Augusto Farfus was delighted after rounds seven and eight of the DTM to see the fortunes of BMW Team RBM take a dramatic turn for the better in the seaside resort of Zandvoort, and is now hoping this positive upward trend continues for the next two races in the Austrian mountains at the Red Bull Ring.
Pole on Saturday, followed by fourth in race one and second in race two on Sunday was just the sort of result the driver from Curitiba was hoping for in the Netherlands. Now he heads towards Spielberg in Styria with some well founded optimism, although he is still realistic about his chances: “We are now going to a track where we were competitive and did pretty well last year with a second place. However, we have to remember that in Zandvoort our cars were running pretty light. Despite this the result of not only BMW Team RBM, but the other BMW DTM teams as well was good for team spirit and motivation. As a team I feel we took the optimum results.”
The 4.326 kilometre circuit, that has had various changes of layout over the years since it was first used in the 1960s, has without doubt the most picturesque backdrop of any circuit on the DTM calendar. It has hosted a Formula One race on and off since 1970, has six right hand and two left hand corners and is somewhere the Brazilian feels comfortable in his Shell BMW M4 DTM, as he explained: “The Spielberg track normally fits our car, as it is a high-speed circuit with fast corners. I think we can hopefully look forward to another podium and another good weekend for BMW.”
The weekend’s action starts on Friday with two 15-minute roll-outs separated by a five minute break from 11.25 to 12.00. Free practice one is then from 16.10 to 16.55. On Saturday free practice two is from 12.00 to 12.45, followed by qualifying for race one from 15.00 to 15.20. The 40-minute race starts at 18.23. On Sunday there is a 15-minute warm up starting at 11.00, qualifying for race two is from 12.40 to 13.00 and the 60-minute race starts at 15.18.
