The DTM has arrived in the Styrian alps to contest its ninth and penultimate round of the 2018 season at the modern Red Bull Ring. Saturday’s race ended with a hectic final phase when the field was mixed up after a Safety Car period and the following Indy re-start. Augusto Farfus crossed the line in ninth position, scoring two more points in his BMW Team RMG Shell BMW M4 DTM.
The morning’s qualifying was held in wet and cold conditions – and had to be red flagged for some time as the race director had safety concerns due to the intermittent heavy rain. Augusto coped well with the conditions and qualified in seventh. Before the race the rain had stopped and the track started to dry.
When the lights went out, Augusto stormed towards the front of the field and into fifth place. After lap one the Safety Car had to take to the track for the first time. When the race resumed, Augusto had improved to fourth place. He then dropped back to fifth when his team-mate, Marco Wittmann, got past him and kept this position until he entered the pits for his mandatory stop on lap 16. In his second stint, however, Augusto could not defend the position and lost some places. In the final minutes another Safety Car period and the Indy re-start resulted in turmoil on the track, with three cars going through the corners side by side and many position changes. For Augusto the race ended in ninth position. Wittmann was the highest placed BMW driver in seventh.
“We had a high tyre degradation and the Safety Car at the end really caused a mess out there. On the last two laps it was like carnage,” Augusto reported. “So we just could not get what we wanted. We still have to find some race pace. All the BMWs seemed to struggle in that regard today. So we have to take a look at that and move on.”
Sunday’s track action at the Red Bull Ring will begin with the third free practice session at 08:30 local time, qualifying will take place from 10:35 to 10:55. The race itself will start at 13:30.
