Scorching heat, packed grandstands, plenty of action on the racetrack and double reason to celebrate for ABT Sportsline: René Rast was the only driver to achieve a podium result in both races at the DTM season highlight at the Norisring and thus made a big step forward in the standings. After the first half of the season, the three-time DTM champion is only ten points behind championship leader Mirko Bortolotti (Lamborghini) and one point behind Sheldon van der Linde (BMW) in third place in the standings.
Team ABT Sportsline put in a strong performance at their home DTM race right from the start. In qualifying on Saturday, Kelvin van der Linde’s fastest time ensured the third pole position in a row for an ABT Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II in the DTM.
However, in a chaotic Saturday race in which only eleven of the 27 drivers saw the chequered flag, van der Linde was attacked extremely hard and hit hard on the rear several times by competitors. In the process, his ABT Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II was so badly damaged that van der Linde had to retire from the race early.
René Rast secured third place after a tough duel with Porsche driver Dennis Olsen, although his left rear tyre continuously lost air after the pitstop and Rast feared the tyre could blow at any time.
Ricardo Feller also scored points on his Norisring debut on Saturday in eighth place despite 25 kilograms of extra weight. On Sunday, the Swiss experienced a similar early phase as Kelvin van der Linde on the previous day: after several hits at the rear, the Swiss had to retire.
Kelvin van der Linde did not see the chequered flag on Sunday either. The second gear of his car got stuck shortly before the end of the race.
René Rast, meanwhile, improved from sixth on the grid to third, making him the only driver to achieve a double podium at the Norisring weekend. His race engineer Felix Fechner then formed Rast’s starting number 33 from the two Norisring trophies in the pits.
ABT Sportsline’s tally at half-time: two wins (Rast and Feller), three pole positions, a total of five podiums and best chances in the title fight.
After a long summer break, the second half of the season begins on the last weekend in August at the Nürburgring. A total of eight more races are scheduled before the champion is crowned on 9 October at the Hockenheimring.