A perfect weekend: Rast scores historic success at the Nurburgring

Rene Rast grabs lead at start

Rene Rast has made history at the Nurburgring: like on the previous day, the 2017 DTM champion first claimed pole position and then went on to win the race on Sunday. Thus, he became the first driver to score the maximum number of 56 points on one weekend.

“That is an unbelievable moment," an overjoyed Rast commented after crossing the finish line. “I really am lost for words." Mercedes-AMG driver Paul Di Resta finished second in the 16th race of the season after having progressed from eleventh on the grid. With his BMW, Marco Wittmann rounded out the podium in the Eifel. Thus, like on Saturday, all three manufacturers were represented on the podium. With four races remaining this season, the gaps in the DTM drivers’ standings have become even smaller: Gary Paffett (206 points) remains in the lead, but he is only two points ahead of Di Resta (204). Rast (149) is now third in the standings.

René Rast was the undisputed man of the weekend. A pair of pole positions and two race wins, a feat that nobody else had achieved prior to the reigning champion. At Zandvoort this season, Gary Paffett had come close, but on Sunday, it was Rast who won the race while Paffett came second. “It is hard to find words to describe the weekend at the Nurburgring. It will be almost impossible to top this in the next races. I was on the second page of the drivers’ standings and now I am in third place," Rast summed up his impressions. What looked easy from the grandstands and on the screens, was hard work for the 31-year-old. “Now, we are looking ahead. Everything is possible and many things can happen. We have closed the gap." Rast was presented with the trophy for the sixth DTM race win in his career by FIA President Jean Todt.

Another one who has closed the gap again is Paul Di Resta. With second place in the race on Sunday, he reduced the gap to Paffett in the drivers’ standings. With four races remaining, only two points separate the two Mercedes-AMG teammates. “Unlike yesterday, things were really going well today. Making it from eleventh place on the grid to finish second is by no means evident in the DTM," the Scot commented. Marco Wittmann was also happy. After finishing fourth on Saturday, the German came third on Sunday. “Prior to the race, I was already optimistic, even though ninth place on the grid wasn’t the best position to start from. Of course, we have also benefited from others having bad luck, but we also did a good job in working our way up. I am happy for my RMG team that I have at least scored a podium finish in the team’s home race."

One of the drivers who had bad luck on Sunday was the leader in the drivers’ standings, Gary Paffett. His mandatory pit stop on lap 19 took 11.1 seconds due to problems with the change of the right rear wheel. Instead of in second place behind Rast, he rejoined the race four places further down and ended up fifth behind Bruno Spengler (BMW).

In a fortnight, DTM action continues with the penultimate round of the year in Spielberg (Austria). From 21-23 September, 2018, the 18 DTM drivers from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG will be taking on the 17th and 18th race of the season at the circuit in Styria.

Race 2 Results

POS	DRIVER	TEAM	CAR	LAPS	GAP
1	Rene Rast	Rosberg	Audi	40	0.000s
2	Paul Di Resta	HWA	Mercedes	40	2.739s
3	Marco Wittmann	RMG	BMW	40	3.439s
4	Bruno Spengler	RBM	BMW	40	5.643s
5	Gary Paffett	HWA	Mercedes	40	7.177s
6	Joel Eriksson	RBM	BMW	40	7.862s
7	Augusto Farfus	RMG	BMW	40	14.802s
8	Philipp Eng	RMR	BMW	40	16.174s
9	Pascal Wehrlein	HWA	Mercedes	40	30.606s
10	Robin Frijns	Abt	Audi	40	30.903s
11	Loic Duval	Phoenix	Audi	40	34.347s
12	Mike Rockenfeller	Phoenix	Audi	40	36.185s
13	Nico Muller	Abt	Audi	40	36.445s
14	Edoardo Mortara	HWA	Mercedes	40	1m02.439s
15	Jamie Green	Rosberg	Audi	40	1m03.843s
16	Timo Glock	RMR	BMW	40	1m16.234s
17	Daniel Juncadella	HWA	Mercedes	38	DNF
18	Lucas Auer	HWA	Mercedes	33	DNF

Race 1

Rene Rast

The 2017 DTM champion continues his upward trend: at the Nurburgring, René Rast scored his second victory of the season. The German won the 15th race of the DTM season from Bruno Spengler (BMW) and Gary Paffett (Mercedes-AMG). For Rast, it was a perfect Saturday. With pole position and the race win, the 31-year-old achieved the maximum score of 28 points and crowned it with the fastest race lap. “Today, I am really happy," he said in the winner’s interview. “I never achieved the maximum score so far. Things can continue like this. But doing even better tomorrow will be difficult." With his second win of the season, Rast moved up from seventh to fifth in the drivers’ standings. Another one to improve his championship position was Gary Paffett, who moved back up past Paul Di Resta and is now in the lead with 194 points.

In the process, things got difficult for Rast in the closing stages of the race. Spengler had quickly reduced the gap to the leader. However, it wasn’t enough to mount a challenge. “Bruno was extremely fast. Had the race been just a few laps longer, it would have become really close for me," Rast analyzed. While he celebrated his fifth DTM race win, Spengler was delighted with his first major success of the 2018 season. The last time the BMW driver was on the podium was at Moscow in 2017. “This was a great day for us, a second-place finish is always good. In the past, we had a lot of bad luck. Today, we were consistent from the first until the final lap." Third-placed Gary Paffett was not entirely happy with the result, he had hoped for more after starting second on the grid. “Of course, you always want to score as many points as possible and I had hoped to end up further at the front. Nevertheless, these were extremely important points for the drivers’ standings," the 2005 champion commented. In the final stages, he came under attack from Timo Glock, but managed to defend his position against the fourth-placed.

In the DTM drivers’ standings, Paffett reclaimed the lead. After 15 races, he is in the lead with 194 points from his fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Di Resta (186), who didn’t score any points in the race at the Nurburgring on Saturday following a collision with Philipp Eng. Edoardo Mortara (138, Mercedes-AMG) is third from Marco Wittmann (122, BMW), who was rewarded with ten points for finishing fifth. Race winner Rast has made a huge step, he is fifth in the standings with 121 points.

Race 1 Results

POS	DRIVER	TEAM	CAR	LAPS	GAP
1	Rene Rast	Rosberg	Audi	40	0.000s
2	Bruno Spengler	RBM	BMW	40	0.862s
3	Gary Paffett	HWA	Mercedes	40	6.862s
4	Timo Glock	RMR	BMW	40	7.277s
5	Marco Wittmann	RMG	BMW	40	10.048s
6	Mike Rockenfeller	Phoenix	Audi	40	23.208s
7	Pascal Wehrlein	HWA	Mercedes	40	26.827s
8	Loic Duval	Phoenix	Audi	40	27.401s
9	Augusto Farfus	RMG	BMW	40	35.685s
10	Nico Muller	Abt	Audi	40	36.243s
11	Lucas Auer	HWA	Mercedes	40	40.143s
12	Joel Eriksson	RBM	BMW	40	43.488s
13	Edoardo Mortara	HWA	Mercedes	40	43.664s
14	Jamie Green	Rosberg	Audi	40	45.384s
15	Daniel Juncadella	HWA	Mercedes	40	47.909s
16	Philipp Eng	RMR	BMW	40	54.210s
17	Robin Frijns	Abt	Audi	40	56.215s
18	Paul Di Resta	HWA	Mercedes	40	1m04.040s