Mirko Bortolotti is half-time champion in the DTM – How the Lamborghini driver drove his way to the top without winning and how he intends to clinch the title this year
Mirko Bortolotti is still waiting for his first win of the season in the DTM. But the SSR Lamborghini driver still leads the overall standings after eight of 16 races. “To be at the top of the championship after a far from perfect first half of the season is definitely a demonstration of strength,” grins the half-time champion.
However, Bortolotti also knows that things could have gone much better. “We started the year with pole in Oschersleben and then didn’t score any points in the race, which is fatal in a series like the DTM.”
In the first races of the year, SSR-Performance struggled with pit stop problems, which cost Bortolotti a possible victory or at least the podium in the season opener at Oschersleben. “We can’t afford to throw away opportunities,” says last year’s runner-up
Bortolotti as best qualifying driver
The fact that Bortolotti is six points ahead of Kelvin van der Linde (Abt-Audi) at the top of the overall standings at the halfway point of this year’s DTM season is mainly thanks to his good qualifying performance.
Although the former Formula 1 test driver has only achieved one pole position this season, he has already started six times from the top three in the eight races so far and collected eleven points for this alone – more than anyone else!
In comparison: Jack Aitken (Emil-Frey-Ferrari) scored three poles, but only ten points, because the Briton only managed another good qualifying result in the second Oschersleben race with third place on the grid
Qualifying performance as a key factor?
Could this Bortolotti advantage perhaps even decide the championship at the end of the season? “I honestly don’t know, so far I do, but there are still eight races to go and we don’t know what will happen.”
No wonder that Bortolotti, as overall leader, is not annoyed about still chasing his first win of the season. “Not really,” smiles the SSR Lamborghini driver about the fact that the season is successful despite the lack of a race win
In the eight races so far, Bortolotti has finished on the podium three times, but has scored points every time. “It’s clear that you always drive with the aim of winning, but I prefer to look at the classification and always score a lot of points. They make the difference in the end and get you to the finish line. “
With continuity to the DTM title?
This year, the 34-year-old Italian has not been as successful as in the DTM everywhere. In the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Lamborghini is not yet competing for the top positions in the SC63’s debut season, but that does not mean that Bortolotti is losing his enthusiasm for it.
“It depends on how you look at it,” says the Lamborghini works driver. “As I said, we were satisfied at Le Mans, as well as with the podium finishes at the 12 Hours of Sebring and at Paul Ricard in the GT World Challenge (GTWC), where we took pole position, among other things.”
“In endurance racing, we have to try to find a continuity that guarantees that we are always in the top 5,” is Bortolotti’s objective, which should lead him to the coveted championship title this year: “A continuity that we have in the DTM at the moment. “
