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Rast proved he is future DTM title candidate - Audi
Audi motorsport boss Dieter Gass has been "positively surprised" by Rene Rast, who is "exceeding expectations" by leading the DTM championship in his first full-time campaign.
David Gruz
Edited: May 5, 2021, 4:20 PM
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Rast became part of Audi's six-car DTM line-up in 2017, with just three races of prior experience in the German tin-top series under his belt.
The 30-year-old has enjoyed an impressive start to the season, finishing in the top seven in five of the six races so far, claiming his maiden podium and win at Lausitz and the Hungaroring respectively - as well as claiming two poles in the latter circuit.
Even before his win on Sunday, Gass said Rast is doing better than he anticipated.
"I think it is fair to say that so far he is exceeding slightly the expectations," Gass told Motorsport.com "He is doing very well from the word go, very consistent.
"In the first races [of the season] he showed his performance, but he hasn't always been the luckiest one. I think once the bad luck is out of equation the others really need to be careful with him."
While Gass reckoned tipping him for the title would be "bold", Rast went on to claim his maiden DTM win on Sunday, and take the championship lead.
"Sometimes you get positively surprised, that is the situation. He is performing extremely well, always, really," Gass added.
"He has clearly shown that in general he is a candidate [for the title] for the future.
"It is his first season and you really need to see where we go from here because at the end of the day he is now somebody who is in the lead, he is somebody who has a lot of experience fighting for championships.
"I am really curious to follow up what is going on in the future there."
Rast waiting for DTM win "my whole career"
Rast is considered to be one of the best touring car and sportscar drivers of his time, having claimed three Porsche Supercup titles before becoming a frontrunner in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and Blancpain GT Series.
However, Rast, the first DTM rookie to lead the standings since Paul di Resta in 2007, said taking his maiden DTM victory was "one of the best feelings I have ever had in motorsports."
He added: "I can't really put it into words I waited for this moment actually my whole career, especially the last 10 years.
"When I crossed the start/finish line first, it's one of the best feelings I have ever had in motorsport, and now championship leader as well so it is like a nice bonus on top, just an incredible feeling.
"We worked quite hard for that, the Team Rosberg boys, my engineers and we worked day and night in the last couple of weeks to improve ourselves to prove myself.
"This is a nice reward and [it's] good to be here, and just like I said, [it's] one of the best feeling I have ever had in motorsport."
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