An old acquaintance established the contact: Andreas Ross was most recently head of motorsport at Audi and now holds the same position at BMW.
“I already know René very well from my time at Audi and I am delighted that we will now work together at BMW M Motorsport,” says Roos. “René is a versatile racer and a fantastic addition to our driver line-up. His successes speak for themselves. He’s been quick out of the box in every race car he’s driven. Add to that his meticulous way of working, which has always impressed me. I am convinced that he can be of great help to us in many areas, be it in racing or in the development of our vehicles.”
René Rast will compete for BMW instead of Audi in the world of motorsport in 2023.
It is not the first time that Rast has driven a BMW in his career. In 2003 and 2004 he gained his first experience in Formula BMW, in 2011 he completed test drives in the BMW M3 DTM in the run-up to BMW’s DTM comeback.
Rast: “After so many successful years at Audi, I am looking forward to a new, exciting challenge. Over the past few years, I’ve seen what’s going on at BMW M Motorsport time and time again, and a long time ago I had my first experience of racing in Formula BMW. To return to the BMW brand almost 20 years later is a great story and a logical step for me.”
One reason for his change is Audi’s commitment to Le Mans, which is currently on hold. Actually, the people of Ingolstadt wanted to drive an LMDh racing car on the Sarthe in 2023. But the forthcoming Formula 1 entry should kill the Le Mans project. A Formula 1 commitment is said not to have been offered to the Mindener.
