German sports car ace René Rast had his first taste of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) at Zandvoort after Adrien Tambay, regular driver of the #72 Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM was injured in the first race of the weekend.
Tambay suffered a poor start after almost stalling on the line and was hit by Max Götz. While the accident looked harmless, Tambay suffered severe pains in his hand and the decision was taken to bring in Rast as his replacement for the second race.
Despite only getting 20 minutes practice to acclimatise himself to the Audi, Rast relished the experience to race in DTM.
“It was a great experience. I felt very comfortable. The team and Audi gave me tremendous support so that I could familiarize myself with everything.
“Obviously, you can’t expect miracles but in the race I felt more comfortable at the end than I had at the beginning of qualifying. If the race weekend started over now I might end up in a different position.”
While Tambay is expected to return for the next race in August, Rast added that if the opportunity came about again he would jump at the chance. “It was incredibly good fun and a nice experience. I’d like to do it again.” he said.
Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was happy with what Rast achieved, “René Rast impressed me once more.” said Ullrich.
“This commitment on short notice was a real challenge for him. But he impressed me just like he did in the other championships we’ve used him in. I hope he had a little fun as well.”
