René Rast to contest remaining Formula E rounds

Reigning DTM champion René Rast will make take part in the final three rounds of the Formula E season amidst talk about his future plans beyond the 2020 campaign.

The 33-year-old will replace Daniel Abt in the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler line-up for the three rounds that will be held across a nine day period in Berlin, with the three double-header events being run on different configurations of the airfield circuit and behind closed doors.

Abt lost his drive after bringing in a sim racer to replace him in a FE Race at Home Challenge Esports event, with the decision taken to bring in Rast as his replacement given that the dates don’t clash with the revised DTM calendar.

Rast does however face a busy August, with the DTM season opener at Spa and the second round at the Lausitszring sitting either side of the three Formula E races.

“I’ve been following Formula E very closely for a long time and am now looking forward to this new challenge,” Rast said. “The demands on the drivers in Formula E are high: In addition to pure speed, it’s also a question of efficiency, battery management and the perfect strategy – and all of this on tight city circuits, where things are usually quite turbulent.

“With the testing at the beginning of July and my experience in the simulator, I’ll will try to be as well prepared as possible when I arrive in Berlin, and with six races in nine days, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn quickly …”

Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass said Rast was the ideal person to fill the vacant seat.

“As a two-time DTM Champion and long-time Audi driver, René was naturally on the shortlist from the very beginning,” he said. “In the past, he has often proved how fast he is in a new series without having to get used to it.

“It’s nice that there are no overlaps between DTM and Formula E so that René can compete in both series for us. With six final races in Berlin, our team still has everything to play for in the championship.”