Robin Frijns fights to race two win at the Nürburgring

Robin Frijns fought to a second DTM win of the season in race two at the Nürburgring, passing points leader Nico Müller as Audi drivers locked out the top five positions.

Müller had started the race from pole position and controlled the early laps of the race, managing a lead of just over a second and a half before the pit stops for the leading duo on laps 11 and 12.

However Frijns kept close to his Abt Sportsline team-mate, not allowing the Swiss to romp away to victory as happened in Saturday’s race.

On fresh rubber, just five laps after his pit stop, Frijns passed Müller for the lead into the final chicane on the lap, using DRS to his advantage in preparing the move.

The Dutchman was then able to open up a lead of over four seconds, as Müller struggled on his second set of tyres.

Müller had fallen into the clutches of Team Rosberg’s René Rast and on lap 26 the German made a move into the first corner on his rival, taking second.

A slight chance presented itself further around the lap when Rast went off at Turn 9, but Müller was unable to capitalise and slipped further back, with Mike Rockenfeller claiming the final podium position on lap 30.

For Rockenfeller, third represents the 2013 champion’s first podium finish of the season.

Loïc Duval took fourth from Müller on the penultimate lap at the chicane, leaving Müller to settle for fifth and see his championship lead reduced to Frijns.

South African Sheldon van der Linde was BMW’s best driver in sixth, getting past Audi’s Jamie Green during the mandatory pit stop phase of the race.

Green took seventh, although not without having to aggressively defend his position from BMW’s Jonathan Aberdein four laps from the finish, with the South African having to settle for eighth.

BMW’s Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng completed the top ten, Wittmann making up places on both Timo Glock and Eng on laps 21 and 23 with determined passes at the final chicane.

Lucas Auer finished just behind compatriot Eng in 11^th, the BMW driver having dropped to last at the very start of the race after a poor getaway from the line.

Team ART’s Robert Kubica couldn’t convert a season-best ninth in qualifying into a result, finishing in 12^th, ahead of the leading WRT Audi of Harrison Newey in 13^th, who could have been higher but for picking up a five-second pit stop penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

The DTM completes its triple-header next weekend when it races again on the Nürburgring, albeit on the more often seen shorter circuit.

Race result

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	4	Robin FRIJNS		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	31	58:16.157	1:50.219	2
2	33	René RAST		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	31	4.281	1:50.948	3
3	99	Mike ROCKENFELLER		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	31	10.258	1:51.320	4
4	28	Loïc DUVAL		Audi Sport Team Phoenix	Audi RS5 DTM	31	12.573	1:50.747	5
5	51	Nico MÜLLER		Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi RS5 DTM	31	13.096	1:50.514	1
6	31	Sheldon VAN DER LINDE		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	31	13.487	1:50.489	7
7	53	Jamie GREEN		Audi Sport Team Rosberg	Audi RS5 DTM	31	16.741	1:50.600	6
8	27	Jonathan ABERDEIN		BMW Team RMR	BMW M4 DTM	31	17.697	1:50.810	8
9	11	Marco WITTMANN		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	31	19.620	1:50.785	10
10	25	Philipp ENG		BMW Team RBM	BMW M4 DTM	31	28.909	1:51.316	11
11	22	Lucas AUER		BMW Team RMR	BMW M4 DTM	31	29.902	1:50.444	13
12	8	Robert KUBICA		BMW Team ART	Audi RS5 DTM	31	31.970	1:51.645	9
13	10	Harrison NEWEY		Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi RS5 DTM	31	34.899	1:50.605	15
14	16	Timo GLOCK		BMW Team RMG	BMW M4 DTM	31	43.837	1:51.048	12
15	62	Ferdinand VON HABSBURG		Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi RS5 DTM	31	56.394	1:51.331	16
16	13	Fabio SCHERER		Audi Sport Team WRT	Audi RS5 DTM	26	+ 5 LAPS	1:51.169	14