René Rast seeking to settle a score with the Norisring this weekend
Audi Sport driver René Rast has had an impressive career in the DTM in the three years he has been around in the championship but, despite his various records, has never scored a single point at the Norisring, which welcomes the fourth round of the season this weekend.
Rast leads the drivers’ championship on 93 points, with a healthy 10-point advantage over BMW Motorsport’s Philipp Eng, having scored two victories in the six races held so far.
Nevertheless, the Team Rosberg driver has always been at odds with the street circuit in Nüremberg which, despite an easy 2.3-kilometre layout, presents many challenges due to two hard braking areas around the hairpins and a bumpy surface that changes from one year to the next.
Rast counts a 12th position in his DTM debut at the Norisring back in 2017 as his best result in the track, but he’s decided to change the music.
“It’s high time to change that,” said Rast, who will be sporting the FC Bayern Munich colours on his RS 5 DTM for the two forthcoming racing weekends. “Maybe the livery of my car is a good omen.”
The Class 1 cars, with turbo 60 BHP engines, will race at the Norisring for the first time. Audi Motorsport boss Dieter Gass believes that the particular characteristics of the track will put an extra strain on the cars.
“The new cars are more powerful and faster. We expect to see lap records, top speeds above 270 km/h and naturally, as a result, even more extreme loads on the brakes,” added Gass. “Due to the higher speeds, the braking distances will be longer, causing the brakes to become hotter.”
Timetable
Friday 5th July
13:00 – Free Practice 1
16:15 – Free Practice 2
Saturday 6th July
10:25 – Qualifying for Race 1
13:30 – Race 1 (55 minutes plus one lap)
Sunday 7th July
10:35 – Qualifying for Race 2
13:30 – Race 2 (55 minutes plus one lap)
