost a lot of positions – that was of course frustrating. On Sunday I got through the first lap better, but we had to defend for the entire race. Overall, the weekend fell well short of my expectations – especially since Oschersleben is a track I really like. But I'm already looking forward to the Nürburgring, where I definitely want to be back on the top step of the podium."

Thierry Vermeulen (Netherlands)
"We had hoped for more from this weekend, and unfortunately the pace just wasn't where we wanted it to be. On Saturday, however, we gained seven positions – that was a strong effort from the whole team. On Sunday the used tyres made life difficult, and we simply couldn't keep up with the competition. At least we're taking some points home. I'll now analyse where I could have done better in the wheel-to-wheel battles – but it's also clear that we were lacking in outright speed, and that's something we need to address for the coming races."

ABOUT EMIL FREY RACING 

Emil Frey Racing is a storied Swiss motorsport team based in Safenwil. Founded in the 1960s on the foundations of the Emil Frey Group, the team can look back on decades of motorsport experience, ranging from single-seater and rally racing to long-distance GT series. Today, Emil Frey Racing competes internationally, currently in both the DTM and the GT World Challenge with the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

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