René Rast scores double at Red Bull Ring

Who could have imagined that Rene Rast is still in a position to defend its crown DTM before tackling the Hockenheim final in three weeks?

The outgoing champion, left behind by Gary Paffett and Paul di Resta (Mercedes) at mid-season, has just scored a fourth consecutive victory since the Nürburgring meeting and is 30 points behind di Resta this Sunday before the decisive meeting.

On the second confrontation of Red Bull Ring this Sunday, Rast, seventh on the grid, made an excellent start and waited patiently in fourth position at the start of the race, leaving his Audi teammate Nico Müller to lead the chase against pole sitter Gary Paffett.

Müller finally found the opening and widened the gap against Paffett, who found himself under threat from his Mercedes rival Paul di Resta. But it is after the pit stops that the hierarchy evolves.

First of the leading quartet to dive into the pitlane, Rast took advantage of his warm tires to overtake Paul di Resta, who observed his stop a lap later. Rast then benefits from a stop in the pit lane stretching the length of Paffett to pass the Briton at the exit of the pits.

Second behind Nico Müller, Rast then saw his teammate offer no resistance, and took the advantage to sign the double this weekend and bring Audi a 100th victory in the discipline. Gary Paffett finished third ahead of di Resta and reduced the gap to four points on the former driver F1.

Third in the championship by 30 points, Rast will however have to have another perfect weekend to hope to retain his title at Hockenheim.

Loic duval (Audi) finishes this second Austrian race in 16th place, just ahead Sébastien Ogier (Mercedes) who completes his discovery of the discipline before returning to the seat of his Ford Fiesta in two weeks in Great Britain WRC to also defend his world crown.

Mercedes-AMG also secured the Manufacturers' crown for its final season in the category before turning to Formula E.

Race 2 ranking

Discover the full report of the Red Bull Ring DTM weekend, in AUTO issue 2184hebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.