After Friday’s two practice sessions gave the DTM field its first proper read on Circuit Zandvoort, it was time for the Qualifying 1 session on Saturday morning.
Matteo Cairoli arrived as the driver to beat after topping both practice sessions for Emil Frey Racing. The Italian set a 1:34.289 in FP1 before improving to a 1:33.803 in FP2, becoming the only driver to break the 1:34.000 mark across Friday’s running.
Ben Dörr also carried strong momentum into Qualifying 1 after finishing second in both sessions for Dörr Motorsport, while Thomas Preining ended Friday third fastest in the Manthey Porsche. Mirko Bortolotti showed a clear step forward for TGI Team by GRT, placing fourth in the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 in FP2.
Friday’s running also brought some disruption. Arjun Maini suffered a front-left fire in FP1, while FP2 featured red flags, including one caused by oil on track from Maximilian Paul’s Lamborghini. With teams switching to qualifying simulations in the closing stages of the afternoon session, the field headed into Qualifying 1 looking to convert Friday’s preparation into grid position for Race 1.
Early red flag interrupts DTM Zandvoort’s Qualifying 1
The 20-minute session went green at 09:45 local time, but the action stopped almost immediately. Race Control threw the red flag after just a few minutes because of fluid on track in Sector 2.
Kelvin van der Linde soon came under investigation for causing the red flag. Race Control then confirmed that the Schubert Motorsport driver would lose the fastest lap he had set in qualifying because he had triggered the stoppage.
The interruption left 17 minutes and 22 seconds on the clock. Race Control scheduled the restart for 10:15 local time and later confirmed that the session would resume as planned.
When qualifying restarted, van der Linde initially ran alone on track as he appeared to check whether his BMW could continue. However, his session ended early, and he climbed out of the car before the decisive push laps began.
Preining sets early benchmark
After the restart, the field took time to build tyre and brake temperature before the first serious laps arrived.
Thomas Preining led the first wave of improvements and moved to the top with a 1:34.192 in the Manthey Porsche. The Austrian continued to push and improved again as the timing screens began to change rapidly.
Thierry Vermeulen then put Emil Frey Racing at the front with a 1:33.145, giving the home driver provisional pole as the session entered its final minutes.
However, Cairoli had more pace in hand.
Cairoli breaks into the 1:32s
Cairoli delivered the decisive lap late in the session, becoming the first driver to break into the 1:32s. His 1:32.974 secured pole position for Race 1 and continued his dominant start to the Zandvoort weekend.
Vermeulen completed a Ferrari front-row lockout, finishing 0.269s behind his team-mate. Lucas Auer took third for Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf, 0.417s off pole, while Bastian Buus impressed in fourth for Land-Motorsport.
Dörr qualified fifth after another strong showing for Dörr Motorsport, ahead of Jules Gounon in sixth and Luca Engstler in seventh. Maro Engel took eighth, with Nicki Thiim ninth and Preining completing the top ten.
Bortolotti investigated after qualifying
Race Control also confirmed a post-session investigation involving Bortolotti.
The TGI Team by GRT driver came under investigation for alleged unnecessary slow driving in the final sector in front of Preining. The stewards confirmed they would review the incident after qualifying.
Bortolotti ended the session 17th, while fellow Lamborghini driver Maximilian Paul qualified 15th.
Tough session for BMW
BMW endured a difficult Qualifying 1 at Zandvoort. Van der Linde’s session unravelled after the red flag and lap deletion, leaving him at the bottom of the order.
Marco Wittmann was the highest-placed BMW driver in 12th for Schubert Motorsport, but the team could not challenge the front-runners after showing stronger potential during Friday practice.
At the front, however, Ferrari converted its practice pace into a perfect qualifying result. Cairoli will start Race 1 from pole, with Vermeulen alongside him, giving Emil Frey Racing control of the front row at Zandvoort.
2026 DTM Zandvoort Qualifying 1 results
Here’s the Qualifying 1 classification from the timing screen:
- Matteo Cairoli — 1:32.974
- Thierry Vermeulen — 1:33.145
- Lucas Auer — 1:33.391
- Bastian Buus — 1:33.402
- Ben Dörr — 1:33.409
- Jules Gounon — 1:33.438
- Luca Engstler — 1:33.541
- Maro Engel — 1:33.547
- Nicki Thiim — 1:33.590
- Thomas Preining — 1:33.782
- Ricardo Feller — 1:33.844
- Marco Wittmann — 1:34.048
- Marco Mapelli — 1:34.055
- Tom Kalender — 1:34.078
- Maximilian Paul — 1:34.206
- Arjun Maini — 1:34.260
- Mirko Bortolotti — 1:34.319
- Finn Wiebelhaus — 1:34.371
- Nicolas Baert — 1:34.537
- Timo Glock — 1:39.806
- Kelvin van der Linde — no time / fastest lap deleted after causing the red flag
