Emil Frey Racing with podium finish and setbacks at the Red Bull Ring – title decision to be made at the finale in Hockenheim

📌 Fast Facts 📌
Emil Frey Racing experienced a weekend full of highs and lows at the Red Bull Ring. While championship contender Jack Aitken was on course for a podium finish on Saturday but was unfortunately forced to retire on the final lap due to a driving error, Thierry Vermeulen seized the opportunity and secured a strong result with third place. On Sunday, the young Dutchman provided the highlight of the weekend with his second pole position of the season and second place in the race, his best career result in the DTM. For Jack Aitken, however, a puncture prevented any chance of scoring points, and Ben Green also suffered a run of bad luck after a strong Saturday. Ahead of the season finale in Hockenheim, nine drivers are now within 29 points of each other in the championship, and Emil Frey Racing remains in contention in fourth place in the team standings.

Race 1 – Saturday, 13th September 2025
The first laps of qualifying at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday morning were used to warm up the tyres. With temperatures of just 14 degrees Celsius, the Pirelli slicks were in their optimal working range in the last third of qualifying on a dry track. Jack Aitken put his #14 Ferrari 296 GT3 in fourth place on the grid, closely followed by his teammates Thierry Vermeulen and Ben Green (fifth and sixth). 

In the tight sprint to the second corner, Jack Aitken moved up to third place at the start, with Ben Green right behind him in fourth - only Thierry Vermeulen had lost a little ground. The Dutchman was also one of the first to head for the pits for new slicks. Jack Aitken came in just as early, on lap 15, to attempt an undercut – and the strategy paid off. After a strong overtaking manoeuvre, Jack Aitken was able to pass Marco Wittmann's #11 BMW, which had little chance against the Ferrari driver after a later tire change with cold tyres.

Jack Aitken was now in a promising second place behind leader René Rast in the #33 BMW. Thierry Vermeulen had meanwhile moved up to fourth place, followed by his teammate Ben Green, who was consistently battling it out with the front runners. On the final lap, Jack Aitken lost control of his Ferrari in the fast chicane, unfortunately spun off into the gravel trap and thus gave away what had seemed a certain lead in the drivers' championship. 

One man's misfortune was another's good fortune: Thierry Vermeulen moved up and took third place in the #69 Ferrari 296 GT3 at his partner Red Bull's home race, securing his second podium finish of the season.

Race 2 – Sunday, 14th September 2025
Thierry Vermeulen, Max Verstappen's young protégé, raced impressively to his second pole position of the year on Sunday, his third DTM pole in his still young career. Saturday's unlucky driver, Jack Aitken, secured third place and thus one point in the championship standings, meaning the Englishman started the race seven points behind. Ben Green was less fortunate with the red flag and was able to place his #10 Ferrari in 11th place on the starting grid. 

At the start, Thierry Vermeulen maintained his first position and led the field. Jack Aitken got off to a good start in the first lap but slowed down shortly afterwards: a puncture on the rear right tyre was the reason for the slowdown. Although he was able to drive the number 14 car back to the pits undamaged for a new tyre, he had no chance of catching up and finished at the back of the field.

It wasn't Ben Green's race either: he initially made up some positions, but an incident with Jules Gounon's #48 Mercedes resulted in a penalty lap – leaving him in 18th place. He then had another collision, this time with the #7 Aston Martin, and during his second pitstop, a wheel nut got stuck and couldn't be removed, which meant the end of the race for him. 

Now it was up to Thierry Vermeulen to save the day for Emil Frey Racing. There was a change of lead shortly before the first pitstop window when Ricardo Feller in the #29 Audi overtook the Dutchman. In the end, the strong work of the Emil Frey Racing crew during the pitstop paid off, as did the focused performance of the 23-year-old, who was delighted to finish second – the first time in his DTM career.

Ahead of the season finale, a total of nine drivers are now within 29 points of each other in the drivers' standings and still have a chance of winning the DTM drivers' championship. Jack Aitken is in sixth place, 21 points behind – but if this weekend has shown us anything, it's that anything can happen and nothing is decided until the final checkered flag. Emil Frey Racing is now in fourth place in the team standings.

TEAM QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
“Jack Aitken's mistake in the penultimate corner on Saturday was obviously bitter, but we are a team and we are all only human, so now we just have to look ahead. We are not giving up yet and everything is still open until the last race. Despite everything, we had a great result with third and fourth place, scoring lots of points for the team classification. On Sunday, we had a good strategy for qualifying, but we were also a little lucky that we weren't on a fast lap when the red flag came out – that proved a bit of a disaster for Ben Green. Thierry Vermeulen had a solid race, and even though it wasn't quite enough for a win, it's still a great achievement. Unfortunately, Ben Green had to retire because we couldn't get the wheel off at the pitstop. The race also ended disappointingly for Jack Aitken: a slow puncture ruined his strong performance and cost him the points he had hoped for."

Jürg Flach, Technical Director 
“Once again, we experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. After strong qualifying results and despite BoP changes, we managed to secure two podium finishes with Thierry Vermeulen and fourth place with Ben Green in Saturday's race, which is also very important for the team championship. On the other hand, it was a very bitter weekend for Jack Aitken: he scored just one point in the race for the drivers' championship, which has now dropped him back to sixth place. The starting position is now extremely difficult, with a 21-point deficit. But hope dies last."

DRIVER QUOTES - Emil Frey Racing 
Jack Aitken (Great Britain)
"It was a really tough weekend for us, and we lost ground in the championship. In the first race, I lost focus briefly and that had serious consequences. On Sunday, we had incredible bad luck, as we had a flat tyre on the warm-up lap when I probably drove over some debris. It's very hard to believe that we had so much bad luck after qualifying in P3 ahead of our competitors. Now we're off to Hockenheim. We've already proven that we're fast, so there's no reason why we can't do it again. The championship isn't lost yet."

Thierry Vermeulen (The Netherlands)
“It was a really good weekend, and I would like to thank the team for their great work. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep Ricardo Feller behind me in the first stint; the Audi was just too strong today. Of course, it's a shame not to have won. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my double podium finish, which is a first for me. After all the disappointments in recent weeks, it was really great. A big thank you to the whole team.”

Ben Green (Great Britain)
“We had an unforgettable Saturday and then another Sunday to forget. Mixed feelings after round 7 of the DTM: We scored some good points on Saturday, but we didn't finish Sunday's race. It was a difficult weekend, but the finale in Hockenheim could be very successful, and I'm already looking forward to it.”