Rene Rast says he's 'proud' of himself and Audi after coming to within just four points of successfully defen🐼ding his 2017 DTM crow🎐n following a sensational second half of the season.

Rast and Audi looked down and out of the 2018 title race earlier in the year after the Team Rosberg driver found himself 104 points adrift of the championship su♊mmit nine races into the season.

However, having secured his first 🦂win of the season during the second race at Zandvoort, Rast went on to enjoy a magnificent run of form, which saw the reigning champion finish off the podium on just two further occasions in the second half of the 2018.

That run ultimately culminated in Rast making DTM hi൩story after the 31-year old took a record breaking six victories on th𒁃e bounce, including the two he scored during this weekend's Hockenheim finale.

Incredibly๊, that elevated him above Mercedes' Paul di Resta up to second in the drivers' table and just four points shy of eventual champion🌳 Gary Paffett.

“What an incredible year,ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ what a comeback! I’m very proud of Audi Sport, Team Rosberg and of myself, too," said Rast.

"We had a tough start to the season, but never gave up, kept imp🤡roving the car and also made progress in terms of strategy. All of the Audi drivers worked together fan🌄tastically as a team.

"Only by doing so, was it possible to keep the title dream open up until the end. Ultimately, it wasn’t quite enough. That’𝔍s a little bit of a shame, but Gary (Paffett) and Mercede🔜s-Benz deserved to win. They were strong throughout the whole year.”