René Rast
René Rast is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He last competed in Formula E. He claimed overall wins at the 2012 and 2014 24 Hours of Spa, 2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring and two class wins at the 2012 and 2016 24 Hours of Daytona.
Career
After competing in karting and Formula BMW, Rast won the 2005 ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup and was runner-up at the 2006 Seat León Supercopa Germany.In 2007, Rast switched to sports car racing, where he won Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2008 and 2012, and Porsche Supercup and claimed three championships from 2010 to 2012. Rast also competed at the ADAC GT Masters from 2010 to 2014, winning the title in his last year.
Rast ran the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring 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 24 Hours of Spa with a factory-supported Audi R8 LMS with teams Phoenix and WRT respectively.
In the 2013 FIA GT Series, Rast 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.
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, 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 competed in two rounds of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with an Audi RS5, finishing sixth at Hockenheim II race 1.
Rast 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.
Formula E
Rast debuted in Formula E at the 2016 Berlin ePrix replacing António Félix da Costa at Team Aguri.Rast returned to Formula E for the final six races of the 2019-20 season in Berlin, replacing the sacked Daniel Abt at Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler. 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.
Rast did not compete in the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship.
Rast made his return to the series in the 2022–23 season driving for the McLaren Formula E Team. He scored one podium throughout the season, and ended 13th in the standings. Rast announced his departure from McLaren following the season.
Racing record
Career summary
† As Rast was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.* Season still in progress.
Complete Porsche Supercup results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | DC | Points |
| 2007 | Veltins MRS Racing | BHR | BHR | CAT | MON | MAG | SIL | NÜR 13 | HUN | IST | SPA | MNZ | NC‡ | 0‡ | ||
| 2008 | Veltins MRS Racing | BHR Ret | BHR 3 | CAT 5 | IST Ret | MON 7 | MAG Ret | SIL | HOC 5 | HUN 8 | VAL 6 | SPA 7 | MNZ 8 | 6th | 95 | |
| 2009 | Veltins MRS Racing | BHR Ret | BHR 2 | CAT DSQ | MON 2 | IST 2 | SIL 1 | NÜR 1 | HUN 1 | VAL 1 | SPA 17† | MNZ 1 | YMC 1 | YMC 2 | 2nd | 207 |
| 2010 | Al Faisal Lechner Racing | BHR 1 | BHR 1 | CAT Ret | MON 1 | VAL 1 | SIL 2 | HOC Ret | HUN 3 | SPA 3 | MNZ 4 | 1st | 152 | |||
| 2011 | Veltins Lechner Racing | IST 5 | CAT 7 | MON 1 | NÜR 1 | SIL 1 | NÜR 1 | HUN Ret | SPA 2 | MNZ 2 | YMC 2 | YMC 1 | 1st | 181 | ||
| 2012 | Lechner Racing | BHR 1 | BHR 3 | MON Ret | VAL 1 | SIL 1 | HOC 1 | HUN DNS | HUN DNS | SPA 2 | MNZ 1 | 1st | 142 |
† 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 World Endurance Championship results
† As Rast was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.* Season still in progress.
Complete Formula E results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Powertrain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos | Points |
| 2015–16 | Team Aguri | Spark SRT01-e | SRT01-e | BEI | PUT | PDE | BUE | MEX | LBH | PAR | BER NC | LDN | LDN | 23rd | 0 | ||||||
| 2019–20 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Spark SRT05e | Audi e-tron FE06 | DIR | DIR | SCL | MEX | MRK | BER 10 | BER 13 | BER Ret | BER 16 | BER 3 | BER 4 | 15th | 29 | |||||
| 2020–21 | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler | Spark SRT05e | Audi e-tron FE07 | DIR 4 | DIR 17 | RME 6 | RME Ret | VLC 5 | VLC 6 | MCO Ret | PUE 2 | PUE 10 | NYC 10 | NYC 20 | LDN 5 | LDN Ret | BER 9 | BER 9 | 13th | 78 | |
| 2022–23 | NEOM McLaren Formula E Team | Formula E Gen3 | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | MEX Ret | DRH 5 | DRH 3 | HYD Ret | CAP 4 | SAP 9 | BER 17 | BER 13 | MCO 17 | JAK 15 | JAK 15 | POR 14 | RME Ret | RME 13 | LDN 14 | LDN 12 | 13th | 40 |
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results
† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pos. | Points |
| 2025 | Team WRT | BMW M4 GT3 | Pro | LEC | MON | SPA 6H 13 | SPA 12H 14 | SPA 24H 11 | NUR | CAT | NC* | 0* |