2020 Zolder II Race 1

2020 Zolder II Race 1
The Circuit Zolder returned to the DTM in 2020.
Race Information
Date	17 October 2020
No.	266
Event	DTM Zolder II 2020
Location	Circuit Zolder Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium
Format	55 min + 1 lap
Lap length	4.011 km (2.492 mi)
Distance	41 laps / 164.451 km (102.185 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	René Rast
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:18.843
Fastest Lap
Driver	René Rast
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:20.396 on lap 17
Race Result
First	Second	Third
René Rast	Robin Frijns	Ferdinand von Habsburg
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	58:10.281
Race Guide
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2020 Zolder I Race 2		2020 Zolder II Race 2

The 2020 Zolder II Race 1, otherwise known as the 2020 DTM Zolder II Race 1, was the fifteenth race of the 2020 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium, on 17 October 2020. The race, which was the third of the season to be held at the Belgian circuit, would see René Rast secure an impressive victory from pole position as he continued his late bid for the title.

Qualifying had seen Rast secure pole position, although the German veteran would have to swat aside a challenge from young pretender Ferdinand von Habsburg, who had set the pace throughout the majority of the session. Behind, Robin Frijns would secure third ahead of the lead BMW pilot in the form of Jonathan Aberdein, while Championship leader Nico Müller could only secure eighth on the grid.

The start of the race saw Rast ease clear from pole to claim an early lead, while Habsburg fended off the attentions of Frijns to hold onto second. The rest of the field seemingly made it through the first corner without issue, until Harrison Newey accidentally tipped Müller into a slide entering turn two.

Müller found himself dumped back down in fourteenth and carrying damage, although contact between other drivers around the opening tour caused the Safety Car to be scrambled. After a two lap intervention the race resumed with Rast again sprinting clear of Habsburg and Frijns, while Müller managed to inch closer to the top ten with an early lunge into turn one.

Rast soon began easing clear at the head of the field, resulting in Frijns making increasingly desperate attempts to pass Habsburg in a bid to prevent the German veteran from escaping. On lap eleven the Dutchman finally found a way through at turn five, before immediately diving into the pits for fresh Hankook tyres at the end of the lap with Habsburg in tow.

A swift stop and Frijns was back in the fray, with Rast coming in at the end of the following tour to cover the #4 Team Abt Audi's stop. The German ace duly rejoined two seconds ahead of Frijns, although with cold tyres that advantage soon evaporated to just half a second over the next couple of laps.

Frijns remained glued to Rast's tail, until a mistake at turn two saw the #4 Audi drop off the tail of the sister #33 car, allowing Rast's lead to grow back to two seconds. Frijns hence spent the rest of the race inching his way back towards his title rival, although the Dutchman would never get within a second of the defending Champion.

Instead, the main entertainment in the closing stages would be further down the field, with Habsburg putting up a valiant defence from Aberdein, while Müller was fighting for points in sixth. Indeed, the #51 Audi had used an early stop to shoot up the order, but as the final laps ticked away his lack of tyre life meant he could not clear Fabio Scherer, and was being harassed by Newey behind.

With that the race was run, with Rast remaining a second clear of Frijns to the finish line to claim his third straight win, as well as the Championship lead with three races to go. Behind them was a delighted Habsburg as he claim his and Team WRT's maiden podium finish ahead of Aberdein, while Scherer, Müller and Newey finished nose to tail in fifth through seventh. Jamie Green was next up ahead of Timo Glock, while Marco Wittmann rounded out the scorers.

Background

Less than a week after the previous round at the Circuit Zolder, the 2020 DTM field would find itself unloading in the very same paddock, having not left the Limburg region of Belgium. For the second set of races in Zolder there would be no change to the circuit itself, although there would be a change to the entry list. Indeed, Loïc Duval would be absent to focus on his racing commitments in the IMSA series, meaning Benoît Tréluyer would make his DTM debut in the second Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry.

Rast Run

In the Drivers' Championship it had been a good weekend for defending Champion René Rast, for two victories moved the German ace to within ten points of leader Nico Müller. Indeed, the Swiss ace had just maintained his margin atop the Championship hunt, while teammate Robin Frijns had lost ground but remained a threat in third, sixteen behind. Mike Rockenfeller was next up ahead of Timo Glock, while at the bottom of the field Fabio Scherer's first points finish meant all sixteen regular drivers had scored in 2020.

Audi Team Abt were outscored for the first time in 2020, although that did not prevent them from securing the Teams' Championship with four races to spare. Indeed, the German squad were 200 points clear of sister squad Audi Team Rosberg, meaning that they had an unassailable lead given that there were only 192 points left to fight for. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had marched on towards the 1,000 point mark, as they further enhanced their title winning margin.

Entry List

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

2020 Zolder II 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
19	Benoît Tréluyer	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi	RS5 Turbo DTM	Audi RC8 TFSI 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
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 Zolder II Race 1 are outlined below:

2020 Zolder II Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	1:18.843	—	182.641 km/h	1
2nd	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	1:18.877	+0.034s	182.562 km/h	2
3rd	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	1:19.103	+0.260s	182.041 km/h	3
4th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	1:19.119	+0.276s	182.004 km/h	4
5th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:19.140	+0.297s	181.956 km/h	5
6th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	1:19.163	+0.320s	181.903 km/h	6
7th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	1:19.317	+0.474s	181.549 km/h	7
8th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	1:19.412	+0.569s	181.332 km/h	8
9th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	1:19.435	+0.592s	181.280 km/h	9
10th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:19.451	+0.608s	181.243 km/h	10
11th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	1:19.687	+0.844s	180.707 km/h	11
12th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	1:19.697	+0.854s	180.684 km/h	12
13th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	1:19.813	+0.970s	180.421 km/h	13
14th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:19.964	+1.121s	180.081 km/h	14
15th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	1:20.000	+1.157s	180.000 km/h	15
16th	19	Benoît Tréluyer	Audi Team Phoenix	1:22.189	+3.346s	175.205 km/h	16
Source:

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

Grid

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

		22	Lucas Auer	1:20.000			16	Timo Glock	1:19.813			31	Sheldon van der Linde	1:19.687			13	Fabio Scherer	1:19.435			25	Philipp Eng	1:19.317			53	Jamie Green	1:19.140			4	Robin Frijns	1:19.103			33	René Rast	1:18.843
	19	Benoît Tréluyer		1:22.189		11	Marco Wittmann		1:19.964		8	Robert Kubica		1:19.697		11	Mike Rockenfeller		1:19.451		51	Nico Müller		1:19.412		10	Harrison Newey		1:19.163		27	Jonathan Aberdein		1:19.119		62	Ferdinand von Habsburg		1:18.877

Race

Results

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

2020 Zolder II Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	41	58:10.281	1:20.396	253
2nd	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	41	+0.877s	1:20.422	181
3rd	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	41	+22.790s	1:20.989	152
4th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	41	+26.462s	1:21.211	12
5th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	41	+34.695s	1:21.123	10
6th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	41	+35.154s	1:21.462	8
7th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	41	+36.041s	1:21.216	6
8th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	41	+42.515s	1:20.947	4
9th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	41	+42.982s	1:21.419	2
10th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	41	+1:11.634	1:22.334	1
11th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	41	+1:14.729	1:21.736
12th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	41	+1:17.833	1:21.273
13th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	41	+1:18.323	1:21.784
14th	19	Benoît Tréluyer	Audi Team Phoenix	40	+1 Lap	1:22.022
Ret	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	18	Gearbox	1:21.908
Ret	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	4	Gearbox	1:48.574
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.

Milestones

• 22nd victory for René Rast.
• Maiden podium for Ferdinand von Habsburg.

Standings

A third victory in succession for René Rast saw the German racer move to the top of the Championship with three races to go, the defending Champion having moved onto 267 points for the season. That put him ten clear of former leader Nico Müller, with the Swiss ace himself only five ahead of third placed Robin Frijns as those three all remained in the title fight. Behind, Mike Rockenfeller had just kept ahead of Timo Glock, the lead BMW pilot, while Ferdinand von Habsburg had moved into the top ten after his maiden podium.

In the Teams' Championship Audi Team Abt had seen their title winning margin slightly reduced, although they had still increased their tally to 529 points for the season. Behind, Audi Team Rosberg had secured second in the Championship, while third place was now a serious fight between Audi Team Phoenix and BMW Team RMG as just two points separated them. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had smashed through the 1,000 point barrier, while BMW sat on 432.

2020 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st René Rast 277 ▲1 2nd Nico Müller 267 ▼1 3rd Robin Frijns 262 ◄0 4th Mike Rockenfeller 109 ◄0 5th Timo Glock 104 ◄0 6th Sheldon van der Linde 99 ◄0 7th Marco Wittmann 91 ◄0 8th Loïc Duval 88 ◄0 9th Ferdinand von Habsburg 64 ▲2 10th Jamie Green 57 ▼1 11th Lucas Auer 51 ▼1 12th Philipp Eng 45 ◄0 13th Jonathan Aberdein 45 ◄0 14th Harrison Newey 25 ◄0 15th Fabio Scherer 20 ◄0 16th Robert Kubica 1 ◄0 17th Benoît Tréluyer 0 ◄0

2020 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt 529 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Rosberg 334 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 197 ◄0 4th BMW Team RMG 195 ◄0 5th BMW Team RBM 144 ◄0 6th Audi Team WRT 97 ▲1 7th BMW Team RMR 96 ▼1 8th BMW Team ART 1 ◄0 2020 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 1,035 ◄0 2nd BMW 432 ◄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: