Nico Müller: "Nothing is lost yet" 🎥

The highlights of Saturday's race show how Nico Müller is pushed away and falls far behind while his title rival drives to victory.

The change in the championship lead was already apparent on Saturday. While René Rast picked up where he had successfully left off six days earlier, Nico Müller was only eighth on the grid in his Audi RS5.

Nico Müller: "On the first Zolder weekend, we didn't have the optimum package in the rather damp conditions. After that, we probably overreacted a bit with the set-up and got lost in it. It was only on Sunday that I felt comfortable for the first time. With three chicanes and otherwise only fast corners, Zolder is special."

Incident in round 1
When brand colleague Harrison Newey from the WRT team pushed him off in the second corner after the start of Race 1 and he therefore only found himself in 14th position, the championship leader had to hope for damage limitation. His race to catch up soon took him up to sixth place. However, Müller bared his teeth at Fabio Scherer.

As on the previous Sunday, when he finished fifth and scored his first points, the man from Engelberg put in a mature performance. Scherer once again finished a strong fifth place under his own steam and without any lucky coincidence due to a safety car phase, leaving his always stronger compatriot behind him right to the finish.

No gifts
Scherer's successful defense is fine for Müller, but he was much more annoyed by Newey's maneuver and its consequences in the starting round.

Nico Müller: "After that, I realized that it would be difficult on a track where overtaking is generally not easy. And you can't expect gifts to be given, even though I would have been happy with two more points (for P5 instead of P6, ed.)."

On Sunday, Scherer qualified better than ever before in fourth place, with Müller diagonally behind him in fifth place on the grid. This time, the Audi works driver didn't hesitate and immediately moved up to third position behind the leading brand colleagues Ferdinand Habsburg and René Rast.

Unlucky accident for Fabio Scherer
Unfortunately, Scherer was unable to capitalize on his ideal starting position due to an accident caused by BMW driver Jonathan Aberdein. Müller's Abt teammate Robin Frijns, who was also fighting for the championship, also fell by the wayside.

The highlights of Race 2 show Scherer's accident, the reason for a second yellow period and Müller's fight against the blocking Green.

While Habsburg fell far behind Rast after the mandatory pit stop and then dropped back with deteriorating tires, Müller had to contend with his brand colleague Jamie Green after his tire change.

This briefly infuriated the otherwise calm Swiss driver, but he ultimately brought second place home safely. In third place, Robert Kubica finished as the best BMW driver on the podium for the first time in the DTM, with only ten of the 16 drivers finishing.

From the hunted to the hunter
Within nine days, Müller's 47-point lead over Rast, who has won four times at the same venue, had been reduced to a 19-point deficit (the table can be found at here).

The decision will now be made on November 7/8 at the Motodrom Hockenheim, where the Swiss won the final race a year ago.

Nico Müller: "Nothing is lost yet. I can still become champion under my own steam. Of course, it's always better when you're leading a championship, but the starting position is now clear: we have to go on the attack in Hockenheim, where my performance has always been good in recent years, and compete for the wins. I have nothing more to lose."

Top trio not at the 24H Spa
In order to concentrate on the DTM finale and to avoid the risk of coronavirus infection, the three title contenders Rast, Müller and Frijns have agreed with Audi Sport that they will not take part in the 24 Hours of Spa this week. A preview will follow in the middle of the week.

dtm.com