René Rast scores first win of the season for Audi
René Rast maximised a risky strategy to stay ahead of his competitors and take his and Audi Sport’s first win of the season, undercutting Mercedes’ Gary Paffett for the lead.
Paffett maintained first position at the start ahead of BMW’s Philipp Eng. Rast was slow off the line, but kept Pascal Wehrlein’s outside at Turn 1 to avoid losing third place. Rast and fellow Audi driver Nico Müller would come at the end of the first lap for their obligatory pit stop.
Paffett charged ahead, with Eng falling into Wehrlein’s and Paul Di Resta’s hands. BMW’s Bruno Spengler and Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller would soon join the group as Eng was three-tenths per lap slower than them.
Rockenfeller and Jamie Green pitted at the end of lap four, with Spengler and di Resta doing so on the following lap, as Eng was losing over a second a lap to Paffett. Eng pitted at the end of lap nine, falling behind Mercedes’ Daniel Juncadella, Rockenfeller and. Paffett came for his stop a lap later, exiting the pits behind Rast but ahead of di Resta.
Drama came on lap 11, as Robin Frijns’ electrical woes caused him to slow down and retire on the track. The Dutch managed to park his RS 5 DTM on an escape route, only causing a temporary yellow flag.
Eng got up to speed and soon closed the gap to Juncadella, who was struggling with his tyres in fourth place. The Spaniard lost to the Austrian, Rockenfeller, Müller, Farfus and Wittmann over the course of a lap.
Wehrlein pitted from the lead on lap 19, rejoining just ahead of Müller and Farfus, who got on one side of the Mercedes each. The Brazilian took advantage of the situation to pass both cars, gaining a position over the Swiss. Wehrlein got a warning for coming together with Wittmann.
Green collided with Spengler at Turn 1 on lap 21, sending the Canadian to the gravel trap. The safety car was deployed. Juncadella and Spengler pitted for a second set of new tyres. Spengler was pushed back to the track by the marshals. Green would later receive a drive through penalty for the incident.
The race was restarted on lap 24, with Paffett trying Rast’s outside at Turn 1. Duval and Wittmann came together at Turn 3, both sustaining damage and pitting for new tyres. Rockenfeller had to pit at the end of lap 28 with a puncture.
Paffett, who had kept the gap to Rast under a second, started closing the distance with five minutes to go. The reigning champion was faster in the second sector, but the Briton was superior in the other two. Rast managed to stay ahead to take Audi Sport’s first win of the season ahead of Paffett and di Resta.
Eng held up Farfus’ attacks to finish fourth, with Wehrlein sixth for Mercedes. Müller was seventh for Audi, with the Mercedes of Mortara and Auer next. Glock managed to climb up to tenth place and score a point despite starting last.
Paffett has extended his lead in the championship to 148 points, 27 ahead of di Resta and 47 over Glock.
The next round takes place at Brands Hatch on 10-12 of August.
