DTM: Augusto Farfus wins at Valencia
Posted 30th September, 2012 in Motorsport | Leave a comment
BMW’s Augusto Farfus turned pole position into his first ever DTM win at today’s Valencia round, with Audi also producing a strong performance, resulting in a 31 point lead in the manufacturers’ championship.
The popular Brazilian made a killer start, creating a five second cushion between himself and Edoardo Mortara by the first pitstop. Mortara was holding on to second place until mechanical problems saw him retire just seven laps from the end, which saw fellow Audi pilots Adrien Tambay and Mattias Ekstrom occupy the remaining steps of the podium. Filipe Albuquerque and Mike Rockenfeller rounded out the top five, making it a satisfying weekend for Audi.
It was a bad weekend for Mercedes, who could finish no higher than tenth place, courtesy of Britain’s Jamie Green, while current championship leader Gary Paffett had a nightmare. Starting from 16th on the grid, the Mercedes driver was involved in a collision with BMW’s Joey Hand on the first lap, which resulted in a stop-go penalty. Damage to the C-Coupe saw Paffett’s pace suffer, leading to his eventual retirement. Bruno Spengler saw his fortunes turn around after receiving a penalty for his jump start from 12th place. The Schnitzer BMW driver fell back to 15th, but fought his way through the field, coming home in sixth. Paffett is now just three points ahead of Spengler, on 127.
“Big congratulations to Augusto Farfus . As a rookie here to go to the poles and bring the victory home was a great performance. We now have a completely open championship for Hockenheim, which we wanted. Now we have to continue to work focused and see what happens then,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director.
Valencia DTM Results after 46 laps
1. A Farfus RBM BMW 1h08m22.522s
2. A Tambay Abt Audi + 8.406s
3. M Ekstrom Abt Audi + 8.967s
4. F Albuquerque Rosberg Audi + 23.067s
5. M Rockenfeller Phoenix Audi + 28.066s
6. B Spengler Schnitzer BMW + 39.831s
7. R Frey Abt Audi + 48.318s
8. A Priaulx RBM BMW + 49.562s
9. D Werner Schnitzer BMW + 58.327s
10. J Green HWA Mercedes + 1m10.596s
11. D Coulthard Mucke Mercedes + 1m12.228s
12. C Vietoris HWA Mercedes + 1m20.388s
13. S Wolff Persson Mercedes + 1 lap
14. R Schumacher HWA Mercedes + 1 lap
[Source: DTM]
