Marco Wittmann has won the Saturday DTM race in Assen. The two-time champion was able to hold off title rivals Nico Müller and Rene Rast to win a race dominated by wet weather conditions.
The race got underway behind the safety car due to adverse weather conditions, but was green flagged shortly afterwards. Wittmann then remained in the lead of the race for the majority of proceedings until both himself and rival Rast passed by Nico Müller after their respective pitstops. Müller decided to make good use of a drying TT Circuit to stay out until lap 25. In doing so, he was able to extend his lead and stay ahead of the chasing pair with the overcut.
Müller struggled to get his Hankook tyres up to temperature however, and was quickly passed by a surging Wittmann. Wittmann went on to take the win, while Müller fended off Rast to finish second and third respectively. BMW stablemates Philipp Eng and Timo Glock completed the top five.
South African rookie Jonathan Aberdein had a strong showing in his Team WRT Audi RS5 DTM, finishing a commendable sixth ahead of veterans Jamie Green, Loic Duval and Mike Rockenfeller. His compatriot Sheldon van der Linde took tenth away from Pietro Fittipaldi on the final lap, completing a strong recovery drive after having been spun round by Bruno Spengler in the opening laps.
Ferdinand Habsburg was the best finisher for R-Motorsport in twelfth, ahead of team-mates Jake Dennis and Paul di Resta. The latter competed much of the race without a windscreen wiper after it came off before the halfway point of the race. Bruno Spengler and Joel Eriksson were the last of the classified finisher, while Daniel Juncadella retired with a mechanical issue in the early stages.
Finally, local hero Robin Frijns had a forgettable afternoon in front of his home crowd. He was forced to start from the back after an oil leak was discovered post-qualifying. To make matters worse, the Dutchman lost control of his Audi on lap 21, crashing and ending his race early.
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