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Paffett Holds Off BMW On DTM Test Day 2

2 Mins read

2005 DTM champion Gary Paffett kept the continuity going for Mercedes-Benz at the second day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, as he was the man topping the times on Day 2 of the first official test. Both Augusto Farfus and new DTM and fatherhood rookie, Timo Glock, rounded out the top three, with just 66 hundredths of a second separating the trio.

A very busy Farfus completed the most mileage that day, completing 198 laps, equating to just under 590 kilometers. By the mileage that both Martin Tomczyk and the Brazilian driver have completed, it seems that reliability is as always, a key factor to ensuring the best results possible, as Munich is now looking ahead, as it intends to defend all three titles.

Audi’s Timo Schieder ended up fastest of the Ingolstadt tribe, as Miguel Molina and Mattias Ekstrom followed suit, with Spanish rookie Daniel Juncadella using his local knowledge to good advantage, placing behind Day 1’s fastest driver, Robert Wickens. BMW’s DTM Test Driver, Belgium’s Maxime Martin also returned to his developmental duties behind the wheel of the M3 DTM, helping Munich’s cause.

Molina was clearly feeling back at home behind the wheel of the RS 5 DTM after a long spell away, having been given another chance behind the wheel after Rahel Frey’s departure to GT racing, as he was looking at ways to optimize the car, gathering important data for the season ahead: “For me, every lap here at Barcelona is something very special. Here, I made my first steps on the motor-racing ladder in a single-seater and whenever I come back I’m proud of doing so as professional racing driver. And even more so with this car: I think my Audi RS 5 is just gorgeous. With this colour, identifying me in the DTM field always will be easy. Now we will do everything to make sure that it does not only look good but also drives even faster.”

Glock was also happy to an extent, how comfortable he had become behind the wheel of the M3 DTM, and was finding the track time useful to help him settle in even further with Team MTEK, but still had issues that needed to be resolved: “I still have got my problems when it comes to understanding the standard tyre. Nonetheless, I was rather unhappy with our long runs. And on the option tyres I had particularly big fun, today. We will continue our work at Hockenheim and try to make the best possible use of the short preparation time prior to the season.”

So, half way through the first test sees Stuttgart leading on performance-based times to an extent, with BMW and Audi showing some steady progress on their cars, as the drivers going out on test day 3, will help to keep the momentum flowing, as the test is making all concerned work hard in the shortest time frame possible to maximize potential for the first race of the year and beyond…

Pos Driver Car Time Laps
1 Gary Paffett (GBR) Mercedes-Benz 1:06.149 150
2 Augusto Farfus (BRA) BMW 1:06.177 198
3 Timo Glock (GER) BMW 1:06.215 186
4 Robert Wickens (CAN) Mercedes-Benz 1:06.652 146
5 Daniel Juncadella (ESP) Mercedes-Benz 1:06.809 141
6 Martin Tomczyk (GER) BMW 1:07.207 94
7 Timo Scheider (GER) Audi 1:07.486 165
8 Miguel Molina (ESP) Audi 1:07.549 172
9 Mattias Ekstrom (ESP) Audi 1:07.596 151
10 Maxime Martin (BEL) BMW 1:07.929 120
11 Edoardo Mortara (ITA) Audi 1:08.035 105
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