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Marco Wittmann fends off Nico Müller in wet first race at Assen

Marco Wittmann took victory in a wet first DTM race at the TT Circuit Assen, as the BMW driver saw off a strategic challenge from Audi’s Nico Müller, with points leader René Rast completing the podium.

Heavy rain fell at the start of the race and meant the field would follow the safety car around for the first three laps, before pole-sitter Wittmann led the field off in anger at the start of lap four.

The two-time champion withstood heavy pressure from Rast at several stages in the race, with the Audi driver pressuring for the lead in very wet conditions early on in the race.

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The leading duo pitted on laps 15 and 16, with Rast blinking first, immediately followed by Wittmann. Müller, meanwhile, opted to stay out until lap 25, pulling out a lead of over 42 seconds on the erstwhile leaders.

When the Swiss did make his mandatory pit stop, he emerged in front of Wittmann, but as the Team Abt Sportsline Audi driver took the rest of his out lap to warm up his tyres Wittmann pounced for the lead, passing Müller at Turn 11.

Müller failed to yield for title rival Rast and held on to second, despite the latter feeling frustrated at not being able to continue his battle for the lead with Wittmann, who eventually claimed his third win of the season by over three seconds.

By finishing ahead of Rast, Müller has reduced the 2017 champion’s advantage by one point to 24 points, with Rast taking his sixth podium of the season.

BMW Team RMR’s Philipp Eng was fourth, the Austrian having effectively made up three places by also pitting late on in the race.

Timo Glock was fifth for BMW Team RMR, despite the German having an off-track excursion on lap seven which lost him several places.

WRT’s Jonathan Aberdein was sixth, securing the Audi driver’s best result in the DTM to-date, ahead of Team Rosberg Audi driver Jamie Green in seventh.

Loïc Duval started from third but the Audi driver slipped down the order after an early pit stop, having also been passed on track by Müller on lap ten just before he made his stop.

Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller and BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde completed the top ten, the latter getting past WRT’s Pietro Fittipaldi for the final points position on the last lap of the race.

BMW’s Bruno Spengler picked up a drive-through penalty for contact with van der Linde on the first lap of racing, and the Canadian could only manage 15th as a result.

Local racer Robin Frijns had been running in the final points position when the Dutchman lost the back of his Audi on a kerb at Turn 9 and hit the barriers backwards just before Turn 10. He limped back to the pits and into retirement as a result.

R Motorsport’s Daniel Juncadella also retired on the first lap of racing when his Aston Martin stopped at Turn 4 with a broken cylinder, the Vantage crawling to a standstill on the outside of the circuit.

Race two gets underway at 12:30 BST (13:30 CEST) on Sunday.

Race result

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME BEST GD
1 11 Marco WITTMANN BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM 31 1:01:15.672 1:44.676 1
2 51 Nico MÜLLER Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM 31 3.137 1:44.598 6
3 33 René RAST Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS5 DTM 31 8.094 1:45.394 2
4 25 Philipp ENG BMW Team RMR BMW M4 DTM 31 25.313 1:45.848 9
5 16 Timo GLOCK BMW Team RMR BMW M4 DTM 31 25.534 1:45.120 5
6 27 Jonathan ABERDEIN Audi Sport Team WRT Audi RS5 DTM 31 27.887 1:46.054 11
7 53 Jamie GREEN Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi RS5 DTM 31 36.078 1:45.933 12
8 28 Loïc DUVAL Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS5 DTM 31 42.496 1:47.403 3
9 99 Mike ROCKENFELLER Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi RS5 DTM 31 43.656 1:46.954 13
10 31 Sheldon VAN DER LINDE BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM 31 44.184 1:46.101 7
11 21 Pietro FITTIPALDI Audi Sport Team WRT Audi RS5 DTM 31 45.162 1:46.330 4
12 76 Jake DENNIS R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage DTM 31 45.869 1:45.059 17
13 62 Ferdinand VON HABSBURG R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage DTM 31 48.094 1:46.254 16
14 3 Paul DI RESTA R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage DTM 31 48.917 1:44.925 15
15 7 Bruno SPENGLER BMW Team RMG BMW M4 DTM 31 53.378 1:45.212 8
16 47 Joel ERIKSSON BMW Team RBM BMW M4 DTM 31 1:01.197 1:47.470 10
R 4 Robin FRIJNS Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi RS5 DTM 21 DNF 1:47.875 18
R 23 Daniel JUNCADELLA R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage DTM 3 DNF 2:46.067 14
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