Emil Frey Racing with two Top-10 Results and strong Pitstops at the DTM Season Opener at Red Bull Ring

Fast Facts – The Press Bulletin:

A challenging start to the 2026 DTM season for Emil Frey Racing: At the home race of partners BWT, Windhaber and Red Bull, the Swiss team managed to score points with both Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos on both race days. While pace was lacking on track at times, the team impressed particularly in the pitstops with the fastest times in the entire field – an important factor for the first championship points of the season.

Press Release
The 2026 DTM season has begun – and for Emil Frey Racing it kicked off at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg with an intense and not entirely straightforward weekend. With Matteo Cairoli (#14) and Thierry Vermeulen (#69), the team faced the challenges of a competitive field in the tight midfield.

Race 1 – Saturday, 25th April 2026
The season opener did not go entirely to plan from a sporting perspective. Matteo Cairoli (#14) initially held his eighth starting position, while Thierry Vermeulen (#69) got off to a strong start and gained several places. As the race developed, however, it became clear that top speed in particular was lacking to establish themselves sustainably in the front field. After an overall difficult race, the two Ferraris finished in positions 8 (#14) and 13 (#69).

One clear highlight: the performance of the pit crew. With the fastest pitstop in the entire field (#14) and the second-fastest time (#69), Emil Frey Racing made a strong statement in the pitlane.

Race 2 – Sunday, 26th April 2026
Sunday brought a slight improvement in performance, even if this was not yet fully reflected in qualifying. Starting from grid positions 11 and 12, both drivers set off from the tight midfield – a notoriously difficult position in DTM.

Matteo Cairoli initially lost positions at the start in unfortunate circumstances, but fought his way back with committed moves. Thierry Vermeulen once again showed strong race pace and made his mark with quick lap times. Despite intense battles for position, a significant leap forward remained out of reach. In the end, Matteo Cairoli finished 14th, while Thierry Vermeulen improved to ninth place and secured valuable points.

Once again the fastest pitstops, once again both Ferraris in the points.

For more information, please visit www.emilfreyracing.com

TEAM QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal 
"It wasn't an ideal start to the season. On Saturday we simply lacked top speed, Sunday was better, but we couldn't fully convert that in qualifying. Starting from the midfield in DTM is always enormously difficult. It's all the more pleasing that, despite challenging races, we were able to score points with both cars in both races. The pitstop crew trained enormously hard over the winter, and that paid off with the fastest pitstops on both Saturday and Sunday. We would have liked to have delivered better results for our partners BWT, Windhager and Red Bull at their home race, but the most important thing in DTM is always to take points."

Jürg Flach, Technical Director 
"The start to the season was quite challenging. As expected, we lacked speed early on. For Sunday we were optimistic that we had made a good step forward, but we couldn't fully capitalise on it in the second qualifying session – our pace in the second race was very good, though. With the pitstops we made a statement, and that's something we can be proud of. All in all, we consolidated further knowledge with the Evo package and can prepare accordingly for the next races."

DRIVER QUOTES – Emil Frey Racing

Matteo Cairoli (Italy) 
"We got the maximum out of this weekend, even if personally I had hoped for more on Sunday. I'm still learning a lot, as this was my first weekend in the DTM, but Sunday really was an incredibly hard-fought race. Even if we're not currently where we thought we'd be, I think we took a lot away from the Red Bull Ring and we'll certainly be more competitive in Zandvoort."

Thierry Vermeulen (Netherlands) 
"This year was significantly harder than the last time we were here at the Red Bull Ring. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the new Pirelli tyres up to temperature as well in qualifying. We learned a lot this weekend though, my thanks go to the team for the fantastic pitstop work, and now I'm looking forward to my home race in Zandvoort."

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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