In a thrilling race at the Dutch venue, Maximilian Stolz claimed third place, narrowly fending off two-time champion Marco Wittmann by a mere 0.249s. Stolz, a driver for AMG works, initially trailed behind Wittmann during the first stint. However, he strategically overtook his fellow German by pitting a lap later. Stolz’s HRT crew expertly serviced his Mercedes-AMG GT3 in just 7.9s, outperforming DTM newcomer Project 1, who took 9.3s to change all four tires on Wittmann’s M4 GT3. Throughout the race, the 27-year-old Stolz had to withstand relentless pressure from the double series champion until the checkered flag.
Reflecting on his podium finish, which marked his first since last year’s Red Bull Ring event, Stolz acknowledged that he relied on Mercedes’ superior traction out of the corners to keep Wittmann at bay on Zandvoort’s straights. Stolz admitted, “In the early stages when [Wittmann] had a lot of traction, it’s always hard to fight the BMW because feeling-wise they are 100km/h quicker. But as soon as he lost a little bit of the tire, I saw that I was better on traction and I could always place myself well. Then it was quite easy to defend because in the last laps I saw if I do no mistakes then he will stay behind.”
Wittmann, on the other hand, recognized that Stolz had an advantage when exiting low-speed corners, preventing him from making a successful move and securing his first podium finish of the season. Wittmann explained, “He had extremely strong traction out of the slow corners and accordingly always had a gap for the straights. That’s why there was no way past him. We had phases in the race when I was faster and caught up with him, then he was faster again. It was a constant change. We had a pretty similar pace. My hope was that maybe toward the end of the race his tires would go down. But in the end, there was nothing we could do.”
Relief for Stolz after Challenging Start to the Season
Stolz’s podium finish at Zandvoort came as a welcome relief following a difficult start to the season at Oschersleben, where he struggled alongside the rest of the Mercedes contingent. In the two qualifying sessions at Oschersleben, Stolz finished 25th and 23rd before retiring from both races. When asked about his feelings after securing a podium finish with a new chassis, Stolz expressed his relief, stating, “Yeah, definitely, good day at the beach. We saw already from Friday on that we are much better than in Oschersleben. We basically had a new car because we had a broken chassis in Oschersleben, so it’s great to come back like this. We saw already on Saturday we made some good steps in the right direction, and I feel on Sunday we maximized some stuff.”
Stolz’s success at Zandvoort not only highlights his exceptional driving skills but also underscores the importance of strategic decision-making and teamwork in motorsport. With Mercedes’ superior traction and a well-executed pit stop, Stolz was able to defend his position against Wittmann’s relentless pursuit. As the DTM season progresses, Stolz will undoubtedly aim to build on this podium finish and continue to showcase his talent on the track.
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