DTM: Nico Müller shows his strengths 🎥

Naturally, Nico Müller enjoys every podium. At the TT Circuit in Assen (NL), where the DTM was making its first guest appearance, the 27-year-old from Berne experienced this feeling on both race days - in second place on the rainy Saturday and in third place on the sunny Sunday. Of ten races so far this season, the only Swiss in the top-class field has already finished six on the podium, winning the second race at Misano in June.

Success with a downer
In addition, Nico Müller is the only one of the 18 drivers not to have scored a zero. As a result, the Audi factory driver continues to hold second place in the standings behind his brand colleague René Rast, although he was able to reduce the gap by three points to now 22 points (158 to 136). In addition, he is ahead of BMW driver Marco Wittmann (118 points) in the championship standings, who also finished on the podium twice at Assen and has already won three times in 2019.

And yet Müller traveled back to Bern on Sunday evening with quiet disappointment. As at the Norisring, the second or even third win of the season was possible.

Nico Müller: "When you see the chance, you want to win. That was already the case at the Norisring. I'm satisfied, but not entirely happy. I seem to be getting a bit spoiled..."

First a superior lead, then only second place
As the TV summary shows, the Swiss was the high-flyer par excellence in his green-white Audi RS 5 DTM in Saturday's wet Race 1. Within a few laps, Müller worked his way up from sixth on the grid to third position. When the two leaders pitted for a tire change, he took command.

On a drying track, Müller was faster than the pursuers on fresher Hankook rubber, even with flagging rain tires, and thus gradually extended his lead. His team delayed the mandatory stop until shortly before the end of the race, but unfortunately not long enough. Back on track as the leader, he was unable to keep Marco Wittmann's BMW M4, which was rapidly catching up on warm tires, behind him for long.

Nico Müller: "Unfortunately, it took a bit longer than we'd hoped to get the cold new rain tires to work, so Marco got past me. If we'd only changed the tires after the penultimate lap, it probably would have worked out with the win. But when you're racing for the championship, you can't risk everything. The risk that there could be another safety car phase and then everything would be lost was too big for us."

Rough asphalt takes its toll
Müller didn't dwell on the missed opportunity for long, but immediately concentrated with the Abt team on Sunday's second race, which offered completely different external conditions. This time starting fourth, Müller maintained this position behind his Audi colleagues Rast, Rockenfeller and Frijns.

It had already become apparent during Friday's free practice that the tires would be subjected to extreme stresses on the rough track surface at Assen in dry conditions. That's why Müller, like a number of other drivers, pitted before the halfway point of the 55-minute plus one-lap race.

Because an impact wrench jammed, almost six seconds were lost, which cost several positions. While people like René Rast, who had been leading for a long time, struggled with tire wear and stopped for a second time, the man from Berne made his way back up to third place. Fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller could no longer be caught, but Müller seemed to be able to catch second-placed Wittmann.

Puncture in the final phase
Unfortunately, this was thwarted by a slow puncture on the right rear. Third place, 6.4 seconds behind "Rocky" and 1.9 behind Wittmann, was therefore damage limitation - the tire was flat in the parc fermé. One more lap and the podium would probably have been gone.

Nico Müller: "So I mustn't complain. I scored slightly more points than Rast. But the demands are rising. That's why we have to keep focusing on getting the maximum out of the next races."

The highlights of the second race are shown in the following video:

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