René Rast became the winner of the 500th DTM race, after Audi dominated the weekend at the Lausitzring.
Just a day after his retirement from Saturday’s opening race, the Audi driver struck back in today’s celebratory event to claw back points against his chief title rival fellow Audi driver Nico Müller (SUI).
Rast (GER) won from Müller, who had taken full advantage of Rast’s mishap on Saturday to win the weekend’s first race.
Now, with four races remaining – two apiece at the Nürburgring and Hockenheim – the duel for the title looks most likely to boil down to a thrilling duel between the two Audi drivers.
Rast (234 points) ceded some of his advantage at the Lausitzring, and is now a slender 20 points ahead of Müller (214). With BMW drivers Marco Wittmann (GER/167) and Philipp Eng (AUT/140), as well as Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller (GER/138), there are five contenders still mathematically capable of winning the title.
Another title, meanwhile, has already been sealed. With a clean sweep of the top five positions – behind Rast and Müller, Rockenfeller rounded out the podium, as he had on Saturday – Audi were the early victors of the 2019 manufacturers’ title.
In front of an impressive crowd, and at temperatures hovering around the 30-degree mark, Rast laid the foundation for his victory at the start. The 2017 champion immediately moved up into second place from fourth on the grid, but Müller suffered a horrible getaway due to a clutch issue, and finished the opening lap down in a lowly 10th place.
After four laps, Rast overtook his team-mate Jamie Green (GBR), who gave the German the position, and Rast consolidated his lead for the remainder of the race. It was Müller who was made to work for his result, working his way back through the order and making the undercut work with an early pit-stop. Benefiting from light tyrewear, he was able to establish himself in second place to the chequered flag.
Uniquely, Müller has scored points in all 14 races so far this season. And for the third time, Rast won on a Sunday following a retirement on the Saturday.