It was not at all an easy Saturday for Augusto Farfus at the Lausitzring. The circuit south of the German capital of Berlin is hosting the second round of the 2015 DTM season, with race numbers three and four to be contested this weekend. Today saw the first qualifying and a 40-minute sprint race. After having shown the potential of his Shell BMW M4 DTM at the season opener in Hockenheim, Farfus was confident for the Lausitzring. But today the BMW Team RBM driver did not have Lady Luck on his side.
After he was given a grid penalty by the race organisers for “hindering another car during qualifying”, Farfus had to tackle the short race from 23rd on the grid. He had a great start and stormed forwards in his Shell BMW M4 DTM, making up numerous positions in the first corners of the race. But all his hopes came to an early end when he was hit by another car, had to go into the pits after only a few laps and retire due to a broken front splitter.
“I am pretty disappointed about the race,” Farfus commented. “I had a really strong start and made up a lot of positions. But then first of all I was pushed onto the grass, which cost me some places, and shortly after that I was hit by a Mercedes in turn one. My front splitter was so damaged that I had to retire and my Saturday was over.”
Now the driver from Curitiba is fully focused on tomorrow, Sunday. “It is good that we will have another race tomorrow. There we will start all over again,” Farfus emphasised.
Tomorrow’s 20-minutes of qualifying will be held at 11:40, while the 60-minute race will start at 14:23 local time.
