Britain’s Gary Paffett turned pole position into his first DTM win at Brands Hatch this weekend, making for a near perfect start to 2012 for the popular Mercedes driver.
31-year-old Paffett controlled the race from the start, building a five second cushion over the BMW M3 of Bruno Spengler by the chequered flag and stretching his championship lead over the Canadian by 25 points. Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller wasn’t far behind in his A5 Coupe, but failed to capitalise on Spengler’s diminishing pace due to a damaged splitter, eventually having to settle for the third step of the podium.
BMW’s Martin Tomczyk dropped one place from his grid position but still managed to secure fourth – his best finish of the season, while Mattias Ekstrom rounded off the top five in his Audi, after starting from eighth spot.
“It’s a great feeling to win my home race. I’ve now finally secured my first DTM victory at this track. The team and my THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé were simply terrific. Three races, two wins and one second place – let’s hope this season continues just as it began,” said a jubilant Paffett.
DTM Brands Hatch Result after 97 laps
1. G Paffett – HWA Mercedes 1h10m01.585s
2. B Spengler – Schnitzer BMW + 5.065s
3. M Rockenfeller – Phoenix Audi + 5.579s
4. M Tomczyk – RMG BMW + 5.997s
5. M Ekstrom – Abt Audi + 22.416s
6. C Vietoris – HWA Mercedes + 23.195s
7. M Molina – Phoenix Audi + 23.689s
8. J Green – HWA Mercedes + 24.284s
9. E Mortara – Rosberg Audi + 25.779s
10. F Albuquerque – Rosberg Audi + 29.582s
11. A Farfus – RBM BMW + 30.302s
12. A Tambay – Abt Audi + 33.015s
13. J Hand – RMG BMW + 35.977s
14. R Wickens – Mucke Mercedes + 36.340s
15. D Coulthard – Mucke Mercedes + 1 lap
16. D Werner – Schnitzer BMW + 1 lap
17. R Merhi – Persson Mercedes + 1 lap
18. R Frey – Abt Audi + 1 lap
19. R Schumacher – HWA Mercedes + 1 lap
20. S Wolff – Persson Mercedes + 1 lap
[Source: DTM]