DTM

Green Wins as Rast Crowned 2019 DTM Champion at the Nürburgring

3 Mins read
Credit: DTM Media

Jamie Green converted pole position into the DTM Series race win at the Nürburgring however focus was on René Rast who claimed the 2019 DTM Drivers’ Championship with third.

In between the two on the podium was Robin Frijns whose pace after his pitstop was unmatched by the rest of the field to slice his way through.

Before the race had started, Paul di Resta was out of the race due to issues from qualifying meaning there was only seventeen runners.

As the race got underway a sluggish start from Green allowed Rast to jump into the lead heading into Turn 1, handing the German the start he could have only hoped for.

Starting from seventh, Timo Glock was hoping for a strong result in what has been a disappointing season however he found himself passed by team-mate Marco Wittmann.

Now in a pack battling each other, Glock was spun around by BMW team-mate Sheldon van der Linde and the latter was handed a drive through penalty for the incident.

The South African served his penalty within the required time before returning to the pits straight after for his mandatory stop.

Out front, Rast was unable to break clear of Green who was hanging onto his rear trying all he could but the Briton remained at a constant half a second behind.

Elsewhere, needing to do something different to keep the championship alive after a poor qualifying Nico Müller pitted at the end of lap ten.

A lap later Rast pitted too from the lead and a poor stop had him coming out ahead of Müller and he needed to not lose a place to keep the title advantage in his hands.

Green followed suit the next lap and his stop was significantly quicker than Rast’s to get the undercut on his team-mate and championship leader. Rast quickly caught Green and was piling the pressure on but it was not enough despite Green being on colder rubber.

Around the thirty minute mark more of the field started taking to the pits for a fresh set of tyres, far later than the majority of the Audis.

Mike Rockenfeller who had taken over as race leader pitted at the end of lap twenty-one returning to track behind Loïc Duval but subsequently dropped behind Müller and Frijns because of the cold rubber.

Things were not going well for Müller as he struggled to find a way past Duval, making the team aware of this but before any team interference could have taken place the Swiss driver was overtaken by the charging Frijns.

Frijns was making the most of his fresher rubber and made quick work of Duval.

Wittmann who had been in contention for the title but after qualifying this morning the chance he had was gone, was the only driver keeping up with the Audis but a brief loss of power meant he fell to the back of the pack, and was forced to retire a lap later.

Out front, Frijns was not letting off and was lapping a second faster than everyone else and closing in on Rast. The Dutchman passed his team-mate meaning Rast was no longer in the position to claim the title.

Müller was pushing to make sure it stayed so Rast did not clinch the title but caught the rear of Duval and could not find a way pass him.

Jonathan Aberdein had closed in on Müller as he was all over the back of Duval, and the South African found an opening and swept ahead of the Swiss-man.

This meant Rast would be able to claim the championship.

As focus switched back to the lead of the race, Frijns had caught Green and was significantly faster than the Briton. Frijns lined up a move into the chicane on the back straight but ran off track so had to give the position back heading into the final lap.

No other opportunity materialised for Frijns on the final lap meaning Green claimed his first win since the finale at Hockenheim back in 2017.

Frijns would be disappointed with second given the pace he had.

All eyes were on Rast who with third is the 2019 DTM Champion and is champion for the second time in his short DTM career.

Duval, Aberdein, Müller and Rockenfeller coming home in fourth to seventh meant Audi swept the first seven positions.

Philipp Eng, Glock and Spengler completed the top ten.

The DTM Series, returns to action in three weeks time for the final round of the season Hockenheim with SuperGT racing alongside.

2019 DTM Series: Nürburgring – Race Two

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An NCTJ accredited Journalism Graduate covering DTM and the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
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