DTM: “Quattro” Rast
The two-time DTM champion René Rast won all four of the races at Zolder, Belgium, in his Audi RS 5 DTM and has turned a 47-point deficit into a 19-point lead within nine days. The German claimed 109 of 112 possible points in Belgium – maybe his masterpiece. After his fourth consecutive victory, title defender Rast will travel as the leader of the standings to the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring, which will take place on November 7 and 8.
Rast in a class of his own
At the start of the second Zolder weekend, Rast was again in a class of his own: pole position, victory and the fastest lap in Saturday’s race. In the turbulent race on Sunday, in which only ten cars crossed the finish line, Rast had to fight hard for his sixth victory of the season, especially during the opening laps. After two Indy restarts, Rast managed to fend off all of the attacks from his fiercest rival for the title, Nico Müller. Rast also successfully countered an undercut by Müller, who came into the pits one lap before him. After his pit stop, Rast not only remained in front of the Swiss, but he also returned to the track ahead of Ferdinand Habsburg, who had led the race up to that point.
Müller keeps title chances alive
Nico Müller suffered another setback in the title fight. The previous leader of the standings was pushed wide on the opening lap on Saturday, dropping him to the second-last position. After an early pit stop, Müller moved forward to sixth place, but still lost the lead of the drivers’ standings to René Rast.
With second place on Sunday, Nico Müller kept his chances of winning the title alive. From fifth place on the grid, the Swiss immediately moved up to third. However, unlike Rast, he was unable to drive in open air after his pit stop. “It was particularly frustrating that Jamie (Green) put up such a massive fight on cold tires, which was unnecessary,” said Müller. “For the finale at Hockenheim, it’s now ‘all-in!’ It is a track from which I have very good memories. I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to make René’s life difficult there.”
Ups and downs for Frijns
With a gap of 41 points, Müller’s teammate Robin Frijns now only has an outside chance for the title. The Dutchman finished the first race in second place, he was taken out of the race on Sunday through no fault of his own in a collision between BMW driver Jonathan Aberdein and Fabio Scherer. “I had overtaken Fabio shortly before the accident and didn’t even realize what was happening behind me,” said Frijns. “All of a sudden, I felt a hard hit and the race was over. It is very disappointing.”
Record for Audi
In the morning, Ferdinand Habsburg from WRT Team Audi Sport clinched the first pole position for a customer team in the modern era of the DTM. The Austrian sealed a new record: It was the 15th pole position for Audi this year. Never before has a manufacturer achieved more than 14 pole positions in a single DTM season.
DTM Zolder, results documents to download
Race 1
1 page, EN
184.8 KB
Race 2
1 page, EN
188.3 KB
Standings
4 pages, EN
376.3 KB
Zolder
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