The reason was that the man dominating the whole event on Sunday was Rast’s teammate, Jamie Green. The Briton again put his Audi RS 5 DTM on pole position and set the pace in the race right from the start. With René Rast following in his slipstream, Audi Sport Team Rosberg seemed to be headed for a one-two win until the front runner, three laps before the finish, suddenly lost speed and with shifting problems dropped to 14th place.
As a result, René Rast celebrated the third victory in his impressive DTM rookie season and as the new runner-up in the standings is again one in a total of six drivers still having chances of clinching the drivers’ title in the finale at Hockenheim on October 14 and 15. Four of them drive an Audi RS 5 DTM. “For me, personally, it was obviously a superb result,” said Rast. “But I’m very sorry for Jamie. He would have deserved victory today. On the one hand, we can be happy that we’ve won the race. On the other hand, we’re a little sad that it didn’t turn out a one-two win.”
With Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) and Nico Müller (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline), drivers from all three Audi teams were jointly on podium for the first time in the 2017 season. Rockenfeller thought his race was over when he hit a curb hard in the first third of the race. But, following the tire change, “Rocky” fought his way back to the front, overtaking leader of the standings Mattias Ekström and the BMW of Marco Wittmann, among others.
Following his victory on Saturday, Mattias Ekström took fifth place, so defending his lead in the drivers’ standings. From grid position eight, the Swede had to battle extremely hard for his ten points. Ekström chose a risky strategy and changed tires as early as on lap one. When the safety car was deployed shortly before the end of the race, Ekström, running on the oldest tires in the field, was fighting with his back against the wall. Still, in the final hectic stage, the DTM leader managed to overtake BMW driver Marco Wittmann and to bring home fifth place.
Loïc Duval, on the other hand, had the freshest tires in the final sprint, so being able to advance from the last position on the grid to eighth place and to score points for the second time in the DTM.
“That was an awesome race,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “With two one-two-three wins, it was a superb weekend for us. But I’m extremely sorry for Jamie (Green). He showed such an excellent performance here from day one. He clinched pole position twice and no doubt would have deserved victory today. Losing so much ground so shortly before the end due to a technical issue is painful. Mattias (Ekström) with a super-risky strategy fought back and is now traveling to Hockenheim as the leader of the standings. The DTM fans can look forward to a spectacular finale.”
Four Audi drivers – Mattias Ekström (172 points), René Rast (151), Jamie Green (137) and Mike Rockenfeller (134) – are leading the standings. Only BMW driver Marco Wittmann (134) and Mercedes-Benz driver Lucas Auer (131) are able to challenge Audi for the title. In the manufacturers’ standings, Audi is 166 points ahead of Mercedes-Benz and 213 points ahead of BMW. In the teams’ standings, Audi Sport Team Rosberg is in the top spot, trailed in second place by Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline.
Quotes from the Audi drivers and officials following two one-two-three wins of the Audi RS 5 DTM at the DTM round in Austria.
Dieter Gass (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“With two one-two-three wins it was a superb weekend for Audi. We weren’t sure where we’d stand with the same weight compared to our two competitors. We were pleased to see that the RS 5 DTM at the Red Bull Ring with the same prerequisites for all three manufacturers was the fastest and, above all, the most consistent car. That we were perfectly sorted already on Saturday was another crucial factor. It was obvious that the field in qualifying on Sunday was clearly closer together and that, as a result, racing was more spectacular. In both races, we saw fantastic teamwork in our squad and some of our rivals playing hardball. On Sunday, Mattias (Ekström) definitely got nothing for free. But gifts are not what we want, but earn victories and titles with the best car. It’s a shame that Lucas Auer was deprived of valuable points on Sunday. Otherwise the situation before the finale at Hockenheim would be even more thrilling because Mercedes-Benz has always been very strong there. But even so, the DTM fans can look forward to a spectacular showdown.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) position 1 / position 5
“I’m very happy. I had two great races with a victory and fifth place, and was able to score many points. At the restart on Sunday, I definitely had the worst tires in the field. On the whole, this weekend has been great fun.”
Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 3 / position 3
“The second race was real fun. From position five on Sunday it was more difficult to finish on podium than on Saturday. It was great that it worked out. I had a number of fantastic fights. Plus, we celebrated two one-two-three wins for Audi. I’m very happy that I was part of them. The strongest driver of the weekend was missing on Sunday: Jamie (Green). He would have deserved the 25 points. This year has been a bit slow for me. That’s why Spielberg felt good. And I’m happy for my guys about the podium places. They worked hard for them.”
René Rast (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #33) position 13 / position 1
“On the one hand, I’m happy about victory. These are important points for the championship. On the other hand, I’m a little sad because a perfect team result would have been possible on Sunday. I’m sorry for Jamie (Green). He was the dominant driver this weekend. I wouldn’t have begrudged him victory. But a race is only over when the checkered flag has fallen. It wasn’t a perfect weekend for us Rosberg boys but we’re back in the game for the championship. That should give us tailwind for Hockenheim.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 7 / position 2
“I’m happy about the podium. But I would have also been happy about third place because in terms of the sport Jamie (Green) was simply stronger on Sunday. It was great coming second from fourth on the grid. The restart was the highlight for me. Before the pit stop, nothing was working for me, and some drivers passed me. But on the second set of tires the car felt good again. And then the safety car came. After a good restart, I was able to stand my ground against Marco Wittmann. On Saturday, we could have finished on podium too with a good strategy. That we didn’t manage that sticks as a little negative.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) position 2 / position 14
“This weekend Team Rosberg and I showed a strong performance. The Audi RS 5 DTM with the same weight as the competition was really strong. I’m proud of the two pole positions. On Sunday, I was very close to a race victory until three laps before the end a shifting problem occurred. That was frustrating. But now we need to look ahead.”
Loïc Duval (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #77) position 14 / position 8
“That we managed to score points again on Sunday is a positive. But on the whole things didn’t go as expected. Audi did a great job this weekend and showed that we’ve got the best car. Personally, I had difficulties in both qualifying sessions. There are always a few small things missing that keep us from performing as planned. In the races, though, we’ve been able to keep pace well. I hope that we’ll do better in qualifying at Hockenheim – that would make life easier for us, because, as we all know, you have a hard time in the DTM without a good grid position.”
Thomas Biermaier (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“That was another intensive weekend on which our two drivers, and so our team, scored the most points on both days. On Saturday, Mattias (Ekström), after a strong qualifying, finally scored an overdue victory this season. Unfortunately on Sunday, he didn’t have a good qualifying session. That’s why we went for broke with our strategy and had him pit for the tire change right after the first lap. When the safety car was deployed shortly before the end, he was obviously with his back against the wall on his old tires. But we saw Mattias at his best once again. The way he overtook Marco Wittmann on the used tires was spectacular and in the end might have been an important move with a view towards the championship. If he drives the same way at Hockenheim and is not as unfortunate as Jamie (Green) was here, he’s got the best chances of clinching the title. Nico (Müller) topped off a great weekend for us with two strong third places. He drove superbly and it irks me that he’s being criticized by BMW in such an unfair way. He did nothing wrong or unfair. Apparently, some people have trouble dealing with the fact that they no longer have a weight advantage or a wider wing.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“A very nice weekend for Audi. Occupying all three podium positions on both days – really impressive. Now it was obvious that the Audi RS 5 DTM is the fastest car. Looking at our team performance, we were already fast on Saturday, especially with Mike (Rockenfeller). Unfortunately, we weren’t able to advance further. And Sunday then was an incredibly crazy race. Rocky had problems on two, three laps and lost a lot of time. Still, in the end, he’s in position two. Loïc (Duval) after the safety car period attacked again too and in the end rewarded himself with position eight.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“This weekend we experienced an emotional roller coaster. Jamie (Green) was the fastest man on both days. He was leading the second race, then the shock two laps before the end. I’m sorry for him having lost a practically sure victory. Congratulations, of course, to René Rast. Now we’re looking at Hockenheim, because we were fast at Spielberg, so why shouldn’t we be again at Hockenheim?”
Results of race 2:
1 René Rast (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg) 39 laps in 57m 21.893s
2 Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Phoenix) + 1.025s
3 Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) + 1.824s
4 Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) + 3.741s
5 Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) + 6.136s
6 Marco Wittmann (BMW) + 7.968s
…
8 Loïc Duval (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Phoenix) + 8.457s
14 Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg) + 16.754s
On Sunday, Audi again celebrated a one-two-three win in the DTM at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (Austria). Following a rather uneventful race on Saturday, the spectators witnessed a spectacular thriller from which René Rast from Audi Sport Team Rosberg in the end somewhat surprisingly came out winning.
