The second half of the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season will start with the first trip to the United Kingdom for five years, but even though he has more experience than most around the 3.908-km Brands Hatch GP circuit, BMW’s Augusto Farfus admits that it will be a weekend filled with pressure for all concerned.
“My experience here goes back ten years,” admitted the Brazilian during today’s press conference, who is currently 16th in the overall standings on 22 points.
“Back in the WTCC, it was definitely a different car, but I can’t wait to start.”
Farfus has won around the full Grand Prix circuit before, back in 2009 with BMW Team Germany in the WTCC, and is hoping that the weather is going to help his efforts this weekend.
“It’s not going to be easy as we have a very busy Saturday. We hope that it will help us and it should be stable tomorrow and see what Brands will bring to DTM.
“It is one of the last remaining old-school tracks, which has remaining unchanged for a long time. It’s very challenging and I say it may be one of the highlights of the season, when we came here from a great track like Zandvoort.”
The Team RMG driver will also be staying in the Untied Kingdom following this weekend, as he will represent Team MTEK at the forthcoming 6 Hours of Silverstone
Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt also admitted that the return of the series to Brands Hatch is a welcome one, especially with the history the track has in motorsport circles.
“We used the short track there in 2012 and 2013 and Bruno Spengler finished on the podium in second place both times. Naturally, it would be great if we could finish one step higher on the podium this time but the long Grand Prix Circuit is new terrain for many.
“We need to wait and see who can adapt to the conditions the quickest and get the best set-up for the start to the weekend. Brands Hatch is a place with a long history of motorsport. It is great to be able to offer the amazing English fans DTM action once again.”
The first practice session of the DTM race weekend gets underway at 0900 local time tomorrow morning (Saturday, August 11th), lasting for 25 minutes.