2020 Nürburgring Race 1

2020 Nürburgring Race 1
The Nürburgring Sprint circuit for 2020.
Race Information
Date	19 September 2020
No.	262
Event	DTM Nürburgring 2020
Location	Nürburgring Sprint Circuit Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Format	55 min + 1 lap
Lap length	3.629 km (2.255 mi)
Distance	39 laps / 141.531 km (87.943 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	René Rast
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:19.472
Fastest Lap
Driver	Nico Müller
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:21.785 on lap 13
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Robin Frijns	René Rast	Marco Wittmann
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	59:51.551
Race Guide
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2020 Nürburg Race 2		2020 Nürburgring Race 2

The 2020 Nürburgring Race 1, formally known as the 2020 DTM Nürburgring Race 1, was the eleventh round of the 2020 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Nürburgring Sprint Circuit in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on 19 September 2020. The race, which was the third to be staged in the shadow of the Eifel Mountain in a week, would see Robin Frijns secure victory as Championship leader Nico Müller was spun down the field early on.

Qualifying had seen René Rast secure pole position as he bid to reignite his title charge, the German ace beating Frijns by a tenth of a second. Müller completed the top three ahead of Philipp Eng, who led a seemingly more competitive BMW charge as the Bavarian marque got three cars into the top six.

The start of the race saw Frijns storm off the grid fastest to secure the lead, darting past Rast to secure the lead unopposed. Rast would instead find himself having to block moves from Müller and a fast starting Marco Wittmann into turn one, with the rest of the field making it through the first corner without issue.

Contact between Loïc Duval and Timo Glock would draw out the Safety Car in the early stages, with their trading of blows at the final corner at the end of the opening tour littering the circuit with debris. After a two lap intervention the race would resume with Frijns powering clear of Rast again to establish his lead, as behind Müller was swarmed by the BMWs.

Indeed, Müller would have both Eng and Wittmann draw alongside him into turn one, with the Swiss racer opting to brake earlier and relinquish third to the two BMW pilots. However, that decision would lead to Jamie Green inadvertently smacking into the back of the sister car, resulting in Müller spinning to the back of the field.

With that Müller was on a mission to climb back up the order as, out front, Frijns established a comfortable margin over Rast, Eng and Wittmann. However, shortly before the pitstop phase the SC would be deployed for a second time as Duval found the barriers at turn five and damaged the front of his car.

The race resumed with the leading drivers having all stopped, with the only change to the order being Wittmann scrambling out ahead of Eng. However, the race would barely resume, with Wittmann lunging past Rast for second at the restart, before the SC was back out, for Fabio Scherer collided with Lucas Auer before barrelling into Duval at the back of the field.

A long intervention followed to remove the two ruined Audis, setting up a late race sprint to the chequered flag. Frijns would, however, once again charge into a clear lead when the race restarted, while Rast repaid the favour from Wittmann at the second restart to reclaim second.

Frijns would go on to win the race by half a second as Rast was unable to seriously challenge the #4 car in the final laps. Wittmann completed the podium ahead of Eng, while Müller recovered to an impressive fifth after his dramas with Green at the first restart. Jonathan Aberdein was next up ahead of Ferdinand von Habsburg, Sheldon van der Linde and Mike Rockenfeller, while Timo Glock denied Harrison Newey the final point in tenth.

Background

The 2020 DTM field would not leave the sights and sounds of the paddock at the Nürburgring for the sixth round of the season, although there would be a change to the circuit. For the second round of races in the Eifel Mountains the DTM field would use the Sprint Circuit variant of the GP-Strecke, which the Series had used since 2002. In terms of the entry list, meanwhile, there would be no changes to the field, as BMW announced that they would not be taking their cars out to Japan to compete in Super GT.

Strecke Surge

The Championship battle remained in Nico Müller's favour in-spite of his late-race pace collapse, the Swiss ace having been the first driver in 2020 to move past the 200 point mark. That left Müller 29 points clear of second placed Robin Frijns, while René Rast had moved 46 points behind in third. Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller then completed the top five, while Sheldon van der Linde had moved up to lead the BMW faction in sixth.

Audi Team Abt continued to lead the way in the Teams' Championship, the German outfit having moved onto 381 points for the campaign. That left them 169 clear of Audi Team Rosberg in second, while Audi Team Phoenix were a distant third on 164. In the Manufacturers' Championship Audi still reigned supreme, the Ingolstadt marque having moved onto 690 points for the season to BMW's 290.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2020 Nürburgring Race 1 is displayed below:

2020 Nürburgring Race 1 Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Livery
4	Robin Frijns	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART Orlen	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
10	Harrison Newey	Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
28	Loïc Duval	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	BMW	M4 Turbo DTM	BMW P48 Turbo 2.0l I4t
33	René Rast	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
51	Nico Müller	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
53	Jamie Green	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 2.0l I4t
Source:

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2020 Nürburgring Race 1 are outlined below:

2020 Nürburgring Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	1:19.472	—	164.389 km/h	1
2nd	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	1:19.607	+0.135s	164.111 km/h	2
3rd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	1:19.686	+0.214s	163.948 km/h	3
4th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	1:19.705	+0.233s	163.909 km/h	4
5th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	1:19.782	+0.310s	163.751 km/h	5
6th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:19.867	+0.395s	163.576 km/h	6
7th	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	1:19.870	+0.398s	163.570 km/h	7
8th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:19.920	+0.448s	163.468 km/h	8
9th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	1:19.952	+0.480s	163.403 km/h	9
10th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	1:19.978	+0.506s	163.349 km/h	10
11th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	1:19.994	+0.522s	163.317 km/h	11
12th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:20.029	+0.557s	163.245 km/h	12
13th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	1:20.061	+0.589s	163.180 km/h	13
14th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	1:20.106	+0.634s	163.088 km/h	14
15th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	1:20.282	+0.820s	162.711 km/h	15
NC	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	—			16
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2020 Nürburgring Race 1 in shown below:

		22	Lucas Auer	1:20.292			28	Loïc Duval	1:20.061			31	Sheldon van der Linde	1:19.994			13	Fabio Scherer	1:19.952			62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	1:19.870			27	Jonathan Aberdein	1:19.782			51	Nico Müller	1:19.686			33	René Rast	1:19.472
	10	Harrison Newey		—		8	Robert Kubica		1:20.106		99	Mike Rockenfeller		1:20.029		16	Timo Glock		1:19.978		53	Jamie Green		1:19.920		11	Marco Wittmann		1:19.867		25	Philipp Eng		1:19.705		4	Robin Frijns		1:19.607

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2020 Nürburgring Race 1 is displayed below:

2020 Nürburgring Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	39	59:51.551	1:22.303	252
2nd	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	39	+0.660s	1:22.318	183
3rd	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	39	+1.573s	1:22.388	15
4th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	39	+2.984s	1:22.333	12
5th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	39	+4.743s	1:21.785	101
6th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	39	+5.211s	1:22.588	8
7th	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	39	+8.513s	1:22.959	6
8th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	39	+8.846s	1:22.511	4
9th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	39	+14.970s	1:22.721	2
10th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	39	+17.292s	1:22.866	1
11th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	39	+17.900s	1:23.151
12th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	39	+19.353s	1:22.772
13th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	39	+37.027s	1:22.490
NC*	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	33	+6 Laps	1:22.524
Ret	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	19	Collision	1:22.881
Ret	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	19	Collision	1:22.202
Source:

• ³ Indicates a driver was awarded points for qualifying in the top three.
• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Green was unable to be classified as he failed to complete 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

• Robin Frijns secured his third and final victory.

Standings

Nico Müller had retained the lead in the Championship after his recovery drive, although his advantage had been cut to a relatively light thirteen points. The Swiss ace's teammate Robin Frijns had done the most damage as he claimed his third win of the campaign, while René Rast had also moved close to striking distance in third, 36 off the lead. Loïc Duval was next up ahead of Mike Rockenfeller, while Sheldon van der Linde remained the best of the BMW pilots in sixth.

Audi Team Abt had continued their seemingly inevitable march to the Teams' Championship after their seventh win of the campaign, the German squad having moved onto 419 points for the season. That left them some 186 points clear of second placed Audi Team Rosberg, while Audi Team Phoenix had 166 points to their credit in third. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi were already on the verge of the title, the Ingolstadt marque holding 755 points to BMW's 329.

2020 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Nico Müller 216 ◄0 2nd Robin Frijns 203 ◄0 3rd René Rast 180 ◄0 4th Loïc Duval 85 ◄0 5th Mike Rockenfeller 81 ◄0 6th Sheldon van der Linde 76 ◄0 7th Marco Wittmann 76 ▲1 8th Timo Glock 69 ▼1 9th Jamie Green 53 ◄0 10th Philipp Eng 43 ▲1 11th Lucas Auer 36 ▼1 12th Jonathan Aberdein 32 ◄0 13th Ferdinand von Habsburg 25 ◄0 14th Harrison Newey 1 ◄0 15th Robert Kubica 1 ◄0 16th Fabio Scherer 0 ◄0

2020 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt 419 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Rosberg 233 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 166 ◄0 4th BMW Team RMG 145 ◄0 5th BMW Team RBM 119 ◄0 6th BMW Team RMR 68 ◄0 7th Audi Team WRT 26 ◄0 8th BMW Team ART 1 ◄0 2020 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 755 ◄0 2nd BMW 329 ◄0

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2020)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2021), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2020), (Accessed 29/05/2021)

References: