Rast Wins Rain-Hit Norisring Race 1

A call to remain on slicks in changeable conditions gave Rene Rast his first DTM victory of the season during Race 1 at the Norisring.

The No. 33 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, along with the GRT Grasser Racing Team duo of Franck Perera and Luca Engstler, opted not to pit and change tires amidst a late-race downpour.

With rain falling after the mandatory pitstop window had been completed, the majority of the field made the decision to pit for a second time to have wet weather tires installed.

Rast, however, remained out and countered a call from his team to switch to wets as he moved up to the lead.

When the track then dried out, it was enough for the No. 33 BMW to take victory by a 2.272 seconds margin over Perera’s No. 63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Perera’s teammate Luca Engstler, also on slicks, charged past Mirko Bortolotti, Nicki Thiim and the Van der Linde brothers in the final minutes to complete the podium.

Thiim finished fourth ahead of SSR Performance stablemate Bortolotti, with Kelvin van der Linde sixth in the No. 3 ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Sheldon van der Linde looked set to take his first win of the season aboard the No. 31 Schubert Motorsport BMW until the rain fall, having successfully applied the undercut on pole sitter Jack Aitken to move into the lead.

He dropped back as the rain came, completing the overall top ten along with Maro Engel, Aitken and Maximilian Paul.

RESULTS: Race 1