Audi went into this weekend’s double header in contention for the drivers’ title courtesy of Rene Rast, with the German driver trailing BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde by only 12 points prior to today’s opening qualifying session.
But Rast was unable to put up any challenge for pole position as he qualified last among the title contenders in ninth place, nearly four tenths off the pace of pole-sitter and Mercedes rival Lucas Auer.
He eventually took the start from seventh following grid penalties for van der Linde and Thomas Preining.
The three-time champion was able to climb to third on the grid at the original start but had no answer to the pace of those around him when the race resumed after a long red flag, slipping to a disappointing fifth place at the finish.
This has left him with a 21-point deficit to van der Linde, pending the results of an investigation for Dev Gore, and with only 29 points available on Sunday he only has a remote shot at departing the Audi stable with a fourth title.
Audi chief Reinke feels Rast and his squadmates had no chance to keep up with the opposition in Saturday’s race, feeling the Ingolstadt-based marque was let down by BoP.
“We are seeing today how the [other] cars were just able to fly by,” Reinke told Motorsport.com.
“We struggled a bit on the BoP side and therefore none of the Audis had a possibility to drive the way as they wished. They were more in the reactive mode.
“At the beginning of the race it was a more fortunate situation that Rene found his way through traffic [and] through incidents without a scratch.
“I think we were quite fortunate that he didn't drop back further because at the end if the race would have gone another hour all the BMWs would have been at the front. You saw they could just 'go'.
“So if this is what the BoP suggests, this is what we have to take.”
Asked if he expects any BoP changes ahead of Sunday’s finale, Reinke said: “Absolutely. It's a farce what we had here today.”
Rast will leave the Audi stable following the Hockenheim round to move to rival brand BMW next year, while also returning to Formula E with McLaren.
The 35-year-old will remain Audi’s most successful driver in the DTM till date regardless of how Sunday’s finale pans out, having clinched three titles, 24 race wins and 22 pole positions with the brand so far.
Reinke said that he is not willing to concede defeat just yet and hopes there is still a way for Rast to pull off an unlikely win on Sunday.
“As long as we have a chance, we won't give up, especially with Rene we know we always have a possibility to pull his possibilities together.
“We have weight penalties for the winners in the car for tomorrow, so there are a lot of factors which should not suggest us to give up.”
