(Motorsport-Total.com) – 13 points: This is the deficit that Nico Müller has to catch up with Rene Rast in qualifying and the race of the last round of the 2020 DTM season if he prevents his Audi brand colleague from winning the third title and wants to crown himself DTM champion for the first time. A considerable mortgage, but not an unrealistic goal in view of a maximum of 28 points to be awarded.
© Audi
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Jamie Green doesn’t want to tip the scales Zoom
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The two title rivals cannot hope for one thing at the final showdown: active support from their teammates. Both Müller’s Abt team-mate Robin Frijns and Jamie Green, who drives alongside Rast for Rosberg, do not want to align their races with the colleagues’ title fight.
“I wanted to win the race today. There’s still another race tomorrow, and I think I’ll be fast enough this weekend,” said Green after finishing third on Saturday in the final race of the Class 1 era for his first win of the season.
Green: “Knows what’s at stake for both of them”
“But I also know what is at stake for both of them. I don’t want to tip the scales with a risky maneuver and an incident with either of them,” the experienced Brit explains. “I don’t want to interfere, but I also don’t want to give up a possible victory. I have to find this compromise.”
DTM title fight 2020: Rast against Müller
Audi competitors Rene Rast and Nico Müller before the season finale in Hockenheim – who will win? More DTM videos
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Frijns also does not want to intervene in the championship decision in favor of his teammate. “If I am in a position where I can be nice to him, then I will certainly not interfere in the championship, to put it that way,” says the Dutchman, who was eliminated from the title fight on Saturday in seventh place.
How difficult it is to put such intentions into practice became evident in Saturday’s race. After Rast’s failed pit stop, Frijns and Green passed him briefly. However, Rast was able to overtake both of them quickly. But on the last lap of the race Green drove directly behind him and almost intervened in the fight for the title.
Shock moment on Saturday: Green takes a break in the rear
However, in a completely different way than those responsible at Rosberg would have imagined. In the hairpin bend, Green drove his team-mate slightly into the rear. what happened there? “He wanted to place himself well against Nico and I underestimated how slow he would be at this point. So that was a very light kiss,” explains Green. “Hopefully it didn’t hinder him at the corner exit – and his chances of making a maneuver.”
DTM 2020: close duel keeps title fight going
The Audi competitors Rene Rast and Nico Müller in the lead duel: delicate maneuvers, contact and teammates More DTM videos
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For the two title rivals, the starting position before the Sunday race is clear: Müller cannot become champions on his own. Even with a pole position and another race win for the Swiss, a second place in the race would be enough for Rast to successfully defend his title. Müller needs help in some form.
“I don’t wish anyone any bad luck, but we definitely need a bit of a chaotic race tomorrow,” he says. “It will be an uphill battle again. We have to take every single point with us now. And even if we can do that, it’s still not in our hands. We need a little luck.”
Müller wants to “push to the checkered flag”
But one thing is certain for Müller: “We’ll push to the checkered flag. And then we’ll see how it goes. But I won’t start doing the math until the race. I can only do one thing: See that I win.”
For Rast, on the other hand, it would be sufficient if he repeated the performance on Saturday. “I think we don’t have to do much differently,” he says. “If we score a few points in qualifying tomorrow and finish third in the race if Nico wins, that should be enough. That is our job.”
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