René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

professional racing driver and the

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and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, w ...

from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end of 2021. He claimed overall wins at the 2012 and 2014

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...

, 2014 24 Hours of Nurburgring and a class win at the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona.

Career

After competing in karting and Formula BMW, Rast won the 2005

ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup was a one-make racing series by Volkswagen based in Germany, which used the Volkswagen Scirocco model. The first season was in 2010, having replaced the previous ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup which had run since 2004. It was a ...

and was runner-up at the 2006 Seat León Supercopa Germany. In 2007, he switched to sports car racing, where he won Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2008 and 2012, and

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international One-Design, one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One, Formula One World Championshi ...

and claimed three championships from 2010 to 2012. Rast also competed at the ADAC GT Masters from 2010 to 2012, winning the title in his last year. He ran the

2011 12 Hours of Sebring The 59th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida was held at Sebring International Raceway on March 19, 2011. It was the opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series season and the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Qual ...

with a Paul Miller Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Rast won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona GT class, driving a Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with co-drivers Andy Lally, Richard Lietz and team owner John Potter. Rast won the 2012 and 2014

with a factory-supported Audi R8 LMS with teams Phoenix and WRT respectively. In the 2013

FIA GT Series The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) ...

, he claimed a win and five podiums with an WRT Audi R8. In the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series, he claimed a win and three podiums. In 2016, he got three podiums with. Rast debuted at the

2014 24 Hours of Le Mans The 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 82e 24 Heures du Mans) was an 24-hour automobile endurance racing event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 11 to 15 June 2014 at the Circuit de la Sarth ...

with a Sébastien Loeb Racing Oreca-Nissan, finishing fourth in the LMP2 class. In 2015, he competed at two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship with a factory Audi R18 e-tron quattro, finishing fourth overall at the 6 Hours of Spa and seventh at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2016, he raced full-time for G-Drive with an Oreca-Nissan LMP2, claiming a win at Bahrain and a second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and two third-place finishes at Silverstone and Austin. Rast debuted at the

at the

2016 Berlin ePrix The 2016 Berlin ePrix (formally the 2016 FIA Formula E BMW i Berlin ePrix) was a Formula E electric car race held on 21 May 2016 before a crowd of 15,000 people at the Berlin Street Circuit in Berlin, Germany. It was the eighth round of the ...

replacing

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Drivers' Champion. He won the Macau Grand Prix invitational Formula Th ...

(who has a

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic T ...

commitment) at

Team Aguri Team Aguri, formerly Amlin Aguri and officially the Team Aguri Formula E Team, was an international motor racing team founded by former Formula One and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Aguri Suzuki (Executive Chairman) and Mark Preston (Team Principal ...

. Later he competed in two rounds of the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

with an Audi RS5, finishing sixth at Hockenheim II race 1. He won the 2017 DTM title in his first full year driving an Audi RS5 for Team Rosberg. After taking a record-breaking six consecutive race victories the following year, he missed out on a repeat title by only four points. Rast won the 2019 DTM Championship, and scored his third series title the following season. Rast returned to Formula E for the final six races of the 2019-20 season in

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, replacing the sacked

Daniel Abt Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He has competed in such series as the German Formula Three Championship, the GP3 Series, the GP2 Series, and won the 2009 ADAC Formel Masters championship. He competed i ...

at the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team. He managed to score a podium finish in the fifth race, where he crossed the line in third place. Rast drove for Audi as a permanent driver for the

2020-21 Formula E Championship The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

, partnering Lucas di Grassi. Rast did not compete in the

2021–22 Formula E World Championship The 2021–22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is the eighth season of the FIA Formula E championship, a motor racing championship for electrically powered vehicles recognised by motorsport's governing body, the Fédération Internation ...

, but he made his return to the series in the 2022–23 season driving for the new McLaren team.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Rast was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Porsche Supercup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance. ^‡ As Rast was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete FIA GT Series results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^† As Rast was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ^* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

^† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rast, Rene 1986 births Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champions Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Formula E drivers German racing drivers People from Minden Sportspeople from Detmold (region) Porsche Supercup drivers Racing drivers from North Rhine-Westphalia Rolex Sports Car Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers World Touring Car Cup drivers Audi Sport drivers Phoenix Racing drivers W Racing Team drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Sébastien Loeb Racing drivers G-Drive Racing drivers Team Rosberg drivers Team Joest drivers Team Aguri drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers BMW M drivers Jota Sport drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers McLaren Racing drivers