The Schubert Motorsport team was hoping for a successful weekend in DTM at Oschersleben in Germany, as the team headquarters is right down the road from the circuit making this their home race. Unfortunately, the best result they had in the two races there was a fourth place.
The Oschersleben event was the fifth race weekend of the 2026 DTM season. Coming into the race, Marco Wittmann was fifth in driver points and Kelvin van der Linde was in twelfth. The Schubert Motorsport team was fourth in team points and BMW were fifth in manufacturer points. Qualifying for the two races at Oschersleben was incredibly close. In qualifying for race one, Wittmann (shown in top photo) ended up 13th and van der Linde 15th, with the top 12 (out of 20) within a half-second of each other. In qualifying for race two, Wittmann put in a strong lap to end up in third, while van der Linde was in seventh, with the top 16 cars within a half-second. Porsche driver Thomas Preining was on the pole for both races.
Kelvin van der Linde finished seventh in both races.
In race one, Wittmann had a DNF after a tire failure, as van der Linde worked his way up to seventh after starting from 15th, with the win going to Porsche driver Thomas Preining. Wittmann had a much better result in race two, as he was fighting for third place but had to settle for fourth at the end. Wittmann had an especially challenging weekend as he struggled with sickness. “This was probably my toughest weekend physically,” he said. “After losing 5kg in body weight due to stomach issues, I was completely drained today, yet happy with P4 in the second race. Unfortunately, the podium at the home race for Torsten (Schubert) and the team wasn’t meant to be.” Kelvin van der Linde finished seventh in the second race. The win in race two went to Mirko Bortolotti in a Lamborghini.
With a disappointing result in their home race, Wittmann dropped to seventh in driver points and van der Linde is in eleventh. Schubert Motorsport is fourth in team points and BMW is now fifth in manufacturer points. “It was great to be back racing here at Oschersleben,” said Team Principal Torsten Schubert. “Of course, we would have loved to finish on the podium. After the tire failure on Saturday, we had a bit more luck with the cars today. However, Marco showed that, even with better tires, it still wasn’t enough. Oschersleben is certainly a very challenging circuit when it comes to overtaking, but I still hoped we would find a way through the Porsche (Porsche driver Thomas Preining finished in third place). Perhaps we should have stayed out a little longer during the first pit stop. We’ll analyse that because I believe the podium was within reach.”
Gabriele Piana and Benjamin Sylvestersson had podium finishes in both ADAC GT4 Germany races.
BMW had more success in the ADAC GT4 Germany races, which were held as a support series for DTM. Gabriele Piana and Benjamin Sylvestersson had podium finishes in both races in their #51 M4 GT4 EVO run by the FK Performance Motorsport team, with a third place in the first race and second place in the final race. The double podium finishes put the drivers into the lead in the driver’s championship.
The next DTM race weekend will be at the Nürburgring on August 14th-16th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Gruppe C Photography]
