Nico Müller: "Spa is already a highlight" 🎥
DTM PREVIEW At 100 days, the most compact DTM season ever begins on the first weekend in August at Spa. Nico Müller and Fabio Scherer have fond memories of the GP circuit in Belgium. Audi drivers Nico Müller, René Rast, Loïc Duval and Jamie Green look ahead to the season opener at Spa. The driving shots are from recent tests that Benoît Tréluyer drove for [...]
Audi drivers Nico Müller, René Rast, Loïc Duval and Jamie Green look ahead to the season opener at Spa. The driving shots are from recent tests that Benoît Tréluyer completed for Audi.
The first two races on the legendary Ardennes circuit mark the start of a compact racing calendar with a total of nine events in three months. Free practice will also take place on Saturday, Switzerland's national holiday, making it a two-day event only - but like the other events, without spectators on site.
Ghost race like in Formula 1
Further venues are then the Lausitzring, the TT circuit in Assen (NL), the Nürburgring and Zolder (B), each with two consecutive race weekends, and finally the finale in Hockenheim, which is not held until the second weekend in November. Then perhaps, as many Swiss fans of Nico Müller and Fabio Scherer in particular hope, with some spectators in the grandstands.
Audi against BMW
Following the withdrawal of R-Motorsport with the Aston Martin brand, only Audi and BMW are still participating with factory-supported teams. Both manufacturers are fielding six factory drivers each.
In addition, there are the two private teams ART Grand Prix and WRT, which are successful in many racing series. The French are fielding a BMW M4 DTM for former GP driver Robert Kubica from Poland. The Belgians are looking after two more DTM rookies, Lucerne's Fabio Scherer and Briton Harrison Newey, as well as Ferdinand Habsburg (2019 on Aston Martin) from Salzburg.
Premiere of youngster Fabio Scherer
For Scherer, who comes from FIA Formula 3, even a points win on his first DTM weekend would be a sense of achievement. At 21, the Swiss driver, who was born on June 13, 1999 and lives in Engelberg, is the youngest of all 20 DTM drivers in 2020. South African Sheldon van der Linde from BMW is only exactly one month older.
Scherer is very familiar with the hill-and-dale circuit: In the Formula 3 European Championship two years ago he finished second there after a long period of leading the race and clinched his only podium.
Müller's last chance?
After the most successful season of his racing career so far, there is only one way for runner-up Nico Müller to improve. To do so, he would have to topple his sometimes almost uncannily powerful Audi teammate René Rast from the throne.
As the future of the DTM is highly uncertain following Audi's announced withdrawal at the end of the year, this could be his last chance to win this title for the time being. In addition, the 28-year-old from Berne is also aware that the competition does not only come from his own camp.
Nico Müller: "Like others, I think BMW will be much stronger. Last year, they were on a par with us in the first three or four events before they dropped off a bit. They'll certainly have their problems under control now. And if they pull off their level, it will be fierce for us."
Return after 15 years
The true balance of power will now be seen on the traditional Belgian GP circuit. The DTM has only been to Spa-Francorchamps once before: In 2005, Mattias Ekström and Tom Kristensen clinched the two race wins in their Audi A4 DTM cars.
Back then, a DTM car had around 460 hp. Today, thanks in part to push-to-pass - which, like DRS, will be permitted as early as qualifying from 2020 onwards - the technicians get more than 610 hp out of the four-cylinder turbocharged engines. This corresponds to an increase in output of around 30 percent with significantly lower fuel consumption at the same time.
Müller's first victory in motor racing
Spa also has a special significance for Nico Müller. He took his first victory in motor racing there on June 21, 2008, at the sixth round of the Swiss LO Formula Renault. He has also been on the podium at the 24 Hours of Spa, just never at the top.
Nico Müller: "Spa is definitely already a season highlight for me. I know the track very well and have fond memories of it. It's a very fluid and spectacular track where we can overtake well thanks to DRS. The spectators at home watching on TV will certainly have just as much fun as we do driving."
