Under clear blue skies at the Nurburgring, Robin Frijns took his second victory of the season ahead of Rene Rast and Mike Rockenfeller. After late-stage technical issues, Nico Mueller dropped to fifth.
Polesitter Mueller had a good getaway and managed to keep the lead ahead of Frijns and Rast. All drivers at the top kept their positions. The only driver who lost a bit of ground was Marco Wittmann – from 10th to 12th. In the meantime, Loic Duval was under investigation for a suspected jump start. Luckily for the Frenchman, his start was okay and could continue in fifth.
For a moment, it seemed that Rast could challenge Mueller and Frijns. However, the Audi Team Abt Sportsline duo in the front managed to create a little gap to Rast. Their lap times were around one second faster compared to the competitors. Frijns tried to keep the gap to his teammate to a minimum, trying to prevent Mueller to dominate the race once again.
BMW’s Lucas Auer started from 13th on the grid and was the first driver to pit on lap 5. Mueller and Rast pitted at the end of lap 11, with the latter losing time due to a slow stop. They rejoined the track in front of Mike Rockenfeller, who pitted one lap earlier. Though, because his tyres were up to temperature already, he tried to pass Rast, unfortunately without success. Frijns, who led the race for one lap, headed into the pits on lap 12. He rejoined the track in between Mueller and Rast in second place.
In the laps after the leaders’ pitstops, Frijns managed to close the gap to Mueller, whose pace suddenly dropped. On lap 17, Frijns dived down the inside of the Swiss in the final corner to take over the lead. From there on, the Dutchman who celebrated his first DTM victory last week in Assen, build a comfortable gap and controlled the race.
In the meantime, Mueller started to get pressure from behind. He fell into the clutches of Rast, who appeared significantly faster. On lap 26, the German made the move into the first corner to take second place. But, Rast made a mistake of going wide in the Schumacher chicane and almost lost his position again. On lap 30, Mueller lost another position to Rockenfeller, who also made the move into turn 1. The 2013 champion was therefore promoted to the final podium position.
In the end, Frijns crossed the line with a 4.2-second gap to reigning champion Rast. It’s Frijns’ second victory in the series. ‘Victory today feels very different from the one at Assen,’ the Dutchman commented. ‘You don’t really want to win because someone in front of you had a technical problem. Unfortunately, that was the case with Nico [Mueller] today. Nevertheless, it is a victory. I already had a fast car yesterday. Today, Nico and I were equally fast at the beginning. The gap remained the same. It was very easy for me after he got the problem and I overtook him. I was able to concentrate on saving my tyres and had everything under control.’
Rast finished second and was joined by Rockenfeller on the podium, his first of the season. It was also the first time that all three Audi factory teams were represented on the podium. ‘Finally, I can bring home a trophy for my kids again,’ Rockenfeller said. ‘I’m also really happy for the guys in my team who have been working extremely hard all year. After the pitstop, I even had the chance to attack Rene, but overtaking is not easy, and I put too much strain on my tyres. Without Nico’s problem, it would have been fourth today. Nevertheless, I’m happy about the trophy.’
Rockenfeller’s Team Phoenix teammate Duval finished fourth today. So, a good weekend for the team based near the Nurburgring. After his struggles in the last phase of the race, Mueller finished fifth. BMW’s best-place driver today was Sheldon van der Linde in sixth.
Image Credit: BMW Presse
‘Personally speaking, I am very pleased. I think that today was a perfect race from a tactical point of view and my pace. I am happy with the points that I scored for finishing sixth today, as the best BMW driver. Thanks to my team. Nonetheless, it hurts to see three Audis on the podium. We must make sure that we close the gap as I want to get back to the podium soon.’
Jamie Green crossed the line in seventh, after a hard battle with BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein. The pair collided on lap 27 at the final chicane. After the stewards reviewed it, Aberdein was ordered to give Green the position back. So, the South African had to settle for eighth. Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng complete the top ten.
Auer, who pitted on lap 5 already, was unable to take advantage of it and finished 11th. After his best qualifying result, starting 9th, Robert Kubica finished 12th ahead of WRT’s rookie Harrison Newey.
Another weekend finished – the first of a double-header at the Nurburgring. The series’ will be back at the same track located in the Eifel mountains next week. Though, then they will use the sprint version. Mueller now leads the championship with 205 points. Frijns is second with 176 and Rast third with 159. Rockenfeller moves up to fifth with 79 points, thanks to his podium finish today.
