Race report

DTM Nurburgring: Rene Rast bolts to victory, Lucas Auer regains points lead

Rene Rast charges to a commanding victory in the second DTM race at the Nurburgring round, as Lucas Auer takes third to regain the championship lead

Schubert BMW’s Rene Rast charged from seventh on the grid to a dominant victory in the second DTM race of the Nurburgring weekend.

The three-time DTM champion took the lead after just six laps and went on to control proceedings ahead of team-mate Marco Wittmann in second, with Lucas Auer completing the podium in third for Landgraf Mercedes to reclaim the championship lead.

Unlike Saturday’s race, when the chaotic start caused an early race stoppage, the drivers kept it clean as Ben Dorr held the lead from pole, followed by Auer and Rast.

But the BMW driver wasn’t done yet and went after Auer for second place. At the start of lap four, the 38-year-old passed the Landgraf Mercedes driver and set about after Dorr, catching him two laps later, and pulled clear of the field.

Shortly after the first pit window opened, Jules Gounon was the first to stop for fresh tyres, but the Winward Mercedes driver suffered an issue with the left-front wheel, losing a lot of time and dropping down the order.

Timo Glock was also among the early stoppers, but his stop lasted unusually long, as it later transpired a gearbox problem with his Dorr McLaren forced him to retire.

Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Race leader Rast came in last for his first stop, but nothing changed at the front, as the Schubert BMW driver stayed ahead of Auer and Wittmann, who battled over second place – Wittmann clearly faster at this point but couldn’t find a way past.

Saturday’s winner Jack Aitken was hit from behind by Land Audi’s Ricardo Feller, spinning the Emil Frey Ferrari driver around, which earned the Swiss driver three penalty laps that dropped him out of the points.

At the second round of stops Auer pitted before Wittmann, but a left-front issue caused a lengthy stop for the Mercedes driver and allowed the Schubert BMW driver through to second without a fight.

But at the front Rast cruised to his 30th DTM victory in his career with an almost 8s gap to team-mate Wittmann.

Maro Engel finished fourth for Winward Mercedes, followed by Ayhancan Guven (Manthey Porsche) and HRT Ford driver Arjun Maini.

Comtoyou Aston Martin driver Gilles Magnus claimed seventh, his best DTM result so far, ahead of polesitter Dorr after two slow pitstops. Jordan Pepper (Grasser Lamborghini) and Thomas Preining (Manthey Porsche) completed the top 10, with former points leader Aitken coming home in 16th after his tangle with Feller.

The next two DTM races will take place in just two weeks’ time 22-24 August at the Sachsenring.