Misano DTM: Muller scores first win since 2016

Muller started fourth on the grid and made a strong start to join an all-Audi battle between polesitter Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and the WRT car of Jonathan Aberdein on the run to Turn 1.

When Frijns jinked to the left, Muller put two wheels on the grass, but came out of the Turn 1 right-hander behind the Dutchman as Rast tried to recover from his poor getaway. 

Rast's bad start was then compounded when the points leader tangled with Marco Wittmann and Aberdein, resulting in the BMW driver being punted off, at Turn 8. The incident put Wittmann into retirement, but the stewards took no action.

Rast then recovered and, by the 10th lap of 38, he was back into the lead having dispatched Muller at Turn 8 before moving clear of Frijns when the Audi driver began to slip back. 

But Rast's victory hopes took a huge dent when he picked up a puncture that forced him into the pits four laps late, allowing Muller past. 

Muller, who had cleared Frijns for second on lap 10, ran further than all but R-Motorsport Aston Martin driver Jake Dennis before making his stop, and the Audi driver returned to the track with a sizeable advantage - managing his car to the finish for victory.

Rast's puncture meant he was drawn into a battle with Philipp Eng for second place after the BMW driver made a rapid start to climb from ninth on the grid to sixth in the early laps.

Eng made the crucial pass on Rast by darting to the inside of the Audi at the Turn 10 hairpin following the pair's mandatory stops. 

Frijns could only finish fourth after Audi teammate Loic Duval pitched the early leader into a spin that dropped him down to sixth and earned Duval a drive-through penalty.

Pietro Fittipaldi, standing in for the unwell Jamie Green, recorded his best DTM finish by taking fifth, while Joel Eriksson was sixth for BMW after an intense duel with Aberdein's WRT Audi.

Bruno Spengler notably duelled Andrea Dovizioso on his way to eighth, but the Ducati MotoGP rider finished down in 15th after a late spin when he carried too much speed over the Turn 16 kerb.

BMW's Sheldon van der Linde and Audi's Mike Rockenfeller rounded out the top 10. 

Ferdinand Habsburg won the intra-team battle at R-Motorsport by finishing 12th ahead of Dennis, while Paul di Resta pulled off at the Turn 13 escape road to retire early on.

Race results:

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Laps	Gap
1	51	Nico Müller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38
2	25	Philipp Eng	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	38	7.628
3	33	René Rast	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	16.804
4	4	Robin Frijns	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	20.072
5	21	Pietro Fittipaldi	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	20.430
6	47	Joel Eriksson	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	38	23.645
7	27	Jonathan Aberdein	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	24.813
8	7	Bruno Spengler	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	38	28.460
9	31	Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	38	29.003
10	99	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	47.798
11	28	Loic Duval	Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM	38	47.902
12	62	Ferdinand Habsburg	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	38	48.678
13	76	Jake Dennis	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	38	51.588
14	23	Daniel Juncadella	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	38	1'14.053
15	34	Andrea Dovizioso	Audi RS5 DTM	38	1'16.392
	16	Timo Glock	BMW M4 Turbo DTM	8	30 Laps
	3	Paul di Resta	Aston Martin Vantage DTM	6	32 Laps
	11	Marco Wittmann	BMW M4 Turbo DTM
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