Gerhard Berger believes Rene Rast has "all the elements that define a perfect driver" following the German driver's run to a third DTM title in four years in 2020.
 
Rast emerged on top in a tightly-contested battle with fellow Audi driver Nico Muller to become this year's DTM champion, adding to his successes from 2017 and '19.

The seven wins Rast scored this year made him Audi's most successful driver in DTM history and earned him a place among the sport's all-time greats, with some going as far as to suggest he's worthy of legendary status.

 
The 34-year-old also exceeded expectations when he received a call-up from Audi to replace Daniel Abt in the final six races of the 2019/20 Formula E season, scoring a podium in his fifth start and doing enough to earn a full season drive for next year.

Berger, who has witnessed Rast's rise to stardom as the boss of DTM's promoter organisation ITR, feels the combination of speed and consistency makes the German "a perfect race driver".

"From my perspective, Rene Rast is combining all the elements that define a perfect race driver," Berger told the official DTM website. "There are drivers who are overly fast, but don't like to work. 

 
"There are those who like to work and are fast too, but are lacking condition. And there are drivers who sometimes can be really fast, but aren't consistent. 

"With Rene Rast, you get all these elements to at least 98%: he is fast, consistent, a very hard worker, perhaps working harder than everybody else, and is in good condition, too. 

"On top of that, he is a nice bloke! Of course, I would be delighted to have him back on board for the DTM in 2021 as well. He simply is the benchmark!"