The third round of the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season sees the travelling paddock make its first trip outside of home soil, as all 18 drivers will be battling hard around the Hungaroring this weekend, including 2005 champion Gary Paffett.
The Briton, who is currently 3rd in the overall standings on 46 points, is excited to be able to race at the 4.381-km circuit this coming weekend, despite not having had a great run of form over his last couple of appearances.
“We’ve had two really strong first two weekends. The performance of our car is good, and I think we can go there and have another good weekend,” admitted the Suffolk-based driver, who has had his best season start since 2012, where he eventually finished as runner-up.
“It’s a circuit I enjoy driving. I’m pretty happy with the start to the season and want to continue the run of strong results that I’ve had so far this year,” said Paffett, who states that it is still too early to consider a title assault.
“It’s great to be in third place in the championship after two race weekends, which means we’re contenders at the moment, but there’s still a long way to go. We have to focus on each weekend as it comes.”
“To be honest, you need to produce consistently good performances to win a championship. That’s what we did at the first two race weekends of the season and that’s what we have to try to do again for the next seven.”
Mercedes has asserted it’s strong grip over all three championships in the early stages of the season, as Lucas Auer and Jamie Green are the only two race winners after visits to both Hockenheim and Lausitz, with the new regulations still providing interesting racing and strategies.