René Rast sails to Nürburgring victory and edges closer to title

Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s René Rast drove a perfect DTM race to take a lights-to-flag victory at the Nürburgring, his sixth of the season. Fellow Audi driver and title rival Nico Müller jumped the start and finished out of the points with a failed tyre strategy, meaning that Rast is getting closer to securing the title.

R-Motorsport’s Jake Dennis had to start from the pit lane due to a technical problem with his Aston Martin Vantage DTM that forced the team to break the parc fermé rules. BMW Team RBM’s Philipp Eng started from the back of the grid as his team also had to break the parc fermé to fix gearbox problems that hampered the Austrian during the qualifying session.

The start saw Müller getting ahead of BMW Team RMG’s Bruno Spengler to claim second place behind Rast, although the Swiss received a drive-through penalty for a jumped start.

Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller also overtook Spengler to take third place not long after. Müller completed his penalty at the end of the third lap, returning to a clear track and tried to regain lost time. Three laps later the Swiss completed his obligatory pit stop.

At the front, Rast already had a five-second lead over Rockenfeller by lap ten. WRT’s Jonathan Aberdein attacked Spengler for third place at the chicane and slid as he jumped over the kerb. BMW Team RBM’s Sheldon van der Linde took advantage to overtake his fellow countryman for fourth place. Both Aberdein and Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green pitted at the end of lap 12.

Rast pitted from the lead at the end of lap 16, with Rockenfeller mirroring the move on the same lap.

Wittmann pitted at the end of lap 20 and came under fire from Green and Aberdein. The Team RMG driver managed to fend off both drivers, with Green instead falling behind as he defended from the South African. Rockenfeller retired to the pits at the end of lap 25 from second place with a puncture.

Müller started struggling with his tyres with 15 minutes to go of the race, coming under fire from di Resta. The R-Motorsport driver was pushed onto the grass by the Audi driver in their fight, with the Swiss pitting again at the end of lap 30 and falling away from the points.

Rast continued unchallenged to his sixth victory of the season, edging closer to this year’s crown. Spengler held his ground to finish second, with Wittmann recovering to third.

Aberdein struggled to finish fourth at the chequered flag, closely followed by Green and Team Phoenix’s Loïc Ducal Van der Linde crossed the line in seventh place with Team RBM’s Joel Eriksson in eighth position.

All R-Motorsport drivers finished outside of the points, with Daniel Juncadella the best placed driver for the Swiss outfit in eleventh position.

With Müller only managing 16th position, Rast heads the standings on 262 points, 47 ahead of Müller and 80 over Wittmann, who still has a slim mathematical chance for the title.

The DTM returns to the track on Sunday morning at 10:25 CEST for the qualifying session ahead of Race 2.