Nico Müller makes it three wins in three races

Team Abt Sportsline driver Nico Müller claimed his third DTM victory in three races so far this season, with a trouble-free win at the Lausitzring today. The Swiss has a comfortable 37-point lead in the championship.

At the start, Müller got ahead of his team-mate Robin Frijns to take the lead, with BMW driver Sheldon van der Linde in third.

Team Rosberg’s René Rast went wide at Turn 2, with the reigning champion going over the grass.

Rast returned to the track, maintaining seventh place despite attacks from BMW Team RMG driver Timo Glock, and managed to overtake Rosberg team-mate Jamie Green on lap two.

The Briton however made use of the DRS to recover the position at Turn 1 on the following lap.

Van der Linde was able to keep the pace with the leading pair, with the trio opening a gap to Team Phoenix driver Loïc Duval in fourth place.

Team-mate Jonathan Aberdein spun off the track on lap eight, then pitting at the end of the lap for new tyres.

WRT’s Fabio Scherer bumped ART Grand Prix’s Robert Kubica at Turn 1, with the Swiss driver getting a drive-through penalty for the incident.

Glock finally got ahead of Rast as they headed onto the main straight at the end of lap 11, with the reigning champion lacking the pace to chase the BMW driver. Glock pitted two laps later.

Van der Linde was the first to change tyres from the leading group, coming into the pits at the end of lap 14, feeling he was unable to pass Frijns and get some clear track. The Dutchman mirrored the move a lap later.

Rast changed his tyres at the end of lap 18, with leading driver Müller matching the move a lap later.

By half distance, Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller was the only leading driver to not have changed tyres. Müller was the virtual leader, with a six-second advantage over Van der Linde.

Duval retired from the race on lap 25, parking his Audi RS 5 DTM due to a technical issue. His retirement led to the activation of Slow Zone 1 for four laps.

When the slow zone was lifted, Müller had a 2.7-second lead over Van der Linde with 16 minutes to go of the race.

At the chequered flag, Müller claimed his third win of 2020, followed by Van der Linde, who claimed his first ever DTM podium, and Frijns in third.

Wittmann was fourth, followed by Glock and Habsburg, who managed to keep Rast behind until the last moment. Green finished eighth, with Eng and Rockenfeller coming to the finishing line side-by-side to complete the top ten.

Race winner Müller said: “The preparation was far from usual, as we were busy in Berlin (Formula E). The team helped me to focus on the important stuff. We’ve seen today how quickly things can change and BMW catch up to us. I managed to stay in front as Robin was very quick today, and I think that was the key.”

Van der Linde was ecstatic with his first DTM podium: “I’m so happy, I have worked so hard for this. Today we have the chance and we did it, it was phenomenal.”

Müller has extended his lead in the championship to 80 points, followed by Frijns on 43 and Rast on 35 points.

Next up is the second qualifying session, starting at 10:45 CEST tomorrow.