This Sunday, Dutch Zandvoort started with a bang for Augusto Farfus and his BMW Team RMG: with a fantastic best lap time in qualifying, the driver from Curitiba securing pole position in his Shell BMW M4 DTM. The eventful Sunday race in the dunes ended with more points for Augusto. He was classified eighth after an encounter that saw many strategic games on a track that once more proved to be a real tyre killer.
“It is great to be back on pole,” Augusto commented after qualifying. “We had a strong car from the beginning of the weekend. We managed to play it well and to find the right balance. I am extremely happy to be back and to show the performance. Now we have to focus on getting it together for the race.”
At the closely fought start, Augusto dropped back one position behind team-mate Marco Wittmann. He then entered the pits immediately after the first lap to complete his mandatory stop for tyre change. Unlike most of the DTM races of the season so far, the drivers with a later stop seemed to have an advantage this time. When all drivers had pitted, Augusto had dropped further back. On the challenging and tight circuit, there was no chance to overtake and regain positions. In the end, he was classified eighth and scored four more points.
“We did our stop after the first lap and it didn’t pay off, but that’s racing,” Augusto summed up the race. “However, we can take some positives from Zandvoort. We have been the quickest car of the entire weekend and got the pole this morning, so from this respect, it was very nice. But we missed a good chance for a podium today.”
Augusto will get the next chance to set his sights on a strong result in three weeks’ time. Round six of the 2017 DTM season will be held from 8th to 10th September at Germany’s Nürburging, one of Augusto’s favourite tracks.
