Audi has announced that three-time DTM champion Rene Rast will come back to race in the series in the 2022 campaign.
Rast has been one of the championship’s top driver since he joined in 2016. He won his first championship in 2017, before adding two more titles in 2019 and 2020.
He had to forego defending his title during the 2021 season as he had to instead focus on his full-time drive with Audi in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
With Audi’s involvement in Formula E coming to a close, it has freed the German up to return to the series next year.
Julius Seebach, Audi Sport Managing Director, said after Sunday’s DTM finale at the Norisring that Rast will make his return to the series, while also confirming that Rast’s old title rival Nico Mueller will be retained for 2022.
“René Rast and Nico Müller are currently among the best drivers on the market – and I’m very happy that we’re going into the future with both of them,” said Seebach. “Besides their performance on the track, they also have everything it takes to take a team forward. It’s great to see René back in the DTM.”
It is not yet known which team Rast will drive for in next year’s campaign. He spent the majority of his tenure with Team Rosberg, but the German outfit signed Müller from Abt Sportsline upon Rast’s departure to Formula E.
Abt Sportsline, Müller’s old outfit, in turn lengthened its relationship with Kelvin van der Linde for the 2022 season prior to the Norisring finale. That team does currently have at least one vacant seat, as Mike Rockenfeller will not be returning to the Audi stable next season.
