Press release
Emil Frey Racing shines at Zandvoort with maiden victory forMatteo Cairoli and home podium for Thierry Vermeulen
Fast Facts – The Press Bulletin
The second DTM season event took place at Circuit Zandvoort – and Emil Frey Racing delivered an impressive weekend: Matteo Cairoli claimed a commanding start-to-finish victory in only his third DTM race, having taken a stunning pole position, and was also voted Driver of the Day – a strong statement from the Italian early on in the season. Thierry Vermeulen equally took centre stage, celebrating his first DTM podium in front of his home crowd on Saturday, before putting in another strong performance on Sunday – though a pitstop error and a differant tyre strategy ultimately cost him a potential victory.
Press Release
Supported by BWT and Windhager on Matteo Cairoli's #14 Ferrari and by Red Bull and Verstappen.com on Thierry Vermeulen's #69 Ferrari, Emil Frey Racing enjoyed a strong DTM weekend at the young Dutchman's home race on Circuit Zandvoort, taking a victory, a podium, and impressive showings from both drivers.
Race 1 – Saturday, 23rd May 2026
A perfect start to the weekend: Matteo Cairoli claimed his first DTM pole position in style, with Thierry Vermeulen completing an all Emil Frey Racing front row in second.
At the start, Matteo Cairoli held his lead and controlled the field. Thierry Vermeulen initially had to yield to Lucas Auer's Mercedes but settled into third, managing the race comfortably from there. A comfortable gap allowed him to maintain his position after the mandatory pitstop.
Once again, the team excelled in the pitlane: with a stop of 6.110 seconds, Thierry Vermeulen's stop was the fastest pitstop of the day.
At the front, Matteo Cairoli controlled the race with authority. By the time of his pitstop, he had already built a significant lead. The Italian held on to take the win, crossing the line first in what was only his third DTM race. Thierry Vermeulen rounded up the strong team result with a third place, celebrating his first DTM podium in front of his home crowd. Matteo Cairoli was also deservedly voted Driver of the Day.
Race 2 – Sunday, 24th May 2026
A busy qualifying session left Matteo Cairoli sixth on the grid. Thierry Vermeulen repeated his strong showing from the day before, securing second on the grid once again. Saturday's race winner started carrying a success ballast of 20 kg, which had a noticeable impact on performance.
At the start, both Emil Frey Racing Ferraris lost ground: Matteo Cairoli dropped to eighth, while Thierry Vermeulen had to concede position to Lucas Engstler's #130 Lamborghini. The #14 Ferrari made its first of two pitstops on lap 9 – and while many teams made mistakes, the crew gained three positions thanks to a stop of 6.3 seconds. Thierry Vermeulen stayed out longer, inherited the lead, and came into the pits alongside the Top-3. A brief incident involving an unsafe release from the Manthey-Porsche driver Thomas Preining caused a tense moment in the pitlane, but the Dutchman stayed calm and cool, keeping his nose ahead to hold third.
The Safety Car briefly came out on lap 17 to collect debris – and at the restart, Thierry Vermeulen executed perfectly: he first passed the #130 Lamborghini to move to second, then swept past Kelvin van der Linde's #3 BMW to take the lead. From that moment, the #69 driver was in a league of his own, building a 2.2-second gap within just two laps and extending it lap by lap. However, a mistake crept in during the pitstop – the car was lowered too early and had to be jacked up again, costing precious seconds.
While Thierry Vermeulen had been utterly dominant through the middle stint, he was unable to challenge on used tyres in the final stint and had to watch the competition pull away. He crossed the line in fifth place; Matteo Cairoli also took home valuable points coming home in 11th position.
TEAM QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal
"Saturday was simply sensational – Matteo Cairoli's victory, his first with us and his first in the DTM altogether, combined with Thierry Vermeulen on the podium, made for an incredible day. On top of that, we had the fastest pitstop again – our third in a row. Today we struggled with race pace, even though Thierry Vermeulen had a very strong qualifying. In the race the success ballast made things considerably harder. With Thierry Vermeulen we were on a different strategy to the BMW, and in the end, we just couldn't attack on used tyres."
Jürg Flach, Technical Director
"Despite the BoP adjustment after the first qualifying, we had good pace for both races. In today's final stint with Thierry Vermeulen, the used tyres from yesterday's race gave us no pace at all. That is something we need to investigate and understand ahead of the coming rounds. Matteo Cairoli's victory and Thierry Vermeulen's brilliant podium at his home race were truly fantastic highlights for this weekend."
DRIVER QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing
Matteo Cairoli (Italy)
"The win on Saturday was an incredible feeling! Even with my lead, full concentration was required in the final laps as the tyres had degraded quite heavily. Winning a DTM race has been a goal of mine for many years, so I couldn't be happier about this result. Sunday, on the other hand, was a very complicated race. The extra weight made things difficult, and I also had more balance issues than on Saturday. I think I got the maximum out of the day."
Thierry Vermeulen (Netherlands)
"Overall it was a really special weekend here in Zandvoort with all the fans, and it's always great to celebrate my home race on this unique circuit. I had two strong qualifying sessions and the podium on Saturday was fantastic. On Sunday we had a race pace we didn't quite expect, but we made a mistake and it was painful to watch the podium slip away. Still, we gave everything and I'm incredibly proud of every single person in the team – I can't wait to see where we'll be at the next rounds."
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.