Zolder DTM: Rast back in title hunt after dominant win
Audi driver Rene Rast put himself back in DTM title contention with a commanding victory in the first race at Zolder, as points leader Nico Muller recovered from a poor qualifying to take third.
At the start of the race, Rast made his characteristically quick getaway from pole position to hold station into Turn 1, while both Robin Frijns and Mike Rockenfeller cleared a slow-starting Timo Glock to move up to second and third respectively.
Frijns initially kept the pressure on Rast for the lead, but the two-time champion put the hammer down on lap 6, building a one-second lead over his Audi stablemate.
The gap extended to 3.5 seconds over the next seven laps and, when Frijns came into the pits on lap 17, Rast's lead had grown to nearly five seconds.
Rast followed into the pits one lap later and was greeted by a clear track, aided by Frijns dropping behind an early-stopping Glock.
Frijns managed to overtake the BMW of Glock heading into Turn 1 on lap 24, but by that time Rast had built a healthy eight-second gap out front, which proved to be too big for Frijns to bridge.
Rast eventually took the chequered flag with a winning margin of over 18s, scoring his third victory of the season - and the first since the second Lausitzring round in August.
Muller spent the first quarter of the race stuck behind the WRT Audi of Harrison Newey, who had made a rapid getaway from eighth on the grid to move up to fifth.
After failing to make a pass on track, Muller leapfrogged the Briton with an early stop on lap 10 and then overtook Glock around the outside of the final chicane on lap 32, claiming the final spot on the podium.
However, with both Rast and Frijns finishing ahead, Muller relinquished ground to both his chief rivals in the championship, his lead shrinking to just 14 points with five races still to run.
Glock held on to fourth place ahead of Newey, who had passed Marco Wittmann earlier on to record his best result of the season in fifth.
Sheldon van der Linde (BMW) was classified sixth, while Ferdinand Habsburg made it two WRT Audis in the top 10 for only the second time in 2020 by finishing seventh.
Mike Rockenfeller suffered a disastrous 26-second pitstop that dropped him firmly at the back of the pack, but the Phoenix Audi driver staged a stunning recovery to take eighth at the flag ahead of the BMW of Philipp Eng.
Rockenfeller's teammate Loic Duval picked up the final championship point in 10th after overtaking the BMW of Lucas Auer with just two laps to run.
Formula 1 convert Robert Kubica was last of the classified finishers in 14th after having to make an extra pitstop with 13 laps still to run.
Wittmann was running in sixth place when he was forced to peel into the pits with an apparent engine issue, while Audi's Jame Green also retired from the race after picking up damage in an incident with Eng.
Race results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 |  René Rast |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 25 | |
| 2 | 4 |  Robin Frijns |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 18.800 | 18 |
| 3 | 51 |  Nico Müller |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 25.500 | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Timo Glock |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 38.500 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |  Harrison Newey |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 39.000 | 10 |
| 6 | 31 |  Sheldon Van Der Linde |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 43.600 | 8 |
| 7 | 62 |  Ferdinand Habsburg |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 44.900 | 6 |
| 8 | 99 | Mike Rockenfeller |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 45.400 | 4 |
| 9 | 25 | Philipp Eng |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 48.400 | 2 |
| 10 | 28 |  Loic Duval |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'03.700 | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Jonathan Aberdein |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'05.200 | |
| 12 | 22 | Lucas Auer |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'06.200 | |
| 13 | 13 | Fabio Scherer |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | 1'12.100 | |
| 14 | 8 |  Robert Kubica |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | ||
| 15 | 11 | Marco Wittmann |
BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020 | ||
| 18 | 53 | Jamie Green |
Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020 | ||
| View full results | |||||
Zolder DTM: Rast snatches pole from Glock in damp qualifying
Zolder DTM: Glock scores BMW's first pole of 2020
Vettel: Returning to F1 paddock after retirement will be a "weird moment"
Sebastian Vettel is confident he will be back in the Formula 1 paddock “to have a look” in the future, but thinks it will be “a difficult or weird moment.”
Sato fastest as Super Formula rookie test comes to close
Nakajima Racing's Ren Sato concluded Super Formula's post-season rookie test at Suzuka with the fastest time, narrowly eclipsing TOM'S driver Ritomo Miyata.
F1 announces Zandvoort contract extension until end of 2025
Formula 1 has confirmed that Zandvoort will continue to host the Dutch Grand Prix and remain on the calendar for at least another three years after signing a contract extension.
Calendar revealed for new fourth Supercars tier
The 2023 calendar for the revived V8 Touring Car Series, which will effectively act as an unofficial fourth Supercars tier, has been unveiled.
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer...
How the DTM has come back stronger from its Norisring nadir
OPINION: Questionable driving standards and farcical team orders meant the DTM's first season under GT3 regulations ended under a cloud. But the organisation has responded firmly by banning team orders and welcomed new manufacturers, making for an intriguing season ahead as new and returning names prepare for battle.
The remarkable career of 'classy' champion Martin Tomczyk
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of teammates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Motorsport.com to look back.
Jamie Green: The other Hamilton conqueror seeking career revival
On his rise through the ranks before reaching Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton was usually a cut above the rest. But he never truly asserted himself over a Mercedes-backed fellow Briton who traded single-seaters for touring cars and is now seeking new opportunities after a year largely spent on the sidelines.
How the DTM's shambolic finale poses awkward future questions
OPINION: The scenes at the Norisring as Mercedes used blatant team orders to secure the first DTM title of the new GT3 era totally undermined the credibility of the championship. But as well as overshadowing the season, it also presents uncomfortable questions to series bosses about the direction it is headed in.
How Audi's new DTM flagbearer is closing on his "childhood dream"
Having learned the ropes in GT3 alongside Rene Rast, Kelvin van der Linde is in line to take up the three-time champion's baton as Audi's new DTM king. From humble origins in South Africa, it's been a remarkable journey so far for the current series leader, but he knows that the 2021 title is a long way from settled just yet.
The number-crunching behind the new-look DTM's equalisation drive
Switching to GT3 regulations marked a fresh start for the DTM in 2021, but it has also drawn a line in the sand against other series using similar cars by engaging AVL Racing to develop a bespoke Balance of Performance system. Here’s how it works.
The initial verdict on DTM's move to GT3 cars
OPINION: Facing collapse last year, the DTM has shifted its philosophy from a championship for silhouette-based touring cars to GT machines not too dissimilar to those racing across multiple series worldwide. But despite some initial BoP-based teething troubles, there were some pleasant findings as the 'new DTM' got underway at Monza