At the penultimate race weekend of the DTM season at the Red Bull Ring (AUT), the BMW M4 GT3 returned to the winner's circle. René Rast (GER) celebrated his first victory as a BMW M works driver with a first-place finish in Sunday's race. Prior to that, he broke Bernd Schneider's (GER) DTM record with his second pole position of the season. With a total of 26 poles, Rast is now the sole leader in the all-time best list.
Spielberg. At the penultimate race weekend of the DTM season at the Red Bull Ring (AUT), the BMW M4 GT3 returned to the winner's circle. René Rast (GER) celebrated his first victory as a BMW M works driver with a first-place finish in Sunday's race. Prior to that, he broke Bernd Schneider's (GER) DTM record with his second pole position of the season. With a total of 26 poles, Rast is now the sole leader in the all-time best list. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) secured second place on Sunday, contributing to a 1-2 for Team Schubert Motorsport. Marco Wittmann (GER) matched his best season result as he finished fourth on Sunday, narrowly missing out on his first podium with the Project 1 Team.
After a mixed Saturday race at Spielberg, where Rast narrowly missed the podium in fourth place and Wittmann and van der Linde finished eighth and 13th, the three BMW M works drivers bounced back on Sunday. Rast secured pole position with a lead of 0.111 seconds over his teammate van der Linde, while Wittmann started from fifth. In the race, the Schubert duo defended the first two positions to the finish line, while Wittmann battled for third place but ultimately settled for fourth. He had achieved the same result at Zandvoort (NED). Sandro Holzem (GER) finished 24th in the second Project 1 BMW M4 GT3 on Saturday and retired on Sunday.
Heading into the season finale in October at Hockenheim (GER), van der Linde and Rast are currently in fourth and fifth place in the driver's standings. In the team standings, Schubert Motorsport is in fourth place.
Reactions after the DTM weekend at the Red Bull Ring:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “Congratulations to René Rast, Schubert Motorsport, and everyone involved with BMW M Motorsport on this fantastic result! I especially congratulate René on his first victory as a BMW M works driver and the pole record. The second place for Sheldon van der Linde and the fourth place for Marco Wittmann and Project 1, who came very close to securing a triple victory, were fantastic performances as well. Thanks to everyone for their hard work! After the disappointing results in the recent DTM weekends, this success feels great, and everyone deserves it. Now, we'll celebrate. After that, we'll give our all to finishing the season on a high note at Hockenheim.”
René Rast (#33 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “My first win with BMW M Motorsport feels very special. The team did a superb job, the pit stop was excellent, and the guys simply deserved it today. It's an incredible day, and hopefully, it will continue this way. I'm hopping into the car now to go home, and maybe I'll get my third gift after the pole and the win when my second child is born.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Schubert Motorsport): “I'm proud of my race on Sunday, especially for coming back after the weak Saturday race. I tried to pass René in the first corners, but it wasn't quite enough. After that, he made no mistakes. Congratulations to him on his first win with BMW M Motorsport! Unfortunately, my DTM title defense is almost impossible after this weekend. That's a shame, but you can't win all the time. My goal now is to challenge for third place in the driver's standings at Hockenheim.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 BMW M4 GT3, Project 1): “P8 and P4 are good results, but I had hoped for even more considering that the Red Bull Ring plays to the strengths of the BMW M4 GT3. Schubert Motorsport proved that with the double victory on Sunday – congratulations to the team and the drivers! My race pace was similarly strong, but unfortunately, a pit stop that was about three seconds longer cost us the chance of a podium finish. Anything more than fourth place was not possible after that. Now, we'll make another push at Hockenheim.”
