On the Nurburgring Sprint circuit, Robin Frijns managed to keep a cool head in an incident-packed race with three safety car phases. The Dutchman claims his third victory of the season and reduces the points gap to championship leader Nico Mueller. Rene Rast and Marco Wittmann complete the podium.
Frijns made a perfect start, keeping the lead as polesitter Rast struggled to get off the line. Mueller got side-by-side, but after going wide lost one position to BMW’s Philipp Eng. After just two laps, the safety car was deployed. Contact between Loic Duval and Timo Glock meant there was debris on the track in the final corner. As a result of this, Frijns lost the small buffer ahead of the pack he had built.
After two laps behind the safety car, the field lined up in Indy-car style for the restart. Frijns managed to hold onto the lead ahead of Rast. However, Mueller got sandwiched between BMW drivers Wittmann and Aberdein. A bit of contact from his stablemate Jamie Green, then sent Mueller into spin, dropping him to the back of the pack. His team called him to the pits on lap eight, as he was struggling to make progress through the field. A logical strategy which proved beneficial later in the race.
Back at the front, Frijns extended his gap to Rast, Eng and Wittmann. On lap 16, the safety car had to be deployed for a second time as Loic Duval crashed into the barriers at Turn 5. The damage wasn’t terminal and the Frenchman managed to rejoin the circuit. With the safety car on circuit, all leading drivers headed to the pits for their mandatory stops. Frijns returned to the track still in the lead, ahead of Rast and Wittmann – the latter gaining a bit of ground overtaking Eng in the pits.
At the restart, Frijns kept his head cool and again maintained his lead. Wittmann managed to go around the outside of Rast at Turn 2, taking second place. Meanwhile, Mueller managed to fight his way up to fifth. His early stop was an advantage and being able to run in clear air was beneficial as well. Robert Kubica headed to the pits to absolve his drive-through penalty for an infringement at the restart, running 14th at the time.
Just two laps of racing followed before the safety car had to be deployed for the third time. WRT’s Fabio Scherer, Audi’s Duval and BMW’s Lucas Auer went three-wide through Turn 2. Scherer collided with Auer, then was launched into Duval. Both Audi’s suffered heavy damage and left debris on the track. During this four-lap safety car period, Green took the opportunity to change tyres for a second time.
Once again, Frijns made a strong restart. Behind, Rast made the move on Wittmann for second at Turn 1. At the same time, a hard battle was going on between Glock and Green for ninth. Green passed Glock, however, he had to give back the position after pushing the German off track. Though Green seemed to have more pace. Then, when trying to pass the BMW once more, the pair collided which reportedly broke Green’s suspension leading to his retirement.
Meanwhile, Rast tried to keep the pressure on Frijns, but the reigning champion wasn’t able to get close enough to make a move. So, Frijns took his second consecutive victory and reduced the points gap to his teammate Mueller in the championship. Rast finished second ahead of BMW’s Wittmann.
‘It was pretty nerve-racking in the car today,’ Frijns said after the race. ‘Every time I had built up a lead, the safety car came out. When Rene [Rast] was directly behind me for the final laps and was able to use push-to-pass and DRS all the time, I knew that I couldn’t afford the slightest mistake. My car was great and the key to victory today was my good start.’
Image Credit: BMW Presse
Wittmann stated that it was a very positive day and an exciting race with the three safety car periods. ‘We were able to benefit from two of those to move up a few places. But then the final safety car probably cost us second place. It looked like being in second place at the restart put us at a disadvantage. But third place is absolutely OK. Reaching the podium from our starting position is a success.’
Eng finished fourth ahead of Mueller, whose race was all about damage limitation after his early spin. ‘I was squeezed between two cars, was hit from behind and got turned around. That’s a bit frustrating because we definitely had more in the bag today.’
BMW’s Aberdein crossed the line in sixth, ahead of best of the WRT drivers Ferdinand Habsburg. The top ten was completed by Sheldon van der Linde, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Glock.
Tomorrow’s action will resume with qualifying at 10.30 local time (09.30 UK time).
