Augusto Farfus secured his second victory of the 2013 DTM campaign at Oschersleben to keep a mathematical chance of winning the title.
Farfus lined up second on the grid having set the third fastest time in qualifying – fellow BMW driver Bruno Spengler had set the fastest time in the final part of qualifying before being penalised for using the wrong tyres in qualifying.
The Brazilian took the lead of the race off the start and was never heeded as he secured his second win of the season ahead of Championship leader Mike Rockenfeller for Audi.
“I am obviously very happy,” said Farfus. “Every victory is special and you have to fight very hard for them, but this track is also very special as I have great memories from racing here in the past.
“I had a good start from second and the pace of the car was very good from the beginning. I was able to pull away with the option tyre, then with the prime I could keep up with Mike Rockenfeller.
“The car was very stable for the entire race. I wanted to do the best job I could and thankfully that was good enough for first. Also a big thank you to BMW Team RBM for the great job everyone did today,” the Brazilian concluded.
Farfus’s team-mate at the BMW Team RBM outfit, Joey Hand, finished outside the points’ but finished the race having set the fastest lap of the race.
He admits that damage sustained at the beginning of the race hampered his race as did his lowly qualifying result.
“I was in a thankless position, as I had to start from towards he back of the field,” said the USA driver. “Because of this, I just tried to get through the first corners undamaged. However, I was hit several times and my car was damaged, making it virtually impossible to drive.
“Despite this, I tried to push on and maybe get into the points. However, there really was not much I could do from that point on,” he added.
For BMW Team RBM, the result for Farfus saw the team victorious at a circuit where they had had previous success in the World Touring Car Championship with Farfus and Andy Priaulx.
“That was a fantastic performance from Augusto Farfus,” explains Bart Mampaey, BMW Team RBM Team Principal. “Even his qualifying was awesome: that was the sixth time in a row he had made it into the top-four qualifying, which is very impressive.
“The key to the race was his perfect start, after which he was able to open up a lead and control the pace. From a strategic point of view, it was not easy keeping Mike Rockenfeller at bay. In the end, our pace was good enough on both compounds to stay in front right through to the finish. A great result!
Despite not scoring any Championship points, Mampaey was pleased with the performance shown by Hand, who finished 16th overall.
“Joey Hand found a very strong pace during certain phases, as shown by his fastest race lap. However, the starting position plays a very large role in the DTM, and his was not good enough this time. We will work on that.
Despite this, on the whole we are obviously very happy.“