Rast claims 30th DTM win at the Nurburgring

Rene Rast (Schubert Motorsport) claimed the 30th victory of his DTM career in decisive fashion on Sunday at the Nürburgring. After 38 laps, the three-time champion took the checksred flag with a lead of roughly eight seconds.

"I did not expect such a dominant race. However, I could tell on the formation lap that the car felt really good," said the veteran. "The 30th win of my career in the DTM means the world to me. When I embarked on my DTM career in 2017, I could never have imagined achieving a figure like that," added Rast, who tasted success at the circuit in the Eifel Mountains for the fourth time.

His teammate Marco Wittmann (Fürth), at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo, made it a one-two for Schubert Motorsport. Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) finished third to reclaim the lead in the championship from Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Racing), who finished 16th and outside the points after contact with another car, for which he was not responsible. A total of 78,000 visitors took in the action over three days of sunshine.

Shortly after the start of Sunday's race, it was clear that Rast had the bit between his teeth in race 10 of the DTM season. The 38-year-old climbed three places and slotted into third place behind polesitter Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Auer. A further two overtaking maneuvers saw the BMW driver take the lead on lap six, after which he proceeded to pull clear of the rest of the field.

Rast was the last driver to complete his first mandatory pit stop, and he rejoined the race in the lead, ahead of Auer. Teammate Wittmann moved into third place after an early tire change. Gilles Magnus (Comtoyou Racing) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Ford Mustang driver Arjun Maini (HRT Ford Performance) followed in fourth and fifth place. The second pit stop again saw the Schubert Motorsport crew send Rast back out onto the 2.255-mile track quickly and with a comfortable lead. Shortly after that, Wittmann was able to overtake Auer, who, as on Saturday, lost a lot of time during the tire change.

Behind the BMW duo and Auer, Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) produced an intelligent drive to claim fourth place. Ayhancan Güven (Manthey EMA) completed the top five at his team's home event, after an inconspicuous race in the Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Sixth place was Maini's reward for another impressive performance in the Ford Mustang GT3. Belgian Magnus finished seventh to claim the first top-10 result for himself and his team. Polesitter Dörr was unable to match the pace at the front of the field, but did pick up points again for eighth place. Jordan Pepper (TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) guided his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to ninth place and now lies third in the overall standings. Thomas Preining could do no better than 10th place in the second Manthey EMA Porsche 911.

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