Lady luck was not on Augusto Farfus’ side in Sunday’s race at the Austrian Red Bull Ring. The driver from Curitiba had to retire on lap 16 due to a technical problem. It was the early end to a race that was difficult from the start. The Red Bull Ring near Spielberg hosted the ninth and penultimate round of the 2018 DTM season.
After finishing ninth in the points in his Shell BMW M4 DTM in Saturday’s race, Augusto and BMW Team RMG aimed to collect more points today. In the morning’s qualifying, however, he had to settle for 16th in mixed conditions with a drying track.
For the race, the weather had improved and the sun was shining over the Styrian alps. Augusto tried to make up positions but in the turmoil in the first corners he dropped back. His attempts to work his way back towards the front were hindered by a technical problem that prevented him from attacking. On lap 16, he had to stop and retire the car in a safe place next to the track. The cause of the technical problem still has to be analysed – probably it was connected with a battle earlier in the race when he was pushed off to the side.
“It’s a pity; we had hoped for more today,” Augusto said when he had returned to the garage. “It was difficult to do much when starting from that position and it’s a shame that we retired, but that’s DTM. At the moment I had to stop the car there was not much more I could have done in the race anyway.”
The final round of the 2018 DTM season will be held in three weeks’ time from 12th to 14th October at Hockenheim in Germany.
