René Rast scores sensational first DTM victory at the Hungaroring
Audi Sport driver René Rast drove an intelligent race at the Hungaroring to take his first victory in the DTM, finishing ahead of Mattias Ekström and Maxime Martin. The result, together with Lucas Auer’s retirement, means that the German now leads the drivers’ standings.
Rast held first position when the lights went out, with fellow Audi driver Nico Müller jumping to second place ahead of BMW’s Marco Wittmann and Ekström. Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller, who had to start from the pit lane due to a brake issue, and BMW’s Martin, pitted for new tyres at the end of the first lap. Mercedes driver Maro Engel received a five-second pit stop penalty for being in an inaccurate position on the starting grid.
On lap four there were pit stops for Ekström, Audi driver Loïc Duval and Mercedes’ Edoardo Mortara, with Jamie Green climbing to fourth position and pressuring Wittmann.
Ekström was already up to 12th position after his early stop, driving a second a lap faster than the race leaders. Green pitted on lap nine, being undercut by Martin and Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta. Wittmann changed his tyres two laps later, managing to stay ahead of the Audi.
By lap 13, the entire field had completed their obligatory pit stop, with Engel the only exception and now leading the race. Ekström was second, followed by Rast and Martin.
Engel pitted from the lead on lap 19, having to complete his five-second penalty. The German driver fell to last, leaving Ekström in the lead ahead of Rast, with both Audis almost matching their pace and keeping the distance between them around eight-tenths of a second.
Standings leader Auer retired at the end of lap 23, parking his Mercedes in his pit garage due to a technical issue. Green managed to overtake di Resta at Turn 1 on lap 27, taking sixth and started to close the gap to Wittmann, taking fifth two laps later.
Further ahead, Rast, who had closed the gap to Ekström to just half a second, used the DRS for the first time at the beginning of lap 31 to take the lead of the race from the Swede. On the following lap, Gary Paffett tried to overtake Rockenfeller for tenth, with the Audi pushing the Mercedes out of the track at Turn 1. Rockenfeller received a warning for the manoeuvre.
The last lap of the race started with the top four drivers separated by less than two seconds. Rast held onto the lead until the chequered flag, scoring his first DTM victory with Ekström in second place. Martin completed the podium, with Müller unable to beat the Belgian despite trying hard in the last lap.
Green was fifth, followed by yesterday’s winner di Resta. Timo Glock scored points for the second time this weekend in seventh, followed by Mercedes drivers Robert Wickens and Paffett. Rockenfeller was tenth, collecting the final point.
The next round of the DTM takes place at the Norisring in two weeks time.
