The sporting gods threw everything they had at Nick Cassidy in the 12th DTM race of 2022, but the Kiwi delivered a flawless run at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to secure his maiden win in the championship.
In only the fifth DTM weekend of his career, Cassidy delivered a textbook performance to school the overall leaders and conquer one of the most formidable tracks in world motorsport.
The legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit is a twisty, high-speed thrill ride and the longest circuit on the DTM calendar. The AlphaTauri AF Corse driver got off to a promising start in Race 1 when he finished in the points, with a 10th place finish.
Qualifying for Race 2 saw lightning-fast changes in the provisional pole position, as the initially wet track dried rapidly. Cassidy captured his best DTM qualifying finish so far, claiming third place and a championship point behind championship contenders, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde.
When Van der Linde took the early lead of Race 2, Cassidy gave relentless chase to second-place Rast, shadowing him and pulling abreast until finally, shoulder to shoulder, the German made hard contact with the New Zealander, earning a penalty. Cassidy wouldn’t be denied however and the two remained side-by-side throughout the infamous Eau Rouge and Raidillon sector until Cassidy finally pulled in front.
Then, Cassidy had to face Sheldon van der Linde. When the South African pitted, Cassidy jumped to the provisional lead, but then he too had to take a mandatory pit-stop, opening up the opportunity for his rival. In a nail-biting moment, Red Bull-AlphaTauri AF Corse completed the stop in a blistering 7.74s and Cassidy squeaked out of the pit lane just ahead of Van der Linde.
However, the drama wasn’t over yet. With Rast having retired due to a puncture, Van der Linde may have elected to play it safe and let Cassidy cruise to the win, but a yellow flag late in the race allowed the field to close up to the AlphaTauri Ferrari. When the restart came with just one lap to go, Cassidy controlled his nerves and his desperate opponents brilliantly to charge to the victory.
“I’m super excited,” said Cassidy “Coming here, I thought we had great potential and I’m really happy that I could finally show that. It was an incredible race. Starting at the front and being strong, I had so much motivation and I wanted to make use of the opportunity. Overall, I’m really happy.”
Next up for Cassidy is the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse home race, on the penultimate weekend of the DTM championship at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on September 23–25.
