Nico Mueller wins at the Nurburgring with dominant lights-to-flag run for championship leader. The Swiss driver scores his fourth win of the season and extends his lead in the championship. Rene Rast and Marco Wittmann complete the podium.
After qualifying, a few penalties were handed out, changing the starting grid. Ferdinand Habsburg received a five-place grid drop due to blocking Loic Duval in qualifying. Habsburg started from 11th on the grid. Meanwhile, further down the order, Jonathan Aberdein had to start from the pitlane as his mechanics broke the parc ferme rules to fix his car.
A clean start of the race today with no surprises in sunny conditions. Polesitter Mueller kept the lead, followed by Rast and Robin Frijns. In the first few laps of the race, it seemed like the two championship rivals werebsetting up for a battle for the lead. However, Rast’s pace soon began to fade which opened up a little gap of around three seconds for Mueller.
A little further back, BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde in eighth place who attacked Jamie Green into Turn 1. Though, Duval profited from the slipstream and overtook both of them for seventh place. Timo Glock also took advantage of the situation, moving up to eighth.
Jonathan Aberdein was the first driver to visit the pits at the end of lap five having managed to make up four places after the start. Meanwhile, Duval and Glock were still battling hard on the track. The duo came into the pits at the same time on lap 10, with Duval crossing the white line of the pit entry. Both Duval and Glock were released at the same time, although Glock’s crew was a bit faster and therefore gained a position. Duval was under investigation for his pit entry infringement, which resulted in a five-second pit stop penalty.
On lap 12 of the race, the five drivers in front still had to pit. Mueller and Van der Linde received fresh rubber at the end of that lap. This gave Rast and Frijns the opportunity to battle, with the Dutchman overtaking the reigning champion. One lap later, Rast came into the pits and rejoined behind Rockenfeller, who had already made his stop. Frijns and Lucas Auer were the last ones to visit the pits on lap 14. Frijns rejoined the track in third place, ahead of Rast, but thanks to his cold tyres, Rast passed him right away. Up at the front, Mueller was comfortably leading ahead of Rockenfeller.
It was starting to look like Rockenfeller’s early pitstop strategy was going to work out. But soon, he was losing ground to Rast and Frijns. The pair overtook the 2013 champion on lap 22 – first Rast using his DRS going into Turn 1, then Frijns a few corners later. The German Audi team Phoenix driver dropped to fourth. Another lap later, Wittmann also made the move at the end of the pit straight which dropped him to fifth. But, the pair stayed close together.
On lap 26, Frijns closed the gap to Rast and attempted to pass him for second place at the Dunlop hairpin but did not succeed. Then, the following lap the Dutchman went deep down the inside at Turn 1, trying to overtake Rast. However, as he braked late and went over the kerb, he spun. Frijns was able to recover but dropped to fifth.
This meant that Rast was safe in second place. Meanwhile, Mueller had been able to build a big gap and eventually crossed the finish line 15.6 seconds ahead of reigning champion and title rival Rast. It was the Swiss’ fourth victory of the year.
‘Today, everything simply worked for us,’ said Mueller after the race. ‘My Audi felt mega. The team once again delivered a quick pitstop. The strategy was perfect and I was able to manage my tyres well in the very long second stint. Today, we can just be happy. Thanks to Audi and the Abt team.’
Image Credit: DTM Media
Marco Wittmann finished third behind Mueller and Rast, having started from fourth. ‘It has been a good weekend for us so far,’ Wittmann commented after his podium finish. ‘We were able to reach fourth place in the race and we also had a bit of luck that helped us reach the podium. Nonetheless, it is definitely satisfying to be able to stand on the podium again and to have scored some good championship points. Of course, we will be giving our all again on Sunday.’
Even though his strategy might not have worked completely, Rockenfeller still managed to hold his position and finished fourth ahead of Frijns and BMW’s Philipp Eng. Timo Glock and Duval spiced up the final laps of the race, as they fought for seventh position. Glock won and finished ahead of Assen race 2 winner Van der Linde and Duval after his 10-second penalty was applied. Jonathan Aberdein took the final point finishing tenth after Lucas Auer received a time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Action at the Nurburgring resumes tomorrow at 10.45 local time (09.45 UK time) with the second qualifying of the weekend.
