DTM: Audi wins, Mercedes celebrates 🎥
FINALE AT HOCKENHEIM René Rast also won the last two DTM races with Audi but was unable to prevent the title win from Gary Paffett on Mercedes. Nico Müller ended his season with a fourth place. The DTM bid farewell to Mercedes with a nice video. René Rast from Audi Sport Team Rosberg wrote last weekend [...]
René Rast from Audi Sport Team Rosberg made DTM history last weekend. In the finale in front of packed grandstands at the Motodrom Hockenheim, the 31-year-old German managed the double in the form of victories in both races, as he did at the Nürburgring and Red Bull Ring in September.
Rast ensures a record
No other driver has managed six consecutive victories in the touring car racing series that has been held since 1984. After a generally difficult start to the season for Audi, Rast was in a distant 15th place in the standings after nine races, 104 points behind the leader.
Thanks to the progress made in the further development of the Audi RS 5 DTM, a strong driving performance, an optimum strategy and, not least, the support of his Audi colleagues (including Nico Müller at Spielberg), Rast managed to make up 100 points.
With seven wins in 20 rounds, the runner-up was the most successful driver of the 2018 season. In the end, he was just four points behind Gary Paffett to successfully defend his title.
Mercedes bids farewell as champion in all classifications
In Saturday's race, Paffett regained the championship lead from his Mercedes teammate Paul Di Resta with a fourth-place finish. On Sunday, the Briton secured his second DTM title after 2005 by finishing third behind Rast and BMW driver Marco Wittmann.
Although Paffett only scored three wins, he was on the podium ten times and finished in the points in 17 of the 20 races. With five pole positions and eight front-row starts, he was also the best qualifier of the year.
In addition to the previously secured win of the brand and team championship, the Hockenheim finale was a crowning conclusion for Mercedes-Benz after 30 years of DTM. In 2019, the Stuttgart-based company will focus on its involvement in Formula 1 and Formula E.
With a great short video, which the audience in Hockenheim acknowledged with a standing ovation, the DTM said goodbye in Hockenheim.
Nico Müller second-best Audi driver
With seventh place in the first race and fourth in the second, the 2018 DTM season came to a conciliatory end for Nico Müller - although it could have been even better.
Nico Müller: "On Saturday, I lost a few places on the starting lap trying to keep Rast's back. On Sunday, I was unlucky with traffic on the decisive qualifying lap, so I only managed ninth on the grid. Otherwise, another podium would have been possible. If the second race had lasted one or two laps longer, we might still have managed to overtake Gary and make René the champion after all. Nevertheless, we can all be proud of what we still achieved."
The 26-year-old from Berne closes the championship in tenth place as never before. This makes Müller the second-best Audi driver in the final standings. The Swiss will almost certainly drive for Audi Sport in 2019 as well, but nothing has been signed yet.
Disappointment for Mortara
Edoardo Mortara had another weekend to forget. As in Spielberg, the Geneva driver only scored one point in the first race.
Edoardo Mortara: "On Saturday my Mercedes was just sliding around, I couldn't do much about it. On Sunday I initially drove behind the top three, but after the tire change I had no grip and no pace. So I fell out of the top ten. But I'm happy for Gary. This title is important for everyone in the team."
Mortara, who won Race 1 at the Lausitzring and Norisring, is sixth in the 2018 championship. What happens next for him in 2019 is uncertain following his employer's withdrawal from the DTM.
