Liam Lawson needs fourth or higher in tonight’s final DTM race to become the series’ youngest-ever champion.
The 19-year-old padded his points lead to 18 over Kelvin van der Linde in the first Norisring race of the weekend.
Only van der Linde and Maximilian Gotz can beat Lawson to the title. Gotz is one point behind van der Linde and 19 adrift of Lawson.
There is a maximum of 28 points up for grabs in the final race. Three of those are awarded in qualifying for pole position.
Should van der Linde get pole and win the race, he will be on 234 points.
Finishing P4 or higher, without any qualifying bonus points, will put Lawson on 236. So, not matter what happens, if Lawson finishes fourth or above he will be crowned champion.
The equation becomes easier for Lawson if van der Linde does not score any points in qualifying.
If van der Linde wins the race, he’ll be awarded 25 points. Lawson will only need to finish sixth or higher.
Lawson has proven to be very quick around the Norisring. He claimed his fourth pole of the year yesterday.
If the Kiwi can mirror his pace from yesterday into today, and claim pole again, he can put some more beef into his points advantage.
Lawson on pole and van der Linde qualifying fourth or lower means Lawson only needs to finish seventh in the race to win the the title.
In the event of a tie, the championship will be awarded to the driver with the most wins.
Lawson currently has three race wins and van der Linde has four.
Spark Sport has coverage of tonight’s finale, which is scheduled to start at 12.15 am.