Nico Müller dismayed after losing valuable points

Audi Sport driver Nico Müller felt that a good opportunity for the team had been lost after the tyre problem that caused the Swiss to crash out of yesterday’s race, with the safety car called into action as the RS 5 DTM was recovered.

Müller had just completed his obligatory pit stop, running ahead of fellow Audi driver Robin Frijns, who would later finish in fifth place. The Swiss reported a loss of pressure on his left front tyre, but opted to not come for a second pit stop. On lap 18 he crashed against the barriers at Turn 3.

“I think I had a strange puncture,” Müller said to TouringCarTimes. “I was ok at Turn 1 and then, all of a sudden, I lost pressure. There was nothing I could do.”

The Team Abt Sportsline driver had been one of the strongest Audis all weekend, qualifying in eighth position for the grid. Asked about his pace at Zandvoort so far, Müller said: “The car has been going well, it was quick. The podium was a bit too far for us, but fourth was definitely within reach, and I don’t know if I could have done more from there on.”

Audi Sport has had a tough season so far and is in desperate need of results to increase their points account. Müller said: “We lost 12 points today, and we still have to find out what happened. I had been careful and didn’t have any contacts or anything. It’s difficult.”

“The car is reparable but it had a heavy shunt and sustained quite a bit of damage. We will come out again tomorrow hoping for a better result, but I don’t know how the car will perform,” added Müller.