Nicki Thiim did not want to let go of the big trophy. After his first DTM victory, the impressive trophy had to go everywhere with him, from the podium to the press conference and the team meeting after Sunday’s race at the Norisring. Many hours after crossing the finish line, Motorsport-Magazin.comas the Dane, clutching the winner’s trophy tightly, dragged it into the SSR Performance garage for the team photo.
It was a historic victory that Thiim achieved on the Nuremberg street circuit: The 35-year-old is the first driver in the 40-year history books of the DTM to emulate his father: Papa Kurt won the DTM championship in 1986 and collected a total of 20 victories. After a difficult start to the season, son Nicki has now at least made a start with the top team SSR-Lamborghini.
Nicki Thiim emotional: dreamed of first DTM victory for 20 years
The ‘Dane Train’, as his fans call Thiim, became emotional after the start-to-finish victory, visibly fighting back tears in front of the TV cameras. Although he already has two class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, two world championship titles in the WEC, an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and, since last weekend, also in Spa-Francorchamps under his belt, the DTM is a matter close to Thiim’s heart.
“A win in the DTM has been my dream for 20 years,” said Thiim, who is one of the most exciting characters in the DTM starting field, and continued in his typical manner: “Hard work pays off and bad times pass. Never piss on a Viking’s leg!”
Thiim: More points in one day than in seven races combined
Curiously, with the 28 points for the win and pole position, Thiim managed to score more points in just a few hours on Sunday than in the previous seven races! With 55 points, he is 13th in the drivers’ table at the halfway point of the season. “That was the hardest time of my career, nothing worked out,” admitted Thiim. “But I always believed in myself and the team never let me down. I’m so proud of the DTM win. It shows that I’m not too old for this stuff!”
No starting worries at SSR-Lamborghini
In the dry Sunday race, Thiim was confident throughout after his first DTM pole. Concerns that things would get tight between him and teammate Mirko Bortolotti in the first corner from second place on the grid were not to be justified. On Saturday, things were already tricky enough when Thiim overtook his teammate, who was battling for the title, for fourth place shortly before the end of the race…
Schuhbauer on the sprint to the Grundigkehre on Sunday: “We have two very professional drivers who respect each other a lot and who know exactly what to do. You don’t have to manage much. There were no problems at all.”
Mirko Bortolotti takes the lead in the DTM table
The mandatory pit stop in the middle of the race also went smoothly for Thiim, only Bortolotti lost second place to Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) during this phase. According to Schuhbauer, this was no big surprise: “We knew that the Mercedes was strong. Maro also did a good job and his crew is extremely strong at pit stops.” Consolation for Bortolotti: With third place, he took the lead in the championship for the first time this season.
Engel, in his 100th DTM race, posed no real threat to the man in front of him, Thiim, and even after the late safety car phase he was unable to make a decisive attack on the bright yellow Lamborghini. “Nicki’s pace was the best from the start,” said Engel. “I applied as much pressure as possible, but this Viking always had an answer! I had no chance of winning, but second place is a strong result. After our problems recently in Zandvoort, this was a great comeback.”