Nicki Thiim talks about his SSR Lamborghini teammate Mirko Bortolotti: What sets the new DTM champion apart and what strength was his biggest asset
Mirko Bortolotti is the 2024 DTM champion. His teammate Nicki Thiim knows what makes the Vienna-based Italian stand out: “He’s a top professional, like all other works drivers,” says the Dane, who is actually an Aston Martin works driver but was allowed to get into the second SSR Lamborghini for the 2024 DTM season.
“There is always a reason why we are sitting here doing what we are doing”, “uncanny basic speed. And it’s the same for me with the Aston [Martin]: He jumps into this box and everything is instinctive.”
“Especially in qualifying, when you have one or two laps at most, that instinct just kicks in,“ says the Dane, describing a particular strength of the new DTM champion. In fact, Bortolotti scored 20 points in qualifying this year alone, more than any other driver on the grid.
”You know it yourself, you just have a feel for the car. You dare to push those five or ten meters longer in the braking zone. You know what’s coming. It’s a nice feeling when it is. You can only take your hat off to the fact that he has nailed it every time this year.“
”If everyone could do it, we wouldn’t be here”
Is Bortolotti’s strength simply talent or hard work? “I don’t know him well enough for that. I would have to have watched him for a few years,” says Thiim, who recalls that both talent and commitment are required. “If everyone could do it, we wouldn’t be here. That’s why you have to show respect for what he’s done this year.”
But experience plays a major role. “He developed the car,” the winner of this year’s Norisring race points out, reminding us that his teammate is now in his ninth season as a Lamborghini works driver and knows the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 inside out! The former Formula 1 test driver was already part of the Italian squad in 2014.
It was only in the 2020 season that Bortolotti briefly started as an Audi factory driver before switching back to the Italians the following year – a special relationship that reached a preliminary high point this year with the DTM title win.
Bortolotti is an “incredibly intelligent driver”
“With me and the Aston, it’s the same with Mirko and the Lambo,” says Thiim. ‘You get there, but that last bit of feeling, squeezing everything out, makes all the difference.’ Bortolotti is an ”incredibly intelligent driver and, with his experience in the DTM, he also knows what it takes to win the title. He showed that last year.”
“And this year, it’s a pleasure for me as a different driver to watch him and the team,” says the Dane, who joined the SSR-Lamborghini team during the winter break. ”That’s why I’m really happy. They definitely deserve it. You could say that I have to say that, but I really mean it.”
The 35-year-old has a wealth of experience in international motorsport, but “I have rarely seen a team that delivers cars to the track that are in such top condition every time,” says Thiim, full of praise. “I know that this is an important point for Stefan [Schlund, team principal]. But you have to do it first, especially in the DTM.”