Having taken victory in the opening round of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Hockenheimring, BMW’s Augusto Farfus praised his team and the strategy which took him to his second win in the series.
Brazilian Farfus started the race from the front row of the grid and soon passed then-race leader Timo Scheider on the seventh tour. Having started on the softer ‘option’ tyre, Farfus spent the second half of the race on the standard tyre and found himself leading after passing Daniel Juncadella after his final pit-stop. Farfus led home BMW’s first 1-2 since returning to the series in 2012.
“That was one of the most exciting races I have ever experienced,” said Farfus. “Right from the word go, it was clear to me that I would be in with a chance of winning from second on the grid. However, I was uncertain, as nobody could really know what effect DRS and the option tyres would actually have during the race.
“In the end, my team’s perfect strategy made the difference. It is an unbelievable feeling to start the season with a win. I would like to say a big thank you to BMW Motorsport and BMW Team RBM. That was an incredible start.”
Bart Mampaey, Team Principal of BMW Team RBM, hopes the result will mark his team out as a force to be reckoned with. The team who made their DTM début at the beginning of 2012 have now taken two victories, with Farfus at the wheel on both occasions.
“I think we have definitely confirmed our arrival in the DTM with this victory,” said Mampaey. “It took us a while to find our feet in 2012, and we also took a good look at ourselves in many areas during the winter break. That is not easy, and I would like to thank every single member of my team for their efforts.
“We drew exactly the right conclusions – and were rewarded with the victory today. The race was complicated today, and we had an awful lot of decisions to make. We took a bit of a chance with the strategy, but it paid off in the end. Augusto Farfus produced a fantastic performance. And Joey Hand [who finished in seventh] can also be very happy with his début for our team.