Relentless

It was only fitting that Audi Sport finished the 2019 DTM season the way it started. Once again, the Audi teams and the RS 5 DTM were unstoppable and unbeatable, completely dominating proceedings at the Hockenheimring to record the 12th victory from 18 races.

It was the icing on the cake after clinching the Manufacturers’ title and the Drivers’ classification before the final round. All that remained at Hockenheim was to decide which of the three leading Audi teams would take there teams’s title, and for Nico Müller to cement his runner-up position in the drivers championship.

He did that in fine style, taking pole position before blitzing the field on Sunday to secure second for the year ahead of BMW’s Marco Wittmann. Mike Rockenfeller finished second on the day, his result also causing BMW some problems, with his Audi Sport Team Phoenix bumping the BMW Team RMG from the third spot in the teams’ championship.

René Rast rounded out the podium on the Sunday, already the crowned champion, Rast won the Saturday race and fought to the very end to try and claim another victory from his extraordinary season.

“Standing on the podium and holding the champion’s trophy in my hands was a very emotional moment,” said Rast. “I was dreaming of racing in the DTM for a long time. That I’ve now won the title for a second time is awesome. I’m happy for everyone who helped make my dream a reality – it’s an incredible feeling. Thank you to Team Rosberg, thank you to Audi!”

The results from the weekend mirrored the entire season for the brand, with a staggering 12 victories throughout the season, 12 pole positions, 12 fastest laps and an incredible 40 of 54 possible podium finishes.

Indeed Audi’s 1132 points in the manufacturers’ title was more than twice as many as it nearest rival – BMW.

“Tonight everyone deserves a party,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass at the end of the weekend. “Results like these cannot be taken for granted at all. My thanks go to everyone for all the hard work. It’s a deserved success for the whole Audi family. Locking out the podium again in these difficult conditions with the rain and celebrating the seventh victory in a row is simply fantastic. Our guys made no mistakes today. I’m also very happy that Nico (Müller) was able to finish the season with a victory after the title slipped through his fingers.”

For the entire Audi squad, 2019 will go down as one to remember and the one to try and beat in future. Aside form the dominant performances through from Rast, Müller and Rockenfeller,  all six Audi drivers finished the 2019 season in the top eight of the drivers’ championship – a truly inspired performance.

Although the DTM season is now officially at an end, touring car aficionados still have more to look forward to, with the first two joint races of the DTM and the Japanese Super GT to take place next (23 and 24) at Fuji, Japan.