Nico Müller has taken a dominant victory in the opening round of the 2020 DTM championship, while Jamie Green completed a strong drive to take second place from eleventh on the grid.
Müller started in second place behind polesitter Robin Frijns, and after fending off a challenge from Rene Rast at the start, set off in pursuit of the Dutchman and took over the lead of the race in the fifth lap of the race. After retaining the lead during the pit stop cycle, the 2019 runner-up opened up a gap and cruised to victory.
Green on the charge
Both Rast and Frijns struggled with tyre degradation and dropped down the order, allowing the other Audi runners to charge up the order. Jamie Green, who started from eleventh on the grid, completed an impressive charge up the fueld and made his way up to the podium in the closing stages of the race.
The British veteran gained third place when Mike Rockenfeller dropped of the pace and took second place from Loïc Duval on the penultimate lap to finish an impressive second.
Duval finished third, with Rockenfeller fourth. Rene Rast struggled greatly around the Ardennes circuit and stopped for a second set of new tyres in the late stages, dropping to tenth but using his new tyres for a late charge to end the race in fifth place.
Philipp Eng was the best of the BMW finishers in sixth place, ahead of Lucas Auer, Timo Glock and polesitter Robin Frijns, who also greatly struggled with tyre degradation to finish ninth. The top ten was completed by Jonathan Aberdein.
One car did not take the start of the race. The Audi RS5 DTM of Ferdinand Habsburg could not be repaired in time after his practice crash, bringing the field down to fifteen cars.
Sheldon van der Linde finished several laps down after an early mechanical issue sent the South African back to the garage.
