A canny win: Nico Müller scored a dominant win in Sunday’s DTM race at Misano.
The Audi driver not only made a good start, but also ticked all the boxes in terms of race strategy and tyre management. However, his second DTM career win – and the first for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline for 624 days – wasn’t the day’s only story. Title hopefuls Marco Wittmann René Rast and Philipp Eng also added considerably to the day’s entertainment value.
Sandwiched by Audi drivers: BMW’s Eng profits from turbulent race to claim second
Around the halfway point, Eng looked likely to be the one to profit most from a series of dramatic situations. On lap one, Wittmann suffered a clash with Eng and Jonathan Aberdein that caused steering damage and forced him to retire. On lap 14, disaster struck for pole-sitter René Rast as he lost valuable time due to a left-rear puncture while in the lead.
After that, he found himself involved in a thrilling duel with Eng, in which the Austrian came out on top on lap 21 to secure his fifth podium finish of the 2019 season. As a result, Eng finished second within a group of four Audi drivers. There could have been five, had it not been for Joel Eriksson, overtaking Jonathan Aberdein with a breath-taking manoeuvre around the outside on the final lap.
Strong performance goes unrewarded: Andrea Dovizioso looked set for top 10 finish
Guest driver Andrea Dovizioso experienced the entire spectrum of highs and lows in Sunday’s race. On lap three, the MotoGP star had worked his way up into ninth place, only to have to surrender the position after the pit stops.
A high-speed spin on lap 30 ended his charge, but, without any damage, he kept going to the chequer, finishing 15th behind the Aston Martins of Ferdinand von Habsburg, Jake Dennis and Daniel Juncadella.
Nevertheless, the motorcycle ace convinced with speed, tireless efforts and entertaining manoeuvres in his first two DTM races.