René Rast: “This is how DTM should be”

Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver René Rast secured his 18th DTM victory in a hard-fought race on Sunday at the Lausitzring.

Fellow Audi drivers Nico Müller and Robin Frijns didn’t make life easy for the reigning champion, who crossed the line with a car’s length over Müller for his first win of the year.

Rast qualified in third place on the grid, unable to get ahead of the Team Abt Sportsline drivers. At the start, the reigning champion overtook Müller and went side-by-side with Frijns at Turn 1, going onto the grass but still managing to keep his position. Both drivers came together again in a similar fashion a few laps later, with Frijns ordered to give the position back.

In the closing stages of the race Rast, with much older tyres than Müller, saw how the Swiss racer closed the gap, with the pair coming to the chequered flag separated by less than a hundredth of a second.

“The race was quite entertaining, also for us inside,” said Rast after the race. “It was tough, but that’s how DTM should be.

“I started P3, I was ahead of Nico at Turn 1, Robin blocked the inside and I went on the outside and then I went a bit onto the gravel and the grass and then we continued this fight for the next couple of laps. We pitted quite early to cover ourselves.”

Rast led the race comfortably, but knew that Müller would be a threat in the last stages.

“In the end Robin’s tyres were giving up and I knew that Nico would be coming, because he pitted later,” he said. “The last two laps he came closer and closer. I had expected the race to be one lap shorter, according to my calculations.”

Sunday’s performance is a stark difference to Saturday’s, when Rast could only manage to finish in seventh place.

“I think our comeback was very important,” he said. “Yesterday I was a long way away, didn’t have the pace.

“Today I could fight for the victory again, so we made a big improvement on the car, we turn everything inside out, and I’m very happy we made that switch.”

Rast is second in the championship after the second round of the season with 61 points, 39 behind Müller.