René Rast: “I’m not focussing on the championship any more”

Reigning champion René Rast has said he’s no longer looking at the points table, and is focussing on single race results after Audi Sport’s tough start to the 2018 DTM season has almost put them out of contention for the drivers’ title.

Rast is the best-placed Audi driver in the standings on 77 points after six of ten events, 100 points behind current points leader Gary Paffett. Although his rivals have declared they wouldn’t dare write off last year’s champion, especially after the 31-year-old’s form in recent events, Rast says his eyes are on race results only.

“I’m not focussing on the championship any more,” he said to TouringCarTimes. “We’re looking for single results; but obviously the last three races have gone very well for us. A victory at Zandvoort, a fourth place and a podium (at Brands Hatch), so if we can continue like this, it’s very positive. The main thing is we now have the pace to fight for the victory which is promising for the next couple of races.

“We made progress in Zandvoort, and then another step here. Mercedes is still a tiny step ahead but we were definitely quicker than BMW this weekend. Compared to the beginning of the season, we’ve made good progress, but we need to make another step to get ahead of the Mercedes in qualifying.”