Formula E: Rast Confirmed to Race at Berlin

Audi have confirmed that 2-time DTM champion René Rast will compete at Berlin’s sextuple header in August alongside former Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi.

He will replace the outgoing Daniel Abt, who has raced alongside di Grassi at every single Formula E race since the inaugural race in Beijing in 2014. The Audi/ABT team was the only team to keep the same lineup of drivers in all 6 seasons of Formula E until Abt’s firing, despite the team ownership moving from the ABT company to Audi for Season 4 onwards.

Abt, the winner of the 2018 Mexico and Berlin ePrix, was dropped from the Audi fold after ‘cheating’ in the Berlin round of Formula E’s Race at Home Esports series, where he was found to have a sim racer race under Abt’s name instead. Abt had planned to document the stunt for his YouTube channel, however the ordeal was not taken lightly by Formula E or Audi, with Abt being fined as well as losing his drive.

Rast was strongly linked to replace Abt, being a driver clearly on the top of his game in DTM, and someone with a small amount of past Formula E experience. He raced in the 2016 Berlin ePrix for the now defunct Team Aguri.

Rast at the 2016 Berlin ePrix

He had already expressed his interested in the vacant Audi drive, but couldn’t confirm any plans before the revised Formula E calendar was revealed in case of any clashes with DTM.

Rast is set to test the Season 6 Audi e-tron FE06 with di Grassi in early July at the Lausitzring.

Rast said, “I’ve been following Formula E very closely for a long time and am now looking forward to this new challenge.

“The demands on the drivers in Formula E are high: in addition to pure speed, it’s also a question of efficiency, battery management and the perfect strategy - and all of this on tight city circuits, where things are usually quite turbulent.

“But, with the testing at the beginning of July and my experience in the simulator, I will try to be as well prepared as possible when I arrive in Berlin.

“And with six races in nine days, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn quickly.”

The deal for Rast to race in Formula E only encompasses the 6 Berlin races, however he is available for a full time drive in Season 7 due to Audi pulling out from the DTM series at the end of 2020, and Audi will be keen to keep their drivers.

Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass said, “As a two-time DTM champion and long-time Audi driver, Rene was naturally on the shortlist from the very beginning.

“In the past, he has often proved how fast he is in a new series without having to get used to it.

“It’s nice that there are no overlaps between DTM and Formula E so that Rene can compete in both series for us.

“With six final races in Berlin, our team still has everything to play for in the championship.”