ABT Sportsline endured one of its most challenging weekends of the 2026 DTM season at the Sachsenring, with Luca Engstler and Marco Mapelli struggling to find the performance needed to fight towards the front of the field. The warning signs appeared during Friday practice. Engstler finished 13th in FP1 before dropping to 18th in FP2, while Mapelli placed 17th and 19th, respectively. ABT therefore headed into Saturday with work to do after spending both sessions away from the leading group.
Saturday brought little improvement. Mapelli qualified 14th for Race 1, while Engstler could only manage 19th. Their race then ended almost immediately after both became involved in an opening-lap incident which also included Bastian Buus and Timo Glock. Engstler and Mapelli were unable to continue, leaving ABT without a finish in the opening race of the weekend. Conditions changed significantly for Sunday as rain left the Sachsenring wet for the second qualifying session. Engstler improved to tenth on the grid, while Mapelli qualified 15th. ABT finally secured points later in the day as Engstler recovered to eighth in Race 2, while Mapelli crossed the line in 14th.
Biermaier calls for answers after difficult DTM Sachsenring weekend for ABT
Despite the improved result on Sunday, ABT Sportsline CEO Thomas Biermaier acknowledged that the team never found the performance it needed across the weekend. The difficulties stretched across both dry and wet conditions, leaving ABT with plenty to investigate before the final round of the season at Hockenheim. While Sunday at least provided some points through Engstler, Biermaier stressed that the team must understand why its various set-up changes failed to produce the expected improvements.
“It was a very difficult weekend. We lacked performance from the first free practice session all the way through to the second race. At the moment, we do not know exactly why. We tried many different things, but none of the changes to the car worked in the way we had hoped. After Saturday, Sunday’s result with eighth place for Luca and 14th for Marco was at least a somewhat more positive conclusion. We now need to analyse exactly why we were not faster in either dry or wet conditions. We want to be as well prepared as possible for the season finale at Hockenheim and score a good number of points once again. Our goal is to conclude this difficult season with a strong result.”
Engstler salvages eighth after stronger Sunday
Engstler gave ABT its best opportunity for a strong result during Race 2. Starting tenth, he made progress during the opening phase as several drivers struggled for grip on the damp circuit.
The German moved as high as second before the first round of mandatory pit stops, having overtaken Kelvin van der Linde during a competitive opening stint. The pit-stop sequence pushed him back through the order, while he also became caught up in the Turn 1 incident involving Jules Gounon and Nicki Thiim after the second stops. Despite the disruption, Engstler eventually finished eighth and collected ABT’s only points of the weekend.
Although he welcomed the improvement compared with Saturday, Engstler felt the final result did not fully reflect the potential he had shown earlier in the race. His attention now turns towards Hockenheim, which will serve as both ABT’s and Engstler’s home round.
“It was a solid race today with a very good first stint. In the end, it is still disappointing that we were unable to bring that result home. Eighth place is a decent result, but of course we had hoped for a little more. Considering where we started this weekend, it was very difficult overall. We were missing the pace that we had shown throughout large parts of the season. Now we need to analyse everything in detail and come back stronger. Hockenheim is normally a good track for us, and it is also a home race for both the team and me. I am really looking forward to it and want to end the season with a good result there.”
Mapelli left frustrated after chaotic Race 2
Mapelli also faced a difficult Sunday after starting Race 2 from 15th. The challenging track conditions created plenty of incidents throughout the opening stages, and the Italian lost further ground while trying to avoid trouble ahead of him. He then faced another setback during the first round of pit stops and ultimately finished 14th, matching the position Biermaier highlighted as part of ABT’s modest improvement from Saturday.
Mapelli nevertheless believed a top-ten result had been possible based on the car’s race pace. However, the combination of his starting position, the opening-lap incident and time lost in the pits prevented him from converting that potential into points.
“The race was very chaotic. It is always difficult when you start further down the grid. On the opening lap, I was involved in an incident while trying to avoid the cars spinning in front of me. As a result, I lost several positions. We also lost time during the first pit stop. I believe our pace was good enough for a Top 10 finish, but we were unable to convert that potential into the corresponding result today.”
Reflecting on the weekend as a whole, Mapelli echoed the team’s need to understand why it struggled so significantly at the Sachsenring before turning its attention towards the final event of the year.
“The entire weekend showed that we had major difficulties here. It was probably our weakest weekend of the season. We now need to analyse exactly what caused the problems and put ourselves in a better position at Hockenheim. The whole team is working hard and we will do everything we can to finish the season with a positive result.”
ABT will now have time to analyse its Sachsenring difficulties before the 2026 DTM season concludes at the Hockenheimring from 9–11 October.
