DTM Zolder: It's getting tight for Nico Müller 🎥
DOUBLE WINNER RAST RATES UP The first DTM weekend in Zolder brought Nico Müller only a third and ninth place. With two wins, fellow Audi driver René Rast is closing in on him in the standings. Fabio Scherer scored his first points in a great fifth place. The highlights of Race 1 show how Rast raced to victory from the start [...]
The highlights of race 1 show how Rast drove to victory from the start and Müller fought his way onto the podium from midfield.
The reigning DTM champion had only qualified for pole position at the last second on Saturday morning in qualifying for the first race on damp asphalt. From there, René Rast drove to victory in the sunshine in the early afternoon almost undisturbed and with a lead of 18.8 seconds.
Third place as damage limitation
Nico Müller had to settle for 7th place in qualifying. In the race, he managed to advance to third place behind his Abt teammate Robin Frijns with a fighting performance. This meant that Audi's three title contenders - a BMW driver is no longer eligible - were on the podium together.
Nico Müller: "I wasn't happy with the balance of my car. That put us in a difficult position for the race. To still finish third on a track where it's very difficult to overtake is pretty good. But it's clear that we want to be ahead of René and Robin again tomorrow. We'll work hard overnight to achieve that."
Müller's teammate halves the field
It didn't help much - René Rast did the same on Sunday, with luck completely on his side thanks to a great start and the safety car phase at the right moment. The neutralization was triggered by Müller's Abt teammate Frijns, of all people, who crashed into the guardrails of the pit exit with cold tires after the mandatory pit stop and had to retire.
Rast was among those who had changed their tires before or, like him, during the yellow period. Müller had to make up for this under green and thus slipped back to ninth place. Despite attacks on the car in front, the man from Berne had to be content with that all the way to the finish.
Nico Müller: "René and Mike (Rockenfeller) got the pit board even before yellow flags were out. Unfortunately, this time not everyone in the field got the chance to complete their pit stop before the safety car was sent out onto the track. That cost me at least 13 points today and could decide the championship."
Because the worst result of the season so far brought the Swiss, who has been leading the championship since the beginning of the season, only two points and Frijns even missed out, Rast is now separated by only ten points from Müller (see standings here). With four rounds still to go, next weekend again in Zolder and on November 7/8 in Hockenheim, this is practically nothing.
Fabio Scherer seizes the opportunity
While Müller was one of the losers of the safety car phase, it brought good fortune to his compatriot. Fabio Scherer found himself in fifth place after all the completed pit stops.
The driver from Engelberg successfully defended this position against his WRT Audi teammates Newey and Habsburg and thus deservedly scored his first DTM points in fifth place.
