2020 Zolder I Race 1

2020 Zolder I Race 1
The Circuit Zolder returned to the DTM in 2020.
Race Information
Date	10 October 2020
No.	264
Event	DTM Zolder I 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	1:28.987
Fastest Lap
Driver	René Rast
Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	1:20.815 on lap 8
Race Result
First	Second	Third
René Rast	Robin Frijns	Nico Müller
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Time	56:57.127
Race Guide
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2020 Nürburgring Race 2		2020 Zolder I Race 2

The 2020 Zolder I Race 1, otherwise known as the 2020 DTM Zolder I Race 1, was the thirteenth race of the 2020 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium, on 10 October 2020. The race would see René Rast secure victory to restart his title bid, after resisting early pressure from title rival Robin Frijns.

Qualifying saw Rast sweep to pole position in the closing moments of the session, taking advantage of a steadily drying circuit to overhaul Timo Glock. Glock himself would still claim a front-row spot, the first for a BMW pilot in 2020, while Frijns edged out Marco Wittmann for third as Championship leader Nico Müller slumped to a season-low of seventh.

The start of the race, on a now completely dry circuit, would see Rast ease into the lead unopposed, as behind Frijns fired past Glock for second. Mike Rockenfeller would also ease past the #16 BMW having darted past Wittmann off the grid, while Müller remained stuck in sixth behind Harrison Newey after both darted past Wittmann.

The early stages saw Rast and Frijns break clear, with the #4 Audi glued to the tail of the sister #33 car but unable to force its way through. Behind, Rockenfeller would establish his hold on third ahead of Glock, with the #16 BMW pilot duly deciding to gamble on an early stop in a bid to leap-frog the lead trio of Audis.

As the first stint wore on Frijns would fall off the back of Rast, the German racer having delivered a barrage of fastest laps to open out his lead to three seconds. When the gap between them hit five seconds on lap seventeen Frijns would dive into the pits for fresh tyres, only to rejoin just behind Glock after the German racer's early stop.

Rast stopped a lap later and duly managed to scramble back out ahead of the #16 BMW, which now had Frijns filling its mirrors as the Dutchman sought a way past. Elsewhere, Müller had used an early stop to rise up to fourth having remained stuck behind Newey in the opening stages, although the #51 Audi was still a few seconds off the back of his Audi Team Abt teammate in third.

After five laps of sustained pressure Frijns would finally force his way past Glock, surging down the inside of the #16 BMW into turn one to reclaim second. However, while he completed the move the damage had been done to Frijns' bid for victory, for Rast had increased his lead to eight seconds by the time Frijns had forced his way through.

That fact settled the race, with Rast able to control the pace of the race from the front unopposed to claim a dominant victory, eighteen seconds clear of Frijns. Behind, a late move from Müller on Glock put the Championship leader onto the podium ahead of the #16 BMW, while Newey was a fraction behind Glock in fifth. Sheldon van der Linde was next up ahead of Ferdinand von Habsburg, Rockenfeller and Philipp Eng, while Loïc Duval scored the final point in tenth.

Background

After a relatively long, given the context of the 2020 season's compressed calendar, three week break the DTM field reconvened at the Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium, for the seventh race weekend of the season. The first of two rounds in Zolder in the space of a week, the DTM field would find themselves on an unchanged Circuit Zolder, which had previously hosted the series in 2019. In terms of the entry list there had been no changes for the first trip to Zolder, although Audi had revealed that Benoît Tréluyer would replace Loïc Duval for the second pair of races.

Nürburg Nuances

Nico Müller's fifth victory of the campaign left the Swiss ace restored his healthy margin atop the Championship as the DTM left the Nürburgring, as he moved onto 242 points for the campaign. That left the Swiss ace eighteen points clear of Robin Frijns in second, while the Dutchman held a 29 point advantage over René Rast in third. Sheldon van der Linde, meanwhile, broke into the top four to lead the BMW charge, overhauling Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller by a single point.

In the Teams' Championship Audi Team Abt continued their seemingly inevitable charge to the title, the German squad having moved onto 466 points for the campaign. Their closest challengers were Audi Team Rosberg, some 218 points behind, while Audi Team Phoenix rounded out the top three, 192 points behind. Audi, meanwhile, were declared as the Manufacturers' Champions after just twelve races, the earliest that the title had been claimed.

Entry List

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

2020 Zolder I 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 Zolder I Race 1 are outlined below:

2020 Zolder I Race 1 Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	1:28.987	—	161.821 km/h	1
2nd	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	1:29.333	+0.346s	161.194 km/h	2
3rd	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	1:29.484	+0.497s	160.922 km/h	3
4th	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	1:29.504	+0.517s	160.886 km/h	4
5th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	1:29.700	+0.713s	160.535 km/h	5
6th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	1:29.959	+0.972s	160.072 km/h	6
7th	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	1:30.039	+1.052s	159.930 km/h	7
8th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	1:30.043	+1.056s	159.923 km/h	8
9th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	1:30.437	+1.450s	159.226 km/h	9
10th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	1:30.652	+1.665s	158.849 km/h	10
11th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	1:30.840	+1.853s	158.520 km/h	11
12th	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	1:30.878	+1.891s	158.454 km/h	12
13th	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	1:31.145	+2.158s	157.990 km/h	13
14th	27	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RMR	1:31.381	+2.394s	157.581 km/h	14
15th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	1:31.416	+2.429s	157.521 km/h	15
16th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	1:32.117	+3.130s	156.322 km/h	16
Source:

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

Grid

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

		8	Robert Kubica	1:31.416			53	Jamie Green	1:31.145			25	Philipp Eng	1:30.840			22	Lucas Auer	1:30.437			51	Nico Müller	1:30.039			99	Mike Rockenfeller	1:29.700			4	Robin Frijns	1:29.484			33	René Rast	1:28.987
	13	Fabio Scherer		1:32.117		27	Jonathan Aberdein		1:31.381		62	Ferdinand von Habsburg		1:30.878		28	Loïc Duval		1:30.652		10	Harrison Newey		1:30.043		31	Sheldon van der Linde		1:29.959		11	Marco Wittmann		1:29.504		16	Timo Glock		1:29.333

Race

Results

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

2020 Zolder I Race 1 Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	33	René Rast	Audi Team Rosberg	41	56:57.127	1:20.815	253
2nd	4	Robin Frijns	Audi Team Abt	41	+18.855s	1:20.973	181
3rd	51	Nico Müller	Audi Team Abt	41	+25.576s	1:20.904	15
4th	16	Timo Glock	BMW Team RMG	41	+38.513s	1:21.067	122
5th	10	Harrison Newey	Audi Team WRT	41	+39.071s	1:21.108	10
6th	31	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	41	+43.685s	1:21.391	8
7th	62	Ferdinand von Habsburg	Audi Team WRT	41	+44.926s	1:21.519	6
8th	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Team Phoenix	41	+45.471s	1:21.373	4
9th	25	Philipp Eng	BMW Team RBM	41	+48.480s	1:21.686	2
10th	28	Loïc Duval	Audi Team Phoenix	41	+1:03.707	1:21.681	1
11th	27	Jonathan Aberdein	BMW Team RMR	41	+1:05.222	1:21.668
12th	22	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	41	+1:06.205	1:21.831
13th	13	Fabio Scherer	Audi Team WRT	41	+1:12.156	1:21.609
14th	8	Robert Kubica	BMW Team ART	40	+1 Lap	1:20.900
Ret	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW Team RMG	34	Engine	1:20.900
Ret	53	Jamie Green	Audi Team Rosberg	29	Damage	1:21.139
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

• Twentieth victory for René Rast.

Standings

Nico Müller had retained the lead in the title hunt after his run to third in the opening race at Circuit Zolder, although his advantage had been reduced by his two closest challengers. Indeed, Robin Frijns had closed the gap to fourteen points between the lead duo in the title hunt, while René Rast had moved 34 behind the Swiss ace after his dominant victory in third. Sheldon van der Linde was next up as the lead BMW pilot, sat on 96 points, with Mike Rockenfeller next up in fifth after overhauling teammate Loïc Duval.

In the Teams' Championship Audi Team Abt had, as ever, extended their advantage atop the table as they continued their inevitable march to the title, the German squad smashing through the 500 point mark after the thirteenth race of the campaign. That left them 224 points clear of Audi Team Rosberg, with only 240 points left to fight for over the remaining five races, while Audi Team Phoenix were 321 points behind in third. In the Manufacturers' Championship, meanwhile, Audi had out-scored BMW for the thirteenth straight race, as they extended their title winning margin to 519 points.

2020 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Nico Müller 257 ◄0 2nd Robin Frijns 243 ◄0 3rd René Rast 223 ◄0 4th Sheldon van der Linde 96 ◄0 5th Mike Rockenfeller 91 ▲1 6th Loïc Duval 88 ▼1 7th Timo Glock 87 ▲1 8th Marco Wittmann 86 ▼1 9th Jamie Green 53 ◄0 10th Philipp Eng 45 ◄0 11th Ferdinand von Habsburg 41 ▲1 12th Lucas Auer 36 ▼1 13th Jonathan Aberdein 33 ◄0 14th Harrison Newey 11 ◄0 15th Robert Kubica 1 ◄0 16th Fabio Scherer 0 ◄0

2020 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt 500 ◄0 2nd Audi Team Rosberg 276 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Phoenix 179 ◄0 4th BMW Team RMG 173 ◄0 5th BMW Team RBM 141 ◄0 6th BMW Team RMR 69 ◄0 7th Audi Team WRT 52 ◄0 8th BMW Team ART 1 ◄0 2020 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi 899 ◄0 2nd BMW 380 ◄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: