The recent BMW M Motorsport success streak continued at the penultimate DTM race weekend of the season at the Red Bull Ring (AUT). René Rast (GER) triumphed in the Sunday race with the #33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3, celebrating his second and the fourth season victory for Schubert Motorsport.
Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Marco Wittmann (GER) finished in sixth and eleventh places respectively on Sunday. After a challenging Saturday race, Team Schubert made a strong comeback with Rast’s win the following day and extended their lead in the team standings before the season finale. With 320 points, the team from Oschersleben (GER) has a 39-point cushion in the title fight.
René Rast underscored his ambitions in the DTM Sunday qualifying at Spielberg with the third-fastest time, aiming to significantly improve from his ninth-place finish in Saturday’s first race. In the first half of Sunday’s race, Rast engaged in several thrilling duels and entered the pit stop in second position. Thanks to an outstanding performance by Team Schubert during the pit stop, the #33 BMW M4 GT3 took the lead, which Rast fiercely defended in the final laps against Thomas Preining (AUT, Porsche). With his 28th DTM victory overall and the third for BMW M Motorsport, Rast is now the highest-ranked BMW M Motorsport driver in fourth place in the drivers’ standings before the last two races of the season at Hockenheim (GER).
The team standings look much better for Schubert Motorsport, which has extended its lead and heads into the season finale with good prospects for a second title win after 2022. Sheldon van der Linde contributed to this with two points finishes at the Red Bull Ring. After finishing eleventh on Saturday from last place on the grid, he improved six places on Sunday in the #31 Shell BMW M4 GT3 from twelfth on the grid to finish sixth. Marco Wittmann was unlucky in the first race, retiring with technical issues for his #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3. In the second race, he also moved up six places to finish eleventh.
Podium finishes in the ADAC GT Masters and ADAC GT4 Germany.
In ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring, Leon Köhler (GER) and Maxime Oosten (NED) finished third in the second race, keeping their mathematical title chances alive as they head into the season finale at Hockenheim in second place in the drivers’ standings. However, they are already 18 points behind the leaders. In the first race of the Spielberg weekend, the FK Performance Motorsport duo in the #54 BMW M4 GT3 did not advance beyond ninth place. In the sister #10 car, Eduardo Coseteng (PHI) and Pedro Ebrahim (BRA) finished in 13th and 15th places.
In ADAC GT4 Germany, Michael Schrey (GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA) had a challenging weekend but defended their lead in the drivers’ standings in their #2 BMW M4 GT4 from Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport. After finishing fourth and sixth at Spielberg, their chances of winning the title remain good. The only podium finish for the BMW M4 GT4 was achieved on Sunday by Leyton Fourie (RSA) and Max Rosam (GER), who finished second in the FK Performance Motorsport #46 car.
