Wittmann, Rast Fought ‘Hard But Fair’ Battle for Victory

Marco Wittmann and Rene Rast agreed that their contact-heavy battle for victory in the DTM finale at Hockenheim was ‘hard but fair’, with both adding that it is the type of racing they want to see in the series.

The two drivers engaged in a hard-fought scrap for the lead of the race shortly after they both had made their mandatory pitstops, with Rast initially getting the upper hand before Wittmann retook the lead not much later.

Wittmann had started the race from fourth position, but a self-proclaimed “rocket start” allowed the No. 11 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 to shoot past Rast as well as GRT Grasser Racing Team driver Clemens Schmid into the first corner.

By his own admission, Wittmann then began to struggle with tire grip throughout the remainder on his opening stint.

“I quite struggled with the car and the tires, mainly on the rear end where I didn’t have the traction I hoped for,” Wittmann said. “So I couldn’t really open a gap to Rene and to Clemens.

“I knew at one point the pitstops would come and I was just hoping that we were going to do the undercut and not Rene.

“Then I saw the Lamborghini pitting first and honestly I think we missed it a bit to come first, so obviously Rene had a bit of an advantage with the undercut.

“For me it was then very tricky to defend with cold tires on the outlap.”

With Wittmann on cold tires Rast went on the attack, with the two drivers side-by-side from the exit of the Turn 6 hairpin and making repeated contact at Turn 8 before Rast completed the move heading into Turn 11.

“He was right behind me out of Turn 3 and obviously then I knew it was going to be a tricky one in Turn 6 because obviously you can not brake as late at this stage and then also the traction is not the greatest out of Turn 6,” Wittmann continued.

“Then we were alongside going into Turn 7 but even also there the tire was not ready for me so I had to a lift on the outside and he obviously also squeezed me.

“It was a pretty hard fight, I have to say. We wheel banged each other a few times and then obviously before braking we got a tiny contact which made my life difficult and then I made his life difficult because I could not stop the car because of this touch.

“Luckily we came through turn 8 without any crash or incident. In the end it was a hard fight between us.

“I think we proved many times in the past that we can race hard, but that it stays fair most of the time.

“That’s what we like in DTM and is also what the spectators like.”

Rast, for his part, similarly agreed on the fair nature of the fight but admitted he likely would not have had the pace to keep the BMW behind.

“It was good fun, battling with Marco,” Rast said.

“Obviously he came out on cold tires on track and I was sure that I can have a go, which I had.

“Like Marco said, we were battling hard but I think it was hard but fair even though we touched a lot of times. But I think that’s what we want to see in DTM.

“Hard racing, but it was all under control more or less. I wish I could have continued like that with him for the rest of the race like we did in the past.

“With DRS and Push-to-Pass it probably would have been possible, but today we were just not quick enough.

“At one point I made a mistake. I had to push like crazy to stay ahead of him, went through the grass and he passed me on the straight.

“It was just a matter of time, if not this lap then he would have passed me on the next one.

“Unfortunately, we had not the pace today but still, finishing second in the last race of the season, I think we can be proud of what we did.”

Wittmann Happy to Finish Year On a High

Wittmann also expressed relief at the season-ending victory, having endured a challenging campaign.

Prior to his podium at Hockenheim on Saturday, his campaign had so far produced only a single top-three finish with third place in the Sunday race at Imola.

The German’s 18th career win came over a year since his last race victory at Assen in September 2021.

“It feels super good to finish the season like that,” Wittmann spoke. “It’s been a tough year for me.

“We had difficult weekends and it was at one stage also quite frustrating that we didn’t have any performance.

“So obviously this weekend was really good for us, yesterday with P3 and today with the win to finish off the season like that and hope to come back stronger next year.”