Motorsportsman of the Year

Hot on the heels of taking out the 2017 DTM drivers’ title in his rookie DTM year, Audi driver, René Rast has been honoured by Germany’s largest motoring club, ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club) as its Motorsportsman of the Year.

The largest motoring club in Europe, ADAC has a tremendous reputation and as such, the award carries great weight, not only in Germany but around the world. 

A veritable Who’s Who of the motorsport number amongst the long and distinguished list of former winners, including numerous Audi greats. For Rast though in 2017, the honour was just the icing on what has been a very rich, but well deserved cake.

“Being chosen as the ‘Motorsportsman of the Year’ by the ADAC is a great honor for me,” says Rast. “It is special to succeed Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg, who won this title last year.” The judges in the form of high-profile sports journalists and ADAC representatives based their decision on Rast’s hard work, dedication, mental strength and ability to keep a cool head in one of the hardest-fought motorsport championships. This year was Rast’s first full DTM season, and he made his precedes felt from the very outset. Driving for Audi Sport Team Rosberg, he was on the pace and out the front of the filed from the very beginning and didn’t let up throughout the season. With the final race of the season, he was one of four Audi drivers who were in contention for the series title, but a  sixth place and a runner-up result, were was enough for him to clinch the drivers’ title.
The ADAC and Rast have a long history together since the early years of his motorsport career. In 2003 and 2004, he took part in the Formula BMW ADAC. He won the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup title in his rookie year in 2005. Thanks to his success, the driver from Minden was promoted to the development program of the “ADAC Stiftung Sport.” 

In 2014, he won the overall drivers’ title in the ADAC GT Masters with an Audi R8 LMS, a car in which Rast has achieved many successes in recent years, including victories in the 24- hour races at Spa, the Nürburgring and Daytona. In addition, he also raced for Audi in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The ‘ADAC Motorsportsman of the Year’ has been awarded since 1980. René Rast has added his name to the list of title winners that includes rally legend Walter Röhrl (1980), Hans-Joachim Stuck (1990), who won the DTM title in the first year of Audi’s factory participation, and the seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher (1992 and 2000). Other Audi drivers to have claimed the title include, Martin Tomczyk (2011) and Mike Rockenfeller (2013).