DTM Racing : Muller takes dominant win for Audi at Portimao [VIDEO]

The Swiss driver made a clean start from pole and was already a second up the road by lap 3, as Fraga moved past the Grasser Racing Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti to grab second.

Fraga was the first frontrunner to head to the pitlane, switching to a fresh set of tires as soon as the pit window opened at the end of lap 6.

Muller dived into the pits a lap later to cover the Brazilian racer and duly rejoined the track with an increased lead of two seconds. Bortolotti remained behind the duo in third after his pitstop lap 8.

Fraga tried to pressure Muller with the fastest lap of the race on the next tour, but the Team Rosberg driver was never really threatened as he cruised to a comfortable win with an extended margin of 3.4s.

Bortolotti couldn’t challenge either Muller or Fraga with 5kg of ballast on his Lamborghini, having previously led much of Saturday’s race until a technical issue struck him at the restart. Still, the third-place finish means he leaves Portimao as the championship leader.

Walkenhorst BMW driver Marco Wittmann rebounded from a DNF on Saturday to finish fourth in the weekend’s second race, passing the Winward Mercedes of Maximilian Gotz into Turn 1 at the start of lap 16.

Gotz had risen from 10th to fifth on the opening lap and gained a different position over the struggling Lucas Auer after his pitstop but couldn’t continue his charge in the second half of the race, ending up fifth ahead of the top Abt Audi of Kelvin van der Linde.

Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor secured a solid haul of points for SSR Performance in seventh, four seconds clear of the Schubert BMW of Sheldon van der Linde. Completing the top 10 were Abt Audi driver Ricardo Feller and GruppeM Mercedes’ Maro Engel. Rene Rast’s search for first points on his DTM return continued as he struggled to 12th place in the third of the three Abt Audis, having retired from Saturday’s opening race due to contact at the restart.

WRC legend Sebastien Loeb rounded off his maiden weekend in the DTM in 18th after pitting as late as lap 22 of 33, gaining one place towards the end on fresh tires. Saturday race winner Auer ran in a net fifth position early in the race but dropped the order shortly after his mandatory stop. He was forced to peel back into the pits shortly afterward, suggesting he may not have fitted his tire the first time correctly. The Austrian driver managed to stay on the lead lap but crossed the line in 22nd place.

DTM Portimao – Sunday race results:

 Cla    Nº     Driver  Car / Engine  Laps  Time  Delay/Retirement