René Rast caught out by early slow zone but wouldn’t change strategy

Reigning champion René Rast finished fourth in the first race of the weekend at Brands Hatch, after running second at the end of the first lap before he opted to take his compulsory pit stop straight away.

Rast got the jump on Daniel Juncadella’s HWA Mercedes-AMG at the start and launched into second position, and then opted to stop along with five other cars, but when Audi stablemate Loїc Duval went off at Druids on cold tyres, the subsequent slow zone didn’t play in his favour.

“The safety car would have been better for us this time,” said Rast to TouringCarTimes. “The last few races we were disadvantaged by the safety car, while this time it would have been a bit better for us. I think we can be happy with fourth anyway, they were good points for the championship and Audi.”

On the early stop, Rast said it was still the right call, with all of the field having taken their stops within the first 15 laps of today’s 41 laps.

“I think our strategy was the right call today,” he said. “You can never plan for the safety car or slow zones.

“The quickest strategy is to stop mid race; but you have the risk of safety car or traffic, so normally if you’re ahead, stopping on lap one gives you the most advantage, then just bang out some good lap times. If you’re in traffic, it’s a bit more of a gamble.”