They used to fight each other for the DTM title, at the 2022 finale in Hockenheim for the last win of the year: Marco Wittmann (Walkenhorst-BMW) and Rene Rast (Abt-Audi). And the two stars fought a spectacular duel on the track for the place in the sun.
Wittmann took the lead from pole setter Rast in the very first corner of the race. “It was really kind of a rocket start. Just an incredible reaction time,” reports the 2014 and 2016 champion. “From there I have to say that the first few laps were quite difficult. I had quite a problem with the car and the tires. “
“Especially in the back I didn’t have the traction I was hoping for.” Wittmann held on to the lead, but Rast dared to undercut and came into the pits before his opponent. “I hoped that we would do the undercut and not Rene,” said Wittmann.
“Honestly, I missed being the first to pit. So Rene obviously had a bit of an advantage, drove the undercut, and then it was very difficult for me to defend myself with the cold tires on the outlap.” Wittmann came out just before Rast. But what followed was a wheel-to-wheel duel that lasted almost an entire lap.
Marco Wittmann misses the undercut
Rast ultimately prevailed and said afterwards: “It was fun fighting with Marco. He came out on the track with cold tires and I was sure I could try. I think it was tough but fair , even though we touched each other a lot. But that’s what we want to see in the DTM: hard racing. Everything was under control.”
It smelled like a preliminary decision in the fight for victory, but then Rast made one of his rare mistakes: the Audi went off the track at the entrance to the Parabolica. Wittmann didn’t have to be asked twice and regained the position he had lost a short time before. The fact that this happened also had to do with Wittmann’s “very quick outlap” (O-Ton Rast).
“I was pushing to the max in Turn 2, probably going a bit too far on the exit and then the angle for Turn 3 was affected. I still kept it flat out and was hoping downforce would save me somehow, but this he didn’t. Then I came onto the meadow with a bike and it sucked me into the grass,” says Rast.
Rene Rast pushes too hard in turn 2
“There was nothing I could really do.” And Rast couldn’t do anything against Wittmann’s pace afterwards either. According to Wittmann, Walkenhorst Motorsport “have made the right settings for the pressure. I simply had a better car in the second stint. I definitely had more traction than on the first tyres.”
“From then on I could just pull through. I was two to three tenths faster per lap, I could open a gap and then control the race pretty well.” At the finish, Wittmann’s advantage over Rast was 4.425 seconds. The BMW driver also made a major contribution to his brand colleague Sheldon van der Linde in the fight for the title with his victory.
But both Wittmann and Rast denied the question of whether manufacturer tactics played a role in the 2022 DTM finale. “My goal was victory or a podium, especially after the first corner when I was leading. Everything was clear for me and I would go for victory. Of course, my victory also helps Sheldon in a way,” explains Wittmann.
Manufacturer tactic? DTM grid was “not made for it”
“Because I’m taking points away from the competition. But in the end I drove my race and tried to get the maximum out of it.” Opponent Rast is of the opinion that the starting grid was “not made for it” due to the aborted qualifying on Sunday morning.
“Of course it would have been different if we had seen four Audis or seven Mercedes at the front, all helping a driver. But today it was a different scenario. We had a completely mixed grid. There were people at the front who aren’t usually there It was mixed so I wasn’t really expecting a team order.”
Instead, the fans were rewarded with a fair fight on the track. Also refreshing for Wittmann after last year’s controversial title decision: “Ultimately it was nice to see such a final race. This year it was a good final.”