Rene Rast's DTM double leaves Audi boss 'speechless'
Rene Rast's historic Nurburgring sweep of both DTM pole positions and race wins left his Audi team "speechless"
The reigning champion became the first driver in DTM history to take two poles and two wins in a single weekend, and it was his first victory since Zandvoort earlier this year.
Audi has struggled in 2018 with the reduction in aerodynamic aids and the dominance of Mercedes, but Rast has continually outshone his team-mates to run close to the Mercedes and the BMW chasing pack.
At the Nurburgring, he narrowly beat Gary Paffett to both poles with two last-minute laps and eased clear of the chasing pack to build a buffer, as he struggled with tyre degradation the end of both of his second stints.
"Incredible. I'm speechless, I could not have expected this," Audi motorsport boss Dieter Gass told Autosport.
"To get double pole and double win, which has never happened in DTM, is incredible, in particular [because of] where we were coming from at the beginning of the season."
Gass added that Rast's qualifying - an area where Mercedes has had an advantage this year - was the strongest part of his performance at the Nurburgring.
"The qualifying pace was the basis for the races," said Gass.
"The races were, I tend to say, reasonably similar even though we have to admit I was a lot more nervous on Saturday, you saw from the first lap out of the pits he was not the same as the first stint.
"Bruno [Spengler] came close [to taking the lead]. That was on the edge.
"Today [Sunday] he [Rast] had pressure at the start from Gary but then he opened the gap slightly and looked in control until 10 minutes from the end when suddenly Paul [di Resta] managed to reduce the gap and we got a bit nervous.
"It did look a little more controlled today."
The braces of wins have lifted Rast from seventh to third in the title standings, closing a 93-point gap to just 57 behind new leader Paffett with two weekends remaining.
Rast said in Sunday's press conference that his Nurburgring sweep felt "similar" to winning the title again, having won the 2017 championship as a rookie.
Asked to expand further by Autosport, Rast said: "We made history. Two poles, two victories, has never happened before.
"It wasn't an easy weekend for us. We still had to manage the poles, still have hard races.
"For me mentally, being in front looks easy but when you see someone closing up from behind and your tyres are completely driven off, it starts to become easy to lose focus and make mistakes.
"It's mentally tough to lead and be in front."
BMW boss Jens Marquardt described Rast's form as "fantastic" and his counterpart at Mercedes, Ulrich Fritz, said it was "stellar".
DTM Nurburgring: Rene Rast completes clean sweep in race two
The DTM rule tweak that has angered Mercedes
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer...
How the DTM has come back stronger from its Norisring nadir
OPINION: Questionable driving standards and farcical team orders meant the DTM's first season under GT3 regulations ended under a cloud. But the organisation has responded firmly by banning team orders and welcomed new manufacturers, making for an intriguing season ahead as new and returning names prepare for battle
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The other Hamilton conqueror seeking career revival
On his rise through the ranks before reaching Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton was usually a cut above the rest. But he never truly asserted himself over a Mercedes-backed fellow Briton who traded single-seaters for touring cars and is now seeking new opportunities after a year largely spent on the sidelines
How the DTM's shambolic finale poses awkward future questions
OPINION: The scenes at the Norisring as Mercedes used blatant team orders to secure the first DTM title of the new GT3 era totally undermined the credibility of the championship. But as well as overshadowing the season, it also presents uncomfortable questions to series bosses about the direction it is headed in
How Audi's new DTM star is channeling Rast to achieve his "childhood dream"
Having learned the ropes in GT3 alongside Rene Rast, Kelvin van der Linde is in line to take up the three-time champion's baton as Audi's new DTM king. From humble origins in South Africa, it's been a remarkable journey so far for the current series leader, but he knows that the 2021 title is a long way from settled just yet
The number-crunching behind the new-look DTM's equalisation drive
Switching to GT3 regulations marked a fresh start for the DTM in 2021, but it has also drawn a line in the sand against other series using similar cars by engaging AVL Racing to develop a bespoke Balance of Performance system. Here’s how it works
The initial verdict on DTM's move to GT3 cars
OPINION: Facing collapse last year, the DTM has shifted its philosophy from a championship for silhouette-based touring cars to GT machines not too dissimilar to those racing across multiple series worldwide. But despite some initial BoP-based teething troubles, there were some pleasant findings as the 'new DTM' got underway at Monza