DTM Norisring: Rast wins Bavarian weather lottery

Rene Rast came out on top of a mixed-weather first DTM race at the Norisring, calling the conditions exactly right to win in his Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

The start was cleaner and tidier than some seen during the course of the Norisring’s long DTM history. Behind poleman Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Racing Ferrari), Rast’s team-mate Sheldon van der Linde slotted dutifully into second with Mirko Bortolotti (SSR Performance Lamborghini) taking up third position

The top six, completed by Maro Engel's Winward Mercedes, Rast and points leader Kelvin van der Linde (Abt Audi), had settled into position by midway around the second lap.

Things then remained largely unmoved through the first half of the race, as teams kept a beady eye on the weather. With heavy rain forecast to arrive during the 20-minute pitstop window, strategy was likely to be more decisive than any on-track moves.

Anticipation only grew as the stewards declared a wet race, and most teams delayed their stops until late in the window. Just to make things even harder, the rain stayed away until the very end of it.

Sheldon van der Linde had been first to blink, his undercut working as he emerged in front of Aitken to grab the lead. Both, however, were on slicks and rain began to fall heavily with 17 minutes remaining in the hour-long race.

While the likes of Sheldon van der Linde and Aitken returned to the pits for wet tyres, along with most of the others who had put on slicks during the pit window, new lead duo Rast and Franck Perera (GRT-Grasser Lamborghini) elected to stay out.

Both could already see the rain easing and trusted themselves to bring it home on slicks. That proved exactly the right choice as slicks were the tyres to have by the chequered flag and Rast triumphed in a terrific strategic battle.

Luca Engstler, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3, Mirko Bortolotti, SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3 (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

Factory Lamborghini driver Perera, standing in for Christian Engelhart after the German underwent a knee operation, was joined on the rostrum by team-mate Luca Engstler.

He’d been nowhere early in the race after starting 15th, but also called it right by staying out and roared through on his slicks to claim third with a couple of laps remaining.

Nicki Thiim (SSR) and Bortolotti completed a strong day for Lamborghini as the marque locked out four of the top-five positions, while Kelvin van der Linde beat his brother to sixth.

Aitken slipped back to finish ninth at the finish, behind Engel, as Maximilian Paul completed the top 10.

DTM Norisring Race 1 Results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33		BMW M4 GT3	69	1:01'35.627			25
2	F. Perera GRT Grasser Racing Team	63		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	69	+2.272 1:01'37.899	2.272		20
3	L. Engstler GRT Grasser Racing Team	19		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	69	+37.075 1:02'12.702	34.803		16
4	N. Thiim SSR Performance	94		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	69	+44.111 1:02'19.738	7.036		13
5	M. Bortolotti SSR Performance	92		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	69	+44.479 1:02'20.106	0.368		11
6	K. van der Linde Abt Sportsline	3		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	69	+44.956 1:02'20.583	0.477		10
7	S. Van Der Linde Schubert Motorsport	31		BMW M4 GT3	69	+47.506 1:02'23.133	2.550		9
8	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	130		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	69	+50.850 1:02'26.477	3.344		8
9	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14		Ferrari 296 GT3	69	+53.488 1:02'29.115	2.638		7
10	P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport	71		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	69	+53.749 1:02'29.376	0.261		6
11	L. Stolz Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	4		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	68	+1 Lap 1:01'36.566	1 Lap		5
12	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11		BMW M4 GT3	68	+1 Lap 1:01'36.853	0.287		4
13	R. Feller Abt Sportsline	7		Audi R8 LMS Evo II	68	+1 Lap 1:01'37.458	0.605		3
14	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91		Porsche 911 GT3 R	68	+1 Lap 1:01'38.506	1.048		2
15	A. Maini Mercedes-AMG Team HRT	36		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	68	+1 Lap 1:01'42.397	3.891		1
16	A. Güven Manthey EMA	90		Porsche 911 GT3 R	68	+1 Lap 1:01'43.546	1.149
17	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69		Ferrari 296 GT3	68	+1 Lap 1:02'07.288	23.742
18	C. Schmid Dörr Motorsport	85		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	67	+2 Laps 1:02'07.267	1 Lap
dnf	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	22		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	7	+62 Laps 8'57.837	60 Laps
dnf	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25		McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	4	+65 Laps 5'30.082	3 Laps
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