Augusto Farfus loves the Austrian Red Bull Ring located in the picturesque landscape of the Styrian mountains. In fact, this Saturday started well for the BMW Team RMG driver when he laid the foundation for a good points result in qualifying. His hopes, however, were ended early in the race by a spectacular ride through the gravel. He continued in the race but had to retire his damaged car with 15 minutes to go.
Autumn has arrived in Austria and this was evidenced by thick fog that delayed the start of the morning free practice. The skies then cleared quickly and when the cars headed out for qualifying, the sun was out. Augusto secured ninth place on the grid in his Shell BMW M4 DTM and was determined to build on this in the race. His luck changed, however, on the second lap. When battling with Mercedes driver Lucas Auer, the two cars came too close and Augusto went off the track at such high speed that he literally flew through the gravel – his car lost contact with the ground. The Brazilian worked his way back onto the track and continued the race in last position. He tried his best, but brought his car back to the garage 15 minutes before the chequered flag as it was too badly damaged.
“This was not our race. I tried to avoid a crash and lost control. This of course compromised my race,” Augusto said. “It was not a good day, but tomorrow is another day. We will focus on tomorrow and will see what we can achieve then.”
Augusto will be in action again in his Shell BMW M4 DTM tomorrow morning in FP3 from 09.25 to 09.55. Qualifying will follow from 12.00 to 12.20 and the Sunday race at the Red Bull Ring starts at 15.18.
