2020 Spa Race 1

2020 Spa Race 1
File:Circuit de Spa Francorchamps 2007.png The Spa circuit returned to the DTM calendar in 2020.
Race Information
Date	1 August 2020
No.	252
Event	DTM Spa-Francorchamps 2020
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot, Liège, Belgium
Format	55 min + 1 lap
Lap length	7.004 km (4.352 mi)
Distance	26 laps / 182.104 km (113.154 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Robin Frijns
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	2:05.625
Fastest Lap
Driver	Nico Müller
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	2:09.756 on lap 14
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Nico Müller	Jamie Green	Loïc Duval
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	57:58.596
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2019 Hockenheim Finale Race 2		2020 Spa Race 2

The 2020 Spa Race 1, formally known as the 2020 DTM Spa-Francorchamps Race 1, was the opening round of a heavily delayed 2020 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Liège, Belgium, on 1 August 2020. The race, which was the first DTM race to be held at the Belgian circuit since 2005, would see Audi dominate with the Ingolstadt marque locking out the top five positions.

The Covid-19 Pandemic had caused the DTM to make major alterations to its calendar, after the start of the season was delayed until August from its original start date in May. The new calendar would see nine rounds staged in the space of four months, while the combination of the Pandemic and increasing costs caused Audi to announce their withdrawal from the series at the end of 2020.

In-spite of their impending exit Audi would dominate qualifying, locking out the first four rows as Robin Frijns stormed to pole position by a tenth of a second. The Dutchman would share the front row with teammate Nico Müller, René Rast and Mike Rockenfeller would share the second, while Sheldon van der Linde was the best of the BMW drivers in fifth, 0.6s off pole.

Frijns would ace his start from pole to secure an early lead, with teammate Müller slotting into second behind his teammate. The rest of the field would fall in behind them in largely grid order, minus Ferdinand von Habsburg who had been forced to withdraw due to damage sustained in practice.

The early laps saw Frijns move a second clear of Müller, although the Swiss racer would soon get back on terms with his teammate to move back within striking distance of the Dutchman. On lap four the Swiss racer used a combination of slip stream and Push-to-Pass to ease past Frijns down the Kemmel Straight, before completing the move on the brakes for Les Combes.

Rast would be the first of the leaders to stop, the German racer opting to come in early after constant harassment from Rockenfeller while also struggling to match the leaders' pace. Müller, meanwhile, would continue to stretch his lead over Frijns, while behind Jamie Green was catching the lead group as the pitstops began, having cleared all of the BMWs bar Philipp Eng.

The stops saw no major changes to the order out front, although with fresh rubber Rockenfeller was able to pass both Rast and Frijns to move up to second after the stops. Behind, Loïc Duval and Green joined the lead group chasing Müller after quick stops, while Marco Wittmann moved up to be the highest BMW driver in fifth.

The closing stages saw several drivers see their pace collapse, with Rockenfeller and Wittmann both suddenly losing time, while Rast abandoned his second set of Hankooks and made a second stop. Green and Duval duly leapt past the #99 Audi as the race entered its final two laps, while Rast came charging back up the order past Wittmann to reclaim fifth as the #11 BMW began tumbling down the timesheet.

Out front, meanwhile, Müller was left unopposed at the head of the field, the Swiss ace ultimately securing his fifth DTM victory by almost twenty seconds from Green. Duval completed the podium ahead of Rockenfeller and Rast, while Eng was the best BMW driver ahead of compatriot Lucas Auer. Timo Glock completed a small cluster of BMWs in eighth ahead of a frustrated Frijns, another victim of tyre issues, while Jonathan Aberdein secured a point on his debut for BMW by passing fellow BMW pilot Wittmann on the run to chequered flag out of the Bus Stop chicane.

Background

Entry List

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

2020 Spa 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 Spa Race 1 are outlined below:

2020 Spa Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	2:05.625	—	200.711 km/h	1
2nd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	2:05.743	+0.118s	200.523 km/h	2
3rd	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	2:05.889	+0.264s	200.290 km/h	3
4th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	2:06.000	+0.375s	200.114 km/h	4
5th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	2:06.242	+0.617s	199.730 km/h	5
6th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	2:06.358	+0.733s	199.547 km/h	6
7th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	2:06.677	+1.052s	199.044 km/h	7
8th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	2:06.750	+1.125s	198.930 km/h	8
9th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	2:06.752	+1.127s	198.927 km/h	9
10th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	2:06.833	+1.208s	198.799 km/h	10
11th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	2:07.057	+1.432s	198.449 km/h	11
12th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	2:07.525	+1.900s	197.721 km/h	12
13th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	2:07.753	+2.128s	197.368 km/h	13
14th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	2:07.870	+2.245s	197.187 km/h	14
15th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	2:08.453	+2.828s	196.292 km/h	15
NC*	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	—			16
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * von Habsburg was unable to complete a competitive lap in qualifying after crashing in practice.

Grid

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

		10	Harrison Newey	2:08.453			27	Jonathan Aberdein	2:07.753			53	Jamie Green	2:07.057			22	Lucas Auer	2:06.752			28	Loïc Duval	2:06.677			31	Sheldon van der Linde	2:06.242			33	René Rast	2:05.889			4	Robin Frijns	2:05.625
	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg		—		8	Robert Kubica		2:07.870		13	Fabio Scherer		2:07.525		25	Philipp Eng		2:06.833		11	Marco Wittmann		2:06.750		16	Timo Glock		2:06.358		99	Mike Rockenfeller		2:06.000		51	Nico Müller		2:05.743

Race

Results

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

2020 Spa Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	26	57:58.596	2:09.756	252
2nd	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	26	+19.502s	2:10.184	18
3rd	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	26	+22.839s	2:11.429	15
4th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	26	+29.234s	2:10.054	12
5th	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	26	+32.023s	2:10.241	101
6th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	26	+36.424s	2:11.394	8
7th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	26	+38.205s	2:12.008	6
8th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	26	+42.692s	2:10.777	4
9th	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	26	+51.888s	2:09.861	23
10th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	26	+54.149s	2:12.603	1
11th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	26	+57.743s	2:12.365
12th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	26	+57.743s	2:12.365
13th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	26	+1:11.793	2:12.207
14th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	26	+1:18.284	2:12.945
15th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	23	+3 Laps	2:12.105
DNS*	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT
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.
• * von Habsburg was unable to start the race due to damage sustained in practice.

Milestones

• Debut race for Robert Kubica, Harrison Newey and Fabio Scherer made their DTM debuts.
• Lucas Auer made his first DTM appearance since the 2018 Hockenheim Finale Race 2.
  • Also Auer's first race for BMW.
• First race for ART Grand Prix as an entrant since the 2016 Hockenheim Finale Race 2.
• Maiden pole position for Robin Frijns.
• Fifth victory for Nico Müller.

Standings

Nico Müller would lead the Drivers' Championship after the opening day, the Swiss ace having claimed victory and second on the grid to secure 27 points. Jamie Green was his closest challenger in second, nine behind, while Loïc Duval would sit in third three behind Green. Mike Rockenfeller was next up ahead of René Rast, with Philipp Eng, Lucas Auer, Robin Frijns, Timo Glock and Jonathan Aberdein the other first day scorers.

In the Teams' Championship Audi Team Abt would lead the charge after the opening race, the German squad having claimed 32 points in the first race. That left them three ahead of fellow Audi squad Audi Team Rosberg, with Audi Team Phoenix a further two behind in third. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had secured a handsome lead, the Ingolstadt marque having claimed 76 points in race one.

2020 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Nico Müller 27 ◄0 2nd Jamie Green 18 ◄0 3rd Loïc Duval 15 ◄0 4th Mike Rockenfeller 12 ◄0 5th René Rast 11 ◄0 6th Philipp Eng 8 ◄0 7th Lucas Auer 6 ◄0 8th Robin Frijns 5 ◄0 9th Timo Glock 4 ◄0 10th Jonathan Aberdein 1 ◄0

2020 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt 32 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Rosberg 29 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 27 ◄0 4th BMW Team RBM 9 ◄0 5th BMW Team RMR 6 ◄0 6th BMW Team RMG 4 ◄0 7th Audi Team WRT 0 ◄0 8th BMW Team ART 0 ◄0 2020 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 76 ◄0 2nd BMW 19 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2020)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2015), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2020), (Accessed 29/05/2021)

References: