Photo: DTM Media

René Rast takes his third consecutive win of the season in chaotic race at the Red Bull Ring

Audi Sport’s René Rast took his third win in a row, also his fourth of the year in an incident-packed race at the Red Bull Ring, which was twice held up behind the safety car, and featured late-race drama as race leader Daniel Juncadella was hit with a last lap drive-through penalty which handed Rast the win.

At the start Juncadella launched away from pole and kept first position, but alongside him, BMW Team RMG’s Timo Glock hesitated after slightly moving before the lights went out, which allowed. Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller to take second place.

Audi Sport Team Abt driver Robin Frijns was involved in contact with BMW Team RBM’s Philipp Eng at Turn 2, with Frijns spinning and hitting fellow Audi driver Loïc Duval, with Mercedes-AMG’s Gary Paffett caught up in the aftermath.

Due to incident, the safety car was called into action because of the debris on the track, which stayed out for three laps.

Juncadella maintained his the lead at the restart but Rockenfeller soon challenged the Spaniard at Turn 2, taking the lead.

Championship leader Paffett was on a mission to recover lost ground, but spent a lap stuck behind the wild card Mercedes-AMG entry for Sébastien Ogier, losing a second and a half to Audi’s Jamie Green and the rest of the pack.

Juncadella closed the gap to Rockenfeller on lap 13, and managed to get within DRS distance as the use of the system was reinstated by the race director after being disabled due to the earlier damp conditions.

Audi drivers Nico Müller and Green came for their obligatory pit stop at the end of lap 14, clearing the air for Paffett to continue his charge forward.

Juncadella took the lead back from Rockenfeller at Turn 2 on lap 15, quickly opening a gap of over a second. Mercedes-AMG’s Paul Di Resta was the first of the front-runners to change tyres, doing so at the end of the lap, but lost a position to Müller as he returned to the track on cold tyres.

Paffett pitted a lap later, with the Mercedes-AMG crew completing a quick stop. On the following lap, Glock, Wittmann and Audi’s René Rast came in together, with the three challenging each other as Müller and di Resta caught up with them quickly on warmer tyres.

Glock blocked his front tyres at Turn 2 on lap 19, losing three places to Wittmann, Rast and Müller. Juncadella also pitted at the end of the lap, returning to the track with an ample margin over Rockenfeller.

The fight for third position was far from over, with Müller overtaking Rast at Turn 2 on lap 20 and trying a move on Wittmann on the following corner, but losing again to the reigning champion, who attacked the BMW on the following lap, with both spending half a lap side by side. Wittmann received a warning for pushing Rast sideways.

Paffett was pushed off the track at Turn 2 on lap 25 by HWA team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, with the Briton losing three positions and falling further away from the points. Wehrlein received a warning for the incident.

Hostilities opened up at the front with nine minutes to go, with Rast attacking Wittmann at Turn 2 on lap 32, with both running wide as the BMW driver defended from the Audi. That allowed Müller and di Resta to overtake Rast, with di Resta also attacking Wittmann, but then Timo Glock stopped with a technical problem at Turn 3, with the safety car called for the second time and neutralising the race for two laps.

At the restart Juncadella fended off Rockenfeller, with Müller and Rast overtaking Wittmann, as the former champion began to fall down the order.

Then the Audis activated team orders, with both Müller and Rockenfeller allowing Rast to pass and he moved up to second, just as Juncadella was then given a drive-through penalty on the last lap for infringing the restart procedure, with the Spaniard crossing the finish line in first position but having 30 seconds added to his total race time.

Rast therefore inherited the win, leading an Audi 1-2-3 ahead of Rockenfeller and Müller.

Di Resta was fourth, ahead of Audi’s Jamie Green and Mercedes’ Lucas Auer, who was on the way forward in the closing stages of the race. Wittmann was seventh in the end, ahead of fellow BMW drivers Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus.

Mercedes-AMG’s Edoardo Mortara was also given a late drive-through penalty for pushing Eng, so tenth place went to Paffett, who picked up the final point.

Di Resta has now retaken the championship lead, now on 216 points, nine ahead of Paffett and just 42 clear of Rast.

There could be further trouble for Mercedes, with all the manufacturer’s cars under investigation due to an infringement of article 38.1 of the regulations, bringing the tyre trolleys to the grid before the green light was on at the end of the pit lane.

Action resumes on Sunday morning at 8:30 CEST for the third and final free practice session, with qualifying at 10:35 and the race at 13:30.