Rast takes light-to-flag victory at Brands Hatch

Rene Rast has taken victory at the Sunday DTM race at Brands Hatch, beating Audi colleagues Nico Müller and Robin Frijns in the process.

The championship leader further extended his advantage at the top of the points table with the win, holding off nearest challenger Müller in the closing stages. The German briefly lost the lead in the opening lap when Loïc Duval shot past Rast at the start and took the lead into turn one. Rast made quick work of the Audi veteran to take back the lead, and would not give it up for the remainder of the race. 

Rast and Müller then came in for their mandatory stops together on lap eleven, but the latter was delayed as mechanics dropped the Castrol-sponsored Audi off the jacks before one of the left-side tyres was properly bolted on, costing Müller valuable time.

After the stops, Rast, Müller, Frijns, Duval, Rockenfeller and Marco Wittmann then formed the top six before Joel Eriksson's stopped BMW brought out a slow zone. This prompted Wittmann to make a strategic gamble and make a second tyre stop, which left him down in tenth when the flag came out.

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Shortly before the slow zone, Philipp Eng made his only stop, which then set him on course for a strong blast up the order, which culminated in an encounter with Duval.

The two drivers engaged in a physical battle, which ended with Duval on top in fourth, ahead of Eng, Rockenfeller and Sheldon van der Linde. The top ten was completed by Daniel Juncadella, Jake Dennis and Marco Wittmann.

Further back, Paul di Resta had a difficult and trialling afternoon, which peaked when the Scotsman pitted for tyres on lap 22. Di Resta's team radio malfunctioned, which resulted in the R-Motorsport crew not being prepared when he arrived. Di Resta then let his team know about his radio malfunction in less than subtle terms with an emotional and explicit rant:

After starring yesterday, Sunday's race was frustrating for Paul Di Resta, who let forth with this *very* NSFW outburst over the radio… 🤐 pic.twitter.com/r6kZopmXJ6

— DTM (@DTM) August 11, 2019

Di Resta finished twelfth, behind von Habsburg and Glock, but ahead of Jamie Green and Pietro Fittipaldi. Joel Eriksson and Bruno Spengler both did not see the chequered flag, retiring with mechanical issues.