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(Motorsport-Total.com) – Not the Nordschleife, but at least: For the first time since the 2001 season, the DTM will once again compete on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit this weekend.
© Audi
Nico Müller, DTM leader, finishes a series of five races without winning Focus
In the years 2002 to 2019, the Eifel was only used in the short connection. By the way, not a single driver from the current starting field was there in 2001.
Saturday’s race was won by championship leader Nico Müller (Abt-Audi) during the DTM comeback at the Grand Prix circuit. With his fourth win of the season, the Swiss increased his lead at the top of the table, especially as his two closest pursuers, teammate Abt Robin Frijns and defending champion Rene Rast (Rosberg-Audi), got in the way. in the way of the other.
DTM Nürburgring 1 2020: exciting duel for second place!
With a sovereign victory for Nico Müller, the Abt rider has a lot to offer between his teammate Robin Frijns and the Rosberg rider Rene Rast! More DTM Videos
2,500 spectators were allowed. After Assen, the Nürburgring is the second DTM weekend in 2020 that will no longer be held entirely as a ‘ghost race’.
Sovereign Müller – hot duels Frijns vs. Break
Nico Müller started from pole, won the start and returned from the first lap ahead of Rene Rast and Robin Frijns as the first. As Müller gained a three-second lead, the order in the top 3 did not change until the pit stop mid-race.
Front runner Müller pitted first on the twelfth lap. Rast took the lead for a short time, but Frijns was right behind him. And on lap 13 there was a direct duel between the two Audi drivers. Thanks to the DRS overtaking aid, Frijns overtook Rast on the start / finish straight and thus took the lead. At the Mercedes-Arena he pushed Rast outside next to the track.
With the stewards, however, the “incident” was brief. Because immediately after the information being investigated, the information came directly that there will be no penalty. Rast pitted for a routine stop on that 13th lap. Frijns followed a lap later.
When the pit stops were completed in the leading group, Müller was not just back in front. He was five seconds ahead. More than that: his first pursuer was neither Rast nor Frijns. Instead, Mike Rockenfeller came in second, while Rast and Frijns were only third and fourth.
But the duel between the two Audi drivers was far from over. When Frijns attacked Rast again at the entrance to the Mercedes-Arena, the Dutchman jumped the sidewalk four laps before the end. The blue Abt-Audi was leveraged, turned, and Frijns backed away.
At the top, Müller didn’t let anything go wrong. He achieved his fourth win of the season safely home with a 15.655-second lead. “It was a really great race, but you can never be sure,” said Müller’s first reaction on the radio: “My team laid the groundwork again. They put me in a great car and we were able to implement it. Even if we did we were under pressure. In the first season, we stayed calm. It feels great and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. “
According to Frijns-Dreher: Wittmann for BMW on the podium
Rast finished second. Frijns had to be content with fifth place after his spin. Third place went to Marco Wittmann (RMG-BMW) as the best BMW driver, ahead of Mike Rockenfeller (Phoenix-Audi; 4th).
“We didn’t have the pace of the first three Audi drivers, but we drove very well in fourth place. In the end, after Robin spun, we were a little happy to get on the podium. It was definitely a satisfaction to get back to. get on the podium and score good points, “said Wittmann, who admits:” Unfortunately, that’s the most we can achieve under normal conditions. “
The second half of the top 10 in the race result: Philipp Eng (RBM-BMW; 6th), Timo Glock (RMG-BMW; 7th), Sheldon van der Linde (RBM-BMW; 8th), Loic Duval (Phoenix-Audi; 9.) and Jonathan Aberdein (RMR-BMW; 10.).
The three rookies at the end of the field
But his RMR teammate ranked twelfth behind fellow Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg (WRT-Audi; 11th) after a 4-second penalty (exceeding the track limits).
At the end of the 16-man field, all three rookies: Harrison Newey (WRT-Audi) finished in P14, followed by teammate Fabio Scherer in P15 and Robert Kubica (ART-BMW) in P16. Kubica was second to last in the standings and kept Scherer behind. In the race, however, a slow pit stop by his crew did not help the Pole.
In the overall DTM 2020 standings, Nico Müller now has 43 points ahead of Robin Frijns at halftime for the season. Rene Rast remains third in the table, nine points behind Frijns.
