Tom Blomqvist and Kelvin van der Linde share Monza DTM Esport wins

The fourth round of the DTM Esports Classic Challenge took place at the digital version of Monza, with the field racing cars from the 2016 DTM season. BMW driver Tom Blomqvist and Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde claimed the victories in two action-packed races.

Race 1

Audi Sport driver René Rast claimed pole position for the first race ahead of Ben Tuck and Adam Pinczes, with the trio setting lap times within one-tenth of a second.

Rast tried defending from Tuck at the start, but was passed at the exit of Turn 1, with Rast also losing a place to Pinczes before the second chicane. Rast was handed a drive-through penalty for ignoring the slow down warnings. But Rast collided with BMW’s Ben Green before that, with both out of the race.

The leaders came together at the first chicane with just six minutes to go, with Tuck taking advantage from the slipstream to overtake Blomqvist for the lead of the race.

The scrap continued with Blomqvist recovering the lead a lap later, with Van der Linde climbing up to second place as Pinczes claimed third place from Tuck.

The leading trio started the final lap three-wide on the main straight, with Van der Linde taking the lead at the first chicane, only for Blomqvist to overtake the South African at the second chicane.

Van der Linde tried to fend off the attacks from Pinczes when entering the Parabolica, but couldn’t fend off the Hungarian. This meant that Blomqvist claimed the victory ahead of Pinczes and Van der Linde in third.

Glock was fourth ahead of fellow BMW driver Lucas Auer and Ben Tuck.

Race 2

Pinczes had pole position for Race 2, claiming the lead of the race at the start. But he would soon come under fire from Van der Linde, with the Audi driver taking the lead after one lap.

Audi driver Robin Frijns recovered ground to challenge the leaders, overtaking Van der Linde for the lead on the fourth lap. The group remained together, with BMW’s Lucas Auer, Glock and Blomqvist joining them on the last two laps of the race.

Van der Linde took the lead on the last lap as the scrap behind continued.

Van der Linde claimed his first victory in the DTM Esports Classic Challenge as the chequered flag fell, with Tuck and Auer completing the podium.

Pinczes finished fourth, followed by Blomqvist, Kubovský, BMW’s Ben Green and a recovering René Rast who climbed to eighth from the back of the grid.

The fifth and final round of the series will take place on May 31st at a venue yet to be announced.