Marco Wittmann masters the rain to take his third victory of the year
BMW Team RMG driver Marco Wittmann made the most of tricky conditions at Assen on Saturday to take his third victory of the season, fighting against Audi drivers René Rast and Nico Müller.
Rainfall intensified as the starting time approached, with hail also falling over the grid. The race was started behind the safety car, with no formation lap with the field released after three neutralised laps.
Wittmann kept the lead ahead of Rast, who challenged the BMW driver outside Turn 4, with Wittmann staying ahead. The pair then went side-by-side several times during the lap.
Daniel Juncadella’s Aston Martin Vantage DTM stopped just outside Turn 12, with the safety car again called into action.
The race was again restarted on lap six, with Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Nico Müller struggling to keep his RS 5 DTM on the tarmac, colliding with BMW Team RMG’s Timo Glock in the process.
Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green and fellow Audi driver at Team Abt Sportsline’s Robin Frijns were the first to change tyres at the end of lap eight.
Müller was able to recover from his mishaps, closing the distance to Team Phoenix driver Loïc Duval and overtaking on lap ten for third place.
Rast pitted at the end of lap 15, with Wittmann doing so a lap later. The BMW driver managed to return to the track ahead of Rast, but the Audi driver closed the gap as Wittmann was struggling to warm up his tyres, with both coming side-by-side on several occasions and with the Team RMG driver managing to stay ahead.
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Robin Frijns continued his problems, going off the track and damaging the back end of his car on lap 20. The local hero managed to return to the pits under his own power to retire.
The rain eased with 15 minutes to go in the race, with the race direction increasing the distance by three laps due to the safety car appearances.
Müller, who was in the lead, was the last driver to complete his pit stop at the end of lap 25, returning to the track just ahead of Wittmann. The BMW driver overtook the Swiss racer for the lead of the race, with Müller defending from Rast as his tyres got into temperature.
At the chequered flag, Wittmann scored his third victory of the season, ahead of Müller and Rast.
Team RBM’s Philipp Eng fended off the attacks from fellow BMW driver at Team RMG Timo Glock to finish fourth, with Team WRT’s Jonathan Aberdein scoring his best ever DTM result in sixth place.
Green was seventh, ahead of Team Phoenix drivers Duval and Mike Rockenfeller, with BMW Team RBM’s Sheldon van der Linde completing the top ten.
After Saturday’s race, Rast leads the championship with 145 points, 24 ahead of Müller and with Eng in third, 34 points behind. Full points for Wittmann mean he’s now fourth in the championship, 45 points behind Rast.
The DTM returns to action on Sunday morning at 10:20 CEST for the qualifying session for Race 2.
