ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands — A perfect race for René Rast (Bregenz) and his Schubert Motorsport team at the DTM race stop in Zandvoort.
The 38-year-old delivered a confident performance in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo on Sunday, celebrating a comfortable lights-to-flag victory ahead of his teammate Marco Wittmann (Fürth).
“That was an intense race; Marco Wittmann was able to build up some pressure, especially toward the end. In the end, it was enough for the win, thanks in part to two strong pit stops,” explained Sunday’s winner.
Behind the BMW pair, Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) finished third in the Porsche 911 GT3 R, securing his second podium finish this season.
Shortly after the start on Sunday afternoon, spectators witnessed a one-two lead for the two BMWs on the Dutch dune circuit.
Polesitter Rast maintained his lead, while Wittmann, who started third, immediately moved up one place, relegating Jack Aitken (GB/Emil Frey Racing) in the Ferrari 296 GT3 to third.
Preining followed in fourth. Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) improved from twelfth to fifth place.
After the first pit stop, Preining moved up to third place: the Austrian had new Pirelli slicks fitted one lap before Aitken and was able to overtake the Briton shortly afterwards on warmed-up tires. The top five showed no weakness during the second tire change and held their positions.
Wittmann then tried everything in his 200th DTM race, but could not get within three-tenths of a second of leader Rast.
The three-time champion crossed the finish line first ahead of Wittmann after 35 laps, marking his 29th DTM victory and moving up to second place in the standings after six races. Preining defended third place ahead of the increasingly faster Aitken, while Engel completed the top five after a strong performance.
The best Lamborghini driver was Luca Engstler (Kempten/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) in sixth place. Mercedes-AMG works driver Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) extended his lead in the standings by three points, finishing seventh.
His fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon (F) from the Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter finished the sixth DTM championship race in eighth place. Mirko Bortolotti (I/Abt Sportsline) gained six positions and finished ninth in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. Arjun Maini (HRT Ford Performance) from India managed a similar comeback, improving from 16th to tenth in the Ford Mustang GT3.
