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 Detm ...

) 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

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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, who is ...

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 a ...

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

2012 24 Hours of Daytona The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finishi ...

Career

After competing in karting and

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

, Rast won the 2005 ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup 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-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

and claimed three championships from 2010 to 2012. Rast also competed at the

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

from 2010 to 2012, winning the title in his last year. He ran the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring with a Paul Miller Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Rast won the

GT class, driving a

Magnus Racing Magnus Racing is an automobile racing team based in Tooele, Utah, currently competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team was established in 2010 by John Potter and runs Acura NSX GT3 car in the series. History The team fin ...

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with co-drivers

Andy Lally Andrew J. Lally (born February 11, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the Audi R8 for Magnus Racing and previously part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, dr ...

Richard Lietz Richard Lietz (born 17 December 1983 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs) is an Austrian professional racing driver and a Porsche Factory driver. He has competed in such series as American Le Mans Series, Formula 3 Euro Series and the Rolex Sports Car Seri ...

and team owner John Potter. Rast won the 2012 and 2014

with a factory-supported

Audi R8 LMS The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufact ...

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 Amazon Web Services, AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel ...

, he claimed a win and five podiums with an WRT Audi R8. In the 2014

Blancpain Sprint 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 three podiums. In 2016, he got three podiums with. Rast debuted at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans 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 The Audi R18 is a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) racing car constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi AG. It is the successor to the Audi R15 TDI. Like its predecessor, the R18 uses a TDI turbocharged diesel engine but with a reduced capacity ...

, 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 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 Thre ...

(who has a DTM 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 ser ...

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 Team Rosberg GmbH is a motor racing organisation that competes in single-seater and touring car disciplines in Europe. It was founded in 1994 by former Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg, of Finland. It is headquartered at Neustadt an der Wei ...

. 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

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, 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, partnering

Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...

. Rast did not compete in the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship, 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 Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (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

(

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

) (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