Audi Secure the DTM Manufacturers’ Championship With Six Races Still To Run

The twelfth race of the season was dominated by the three title contenders: Nico Müller, Robin Frijns and René Rast all of whom drive Audi RS 5 DTMs. Frijns managed a perfect lap in qualifying. “Achieving the fastest time in all three sectors is something that only rarely happens in the DTM,” said the Dutchman after his fifth pole position – the 19th consecutive one for Audi. “The lap also felt really good in the car.” 

From the start light, both Frijns and Ferdinand Habsburg had a great beginning to their race with a fight developing between Rast and ex-F1 driver Robert Kubica with bodywork being rubbed and wing mirrors bent in but Rast won this fight. Müller was on the rear of Frijns and slipped by easily to take the race lead which he held comfortably for the remainder of the race. Mandatory pit stops were timed perfectly by the ABT Sportsline team for both Müller and Frijns, meaning that both kept their positions on-track and even had enough time to warm up their fresh tyres before seeing any competitors in their rearview mirrors.

Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Glock were jostling for position further down the field and eventually Glock made an error leading to Rockenfeller moving up the leaderboard.

The driver of the day was, of course, Müller, who after his bad luck in yesterdays race, was ecstatic to take the win today. “This victory was very important today,” said Müller after his fifth win of the season. “I had a lot of bad luck on the last two race days. To come back in this way feels good. I’m especially happy for the whole team, who worked until the early hours of the morning to prepare a perfect car for me again. Robin’s team also helped, because the damage after yesterday’s race was quite substantial. To win with this car today, in such a dominant way is great. Thanks to the ABT team and also to Audi for this great car.” 

“Today, we’ve again seen a very strong Audi performance,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “Nico had some bad luck in the last two races. That he has been able to come back like this is fantastic, and I’m happy for him. It’s also great that we secured two of the three championship titles so early on. We started to give our all again in the final year with the Audi RS 5 DTM. The results speak for themselves. That is pure ‘Vorsprung durch Technik.’ I would like to thank the entire team and the employees in Ingolstadt, Neuburg and Neckarsulm for again putting so much effort into this last season with the Class 1 cars. After three tough race weekends in a row, everyone deserves a little break now before the final spurt.”

“Unfortunately, we did not quite manage to secure another podium today.” said Rudolf Dittrich General Manager BMW Motorsport Vehicle Development. “We have to recognise that Nico Müller, Robin Frijns and René Rast represent the benchmark this year. Nonetheless, Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann gave good performances in fourth and fifth positions. Congratulations to Nico Müller on the race win and to Audi on winning the manufacturers’ title. We will now concentrate on producing a few highlights over the course of the upcoming race weekends.”

Before the last six races at Zolder and Hockenheim, Müller leads the drivers’ championship with 242 points ahead of Frijns (224) and Rast (195). The next round of DTM races will be held at Zolder over the weekend of October 09-11)

DTM Nürburgring sprint circuit Race 2 Results