With an even more impressive crowd of spectators looking on than on Saturday, the DTM provided spectacular motorsport featuring exciting battles, many overtaking maneuvers and a close finish on the street circuit in Nuremberg. One of the main protagonists in the race was Nico Müller. Starting the race as best Audi driver in eleventh position, the Swiss made up several positions immediately. After an early pit stop to change tires, Müller held his ground amidst a fiercely battling group of BMW and Mercedes-Benz drivers and ultimately crossed the finish line in seventh place.
“That was a tough race,” said Nico Müller. “We really struggled on this track, but we scored some important points, which is small reward for the hard work. The team did a great job throughout the entire weekend. We were a little unlucky on Saturday otherwise we would have scored points as well. Now I’m looking forward to Zandvoort. I hope that we’ll be a little more competitive again there.”
Müller’s teammate Robin Frijns only changed tires in the 40th of 68 laps and with this strategy moved through the field from 16th on the grid to eighth place. The DTM newcomer therefore scored points for the fourth time in his first season.
René Rast was also on course to score points. The defending DTM Champion decided to make a late tire change. He benefitted from the fact that he could run free of traffic at the head of the field. However, he went away empty handed: due to a defect on his Audi RS 5 DTM air-jack system Rast lost any chance of a top result at the pit stop. Teammate Jamie Green suffered a puncture on the opening lap. Rast and Green finished 14th and 15th. The fastest race lap for Green was little consolation for Audi Sport Team Rosberg.
Audi Sport Team Phoenix also went away empty handed in Nuremberg. For Mike Rockenfeller (16th) the strategy of stopping to change tires at the end of lap one did not work. Loïc Duval was handed a drive-through penalty after touching the BMW of Augusto Farfus. As a result, the Frenchman dropped to last place.
“We saw an exciting race with many great battles just as we want it in the DTM,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “With two cars in the points we were slightly better than yesterday. Realistically seen we couldn’t really expect much more following the difficult first race on Saturday. So it’s a real shame that our fastest car – René (Rast) – had a problem during the pit stop. He’d put himself into a good position and could have been fourth or fifth today.”
The DTM continues at Zandvoort (Netherlands) on July 14–15. The finale of the electric racing series Formula E is held at the same time in New York (USA) where the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team still has a chance of winning the teams’ classification.
Dieter Gass (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“It was a fantastic weekend for the DTM with an impressive crowd of spectators on both days and of course spectacular racing. This is exactly what we want to see in the DTM. Owing to how the season has gone so far we had to expect that we would really struggle at the Norisring. In spite of this, it was frustrating to score no points on Saturday. On Sunday we improved slightly with two cars in the points. It’s a shame that our fastest cars in both races had problems: Nico (Müller) a puncture on Saturday, René (Rast) a technical defect with the air-jack system on Sunday.”
Nico Müller (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #51) 18th / 7th
“I was the fastest Audi driver throughout the entire weekend and extracted the absolute maximum. Fantastic work by my team! I would like to have thanked them with a podium finish, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. Although the seventh place almost felt like one. I’m certainly satisfied with Sunday’s result.”
Robin Frijns (Aral Ultimate Audi RS 5 DTM #4) 12th / 8th
“On Saturday I just couldn’t find the rhythm I wanted. For Sunday we then changed the car set-up a little and things went much better. I’m really satisfied with eighth place from 16th on the grid on a track where we knew that we would find things difficult.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) 11th / 15th
“There just wasn’t enough performance throughout the entire weekend. On Saturday I just missed finishing in the points in eleventh place. In the second race I took a big risk for one of my maneuvers, which resulted in a puncture. The fastest lap that I set on Sunday showed that more was possible.”
René Rast (Audi Sport RS 5 DTM #33) 16th / 14th
“That was a lousy weekend from beginning to end. In first qualifying I made a mistake. From last place on the grid I was then unable to make any progress whatsoever in the race. The second race was actually going pretty well. Then we had a problem with the airlance at the pit stop through which I lost 25 seconds.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) 15th / 16th
“It’s over, forget it and look forwards. I had a ray of hope after setting the best time in third free practice when my car felt really good. The rest of the weekend was rather more frustrating. In the second race we took a risk with the early pit stop, but when the safety car isn’t deployed you have no advantage.”
Loïc Duval (Audi Sport RS 5 DTM #28) 17th / 18th
“That was without a shadow of a doubt the most difficult weekend for Audi and myself so far. We knew beforehand that it wouldn’t be easy. Even though the Norisring is a unique circuit we need to think about why it went so badly wrong. I’m glad that with Zandvoort coming up we have a track that should suit us better.”
Thomas Biermaier (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“I’m very pleased with the performance of our team. We were the only Audi team to score points. We had a good set-up, good strategy and fast pit stops. Nico (Müller) was clearly the benchmark within Audi this weekend. Robin (Frijns) was also strong. You shouldn’t forget that he raced for the first time ever at the Norisring.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“That was an extremely frustrating weekend. Even though we knew it would be difficult the result still hurts. Luckily, Audi got two cars into the points on Sunday. Of course normally we aim to fight for victory. Nevertheless my thanks to all the people who work hard for us.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“On Saturday, Jamie (Green) was the best Audi driver just outside the points. That was a great shame. In the second race more was possible for out team. I feel really sorry for René (Rast) that we had the problem with the air-jack system, otherwise fourth could even have been possible. The lap times in the race give us confidence for the future.”
With two Audi RS 5 DTM in the points, Audi recorded a stronger result in Sunday’s DTM race at the Norisring than the day before. Nico Müller and Robin Frijns clinched seventh and eighth respectively for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. Defending DTM Champion René Rast suffered a bout of bad luck.
