The result of the first race for the opening 2016 DTM weekend was not what Augusto Farfus had been hoping for when he headed to Hockenheim. After he had been pushed off the track on the first lap, the driver from Curitiba had no chance of finishing his first race for BMW Team MTEK in the points.
Despite the good conditions with bright sunshine and temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius, Augusto was not in the mood for smiling after today’s opening 40-minute sprint race. In the early afternoon, he had qualified 15th with his Shell BMW M4 DTM. “I could not put a whole lap together but I think that all BMW drivers struggled to get the maximum out of the car. I still think we had a good race car and it would have been possible to have a good race,” Augusto commented.
His chase to the front, however, ended early on lap one. Augusto was pushed into a spin. He was able to continue, but his Shell BMW M4 DTM was damaged and points were far out of reach. After 25 laps, he crossed the line in 14th. What would have been possible in this eventful race was proved by his fellow BMW drivers Bruno Spengler, António Félix da Costa and Maxime Martin who all made up numerous positions to finish well in the points. Spengler started 13th and came home in sixth, Félix da Costa and Martin had started from even further back on the grid.
“It was a shame,” Augusto said. “I had a good start and had placed myself well for the first corners. Then in turn six, I was hit by Esteban Ocon and my race was over. It’s unfortunate that the season has kicked off like this for me. The car was really good but this hit on lap one cost us the race. Looking at how crazy this race was, I could have easily been in the points – but it just did not happen. Tomorrow we have to better. It cannot get worse so let’s squeeze the maximum out of the package.”
The DTM cars will be back on the 4.574 kilometre track on Sunday for a third free practice session from 10.00 to 10:30. This is followed by qualifying for race two from 12.30 to 12.50. The second race of the 2016 season, which is 60 minutes long, starts at 14.33.
