A perfect race and a milestone anniversary: René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) celebrated his 30th victory in his DTM career on Sunday at the Nürburgring after a composed performance. After 38 laps, the three-time champion crossed the finish line in first place with a lead of just under eight seconds. "I didn't expect such a dominant race. But I could already feel in the formation lap that the car felt very good. To have secured the 30th victory of my DTM career means an incredible amount to me. When I started my DTM career in 2017, such a number was unimaginable for me," said Rast, who was successful at the Eifel circuit for the fourth time. His teammate Marco Wittmann (Fürth) completed the one-two victory for Schubert Motorsport in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) regained the lead in the standings with third place ahead of Jack Aitken (GB/Emil Frey Racing), who finished 16th and failed to score points after contact with a competitor through no fault of his own. A total of 78,000 visitors enjoyed a fantastic motorsport weekend with thrilling races and three days of sunshine.

Rast showed shortly after the start on Sunday afternoon that he had big plans for the tenth DTM race of the season. The 38-year-old made up three places and slotted into third behind pole-setter Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) in the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Auer. After two more overtaking maneuvers, the BMW driver took the lead on lap six and pulled away from the field as the race progressed.
Rast was the last driver to make his first mandatory pit stop and remained in the lead ahead of Auer. Teammate Wittmann moved up to third place after an early tire change. Gilles Magnus (B/Comtoyou Racing) in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Ford Mustang driver Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Performance) followed in fourth and fifth place.

Rast was also quickly dispatched by his Team Schubert Motorsport crew during the second pit stop and returned to the 3.629-kilometer track with a comfortable lead. Wittmann was able to overtake Auer shortly afterwards, who lost a lot of time during the tire change, just like on Saturday. Behind the BMW duo and Auer, Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) finished Sunday's race at the Nürburgring in fourth place with a tactically astute drive. Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) completed the top five in his Porsche 911 GT3 R after an uneventful race at his team's home event.

Maini rewarded himself with sixth place in the Ford Mustang GT3 for another strong performance. Belgian driver Magnus celebrated his first top ten finish for himself and his team in seventh place. Pole-setter Dörr was unable to keep up with the pace at the front but still finished in the points in eighth place. Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) steered his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 to ninth place and is now third in the overall standings. Thomas Preining (A) was unable to finish higher than tenth in the second Manthey EMA 911.

Marco Wittmann: “After fifth place on Saturday, the podium is the perfect end to a strong weekend for us. Unfortunately, we didn't have the necessary speed in the first stint, so we decided to make an early first pit stop. The strategy paid off because it allowed me to make up a lot of positions.”
Lucas Auer: “The two BMWs were on a different level. Second place might have been possible, but unfortunately our second pit stop didn’t go perfectly. Overall, it was an action-packed weekend. You can tell that the second half of the season has started and things are getting a bit rougher on the track.”