How a pit stop fiasco nearly cost Rene Rast’...

Rene Rast charged to an unchallenged victory within the DTM on the Nurburgring on Sunday, however the Schubert BMW driver had one main second of concern throughout the first pitstop.

“Once I arrived there, there was no one there besides my lollipop. And the mechanics weren’t there,” he mentioned after the race.

The incident wasn’t fairly as unhealthy as Rast described it within the post-race press convention. TV footage confirmed that his crew was already within the pitbox, however the mechanic on the left-hand aspect of the automobile was solely simply taking the wheel gun off its stand.

“So, we misplaced a little bit of time at that cease. I do not know what went unsuitable there,” Rast added. “It is fairly uncommon to reach there and simply to see the lollipop man and no tyres. Clearly, I knew I had a giant hole to Ben [Dorr]. However I do not understand how lengthy the pitstop was.”

The Schubert BMW driver estimated he “most likely misplaced three, 4 seconds or extra,” and in actuality it was stationary for 9.4 seconds, whereas Dorr’s cease lasted 9.8s, however Schubert BMW team-mate Marco Wittmann’s first cease took simply 6.4s.

However why was the Schubert crew, usually recognized for flawless pitstops, not prepared in any respect?

“The decision got here a bit late as a result of we did not know precisely what Lucas Auer was doing earlier than,” workforce principal Torsten Schubert instructed Motorsport.com sister web site Motorsport-Total.com. “That is why it wasn’t clear during which order we might pit. After which the decision for the crew to exit got here a bit too late.

“Sadly, that was a small fake pas within the race. However fortunately the 2 seconds did not damage us as a result of the hole was [big enough]. I then instructed everybody, guys, all the things’s fantastic, all the things’s protected, we’ve sufficient of a lead.”

Regardless of the scare, Rast rejoined the monitor nonetheless within the lead after the primary cease, permitting him to make perfect use of his tyre advantage following Saturday’s start-line crash and cruise to his thirtieth DTM victory.