NUREMBERG, Germany — René Rast celebrated his first victory of the DTM season on Saturday on the street circuit in Nuremberg.
The BMW driver from Schubert Motorsport did not let the sudden rain get to him, stayed on slicks and was waved off as the winner after 69 laps. This put the three-time DTM champion back on the top step of the podium at the Norisring after four podium places in the past two years.
The event was broadcast LIVE by SPEED SPORT 1.
“For me, the Norisring is one of the best tracks on the calendar, this victory feels gigantic,” Rast said. “It got a bit louder on the radio because I absolutely wanted to continue driving with slicks despite the rain. It was a brave decision, but it paid off.”
Rast’s strategy also paid off for Franck Perera from the Lamborghini Team TGI by GRT and his teammate Luca Engstler, who took second and third place after a turbulent race.
As It Happened
Saturday’s race at the Norisring began in bright sunshine with a good start by polesitter Jack Aitken in the Ferrari 296 GT3 from Emil Frey Racing.
Behind the Briton, Sheldon van der Linde, Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti, Maro Engel in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Rast were in second to fifth place. Because rain had been forecast, the top drivers made their mandatory pit stops very late in order to be able to react to a possible change in the weather.
Almost all drivers stayed on the Pirelli slicks. However, Aitken lost two places and had to let Sheldon van der Linde and Bortolotti pass. Rast followed in fourth place, with fifth place at the time being was table leader Kelvin van der Linde in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 from Abt Sportsline. Shortly afterwards, the forecast rainfall set in and almost the entire field switched to rain tires.
Rast took the lead on slicks ahead of Perera, who also decided against rain tires despite the partially wet track. This strategy worked perfectly. The competitors were only able to reduce the gap slightly as the race progressed and even drove slower lap times in the final phase.
Engstler benefited from this. The Lamborghini driver had started the race in 15th place and fought his way up to third place on the podium on the dry tires in the final laps. Nicki Thiim came fourth, relegating his teammate Bortolotti to fifth place after an overtaking maneuver in the last corner.
Sixth place went to Kelvin von der Linde. The South African defended his lead in the overall standings ahead of Bortolotti and Rast. His brother Sheldon finished seventh in the second BMW from Schubert Motorsport.
Engel finished the seventh DTM race of the season in eighth place, while long-time leader Aitken had to settle for ninth place. Lamborghini driver Maximilian Paul finished 10th.
Race Two at Norisring airs LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1 on Sunday at 7:15 a.m. ET.