Six-pack! Audi driver Rast wins DTM finale as well

“What an incredible year, what a comeback!” Rast said after the finale in which he still bumped Mercedes-Benz driver Paul Di Resta from second place in the overall classification. “I’m very proud of Audi Sport, Team Rosberg and of myself, too. We had a tough start to the season, but never gave up, kept improving the car and also made progress in terms of strategy. All of the Audi drivers worked together fantastically as a team. Only by doing so, was it possible to keep the title dream open up until the end. Ultimately, it wasn’t quite enough. That’s a little bit of a shame, but Gary (Paffett) and Mercedes-Benz deserved to win. They were strong throughout the whole year.”

Following Audi’s altogether difficult start to the season, Rast, after nine races and a deficit of 104 points, was ranked in a distant 15th position in the standings. However, the Audi driver managed to make up 100 points and won seven races. His triumph in the finale was particularly dominant: Rast took the lead with a perfect start from the front row, achieved a clear advantage and subsequently controlled the pace up until the finish.

Nico Müller and Robin Frijns from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline made for maximum suspense in the final stage of the race: Both pitted late and on fresh tires made up position by position. “If the race had been one or two laps longer, we might have still managed to overtake Gary (Paffett) and could have made René (Rast) champion after all,” said Müller who crossed the finish line 1.7 seconds behind Paffett. “Even so, all of us can be proud of what we’ve still achieved. The final weekend with this fantastic crowd was simply mega. That clearly speaks for our sport, the championship and the DTM – I’m already looking forward to the future.”