The DTM weekend at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium ended in disappointment for ABT Sportsline. After the team got away with a black eye on Saturday and collected valuable points with plenty of luck in positions four and five, all three ABT drivers went away empty-handed in the second race on Sunday. René Rast’s retirement shortly before the end of the race due to a puncture in the famous Eau Rouge corner was particularly annoying.
The three-time DTM champion had clinched fourth place in the first race on Saturday from ninth on the grid, improved to second place in the standings and reduced the gap to leader Sheldon van der Linde (BMW) to 17 points.
With a perfectly timed lap on a drying track, Rast clinched pole position in Sunday’s second qualifying session and thus another three points. Although he had to defend against faster cars from the start in the race, Rast was in third place shortly before the end of the race before the left rear tyre suddenly lost air – for no apparent reason.
Contact with the Ferrari of eventual winner Nick Cassidy in the early stages of the race had nothing to do with the puncture: firstly, Rast touched the Ferrari with his left front wheel. Secondly, Rast changed tyres between the contact and the retirement. The fact that a 5-second time penalty was imposed on Rast for the collision with Cassidy was no longer relevant after the retirement.
Kelvin van der Linde finished a strong fifth on Saturday but had no chance on Sunday. Ricardo Feller had a disappointing weekend on his favourite track, finishing 18th and 13th. His personal highlight was the seventh-best time in the second qualifying session in difficult conditions on a track that was still wet in parts. On Sunday, he was the best-placed Audi driver – but outside the points.
In the drivers’ standings René Rast dropped back to third place due to his retirement. The gap to Sheldon van der Linde grew to 34 points. Lucas Auer (Mercedes) is two points ahead of him. A total of 116 points are still up for grabs in the remaining four races at the Red Bull Ring (September 24/25) and Hockenheim (October 8/9).
In the team standings, Team ABT Sportsline remains in second place behind Schubert Motorsport after six of eight events.