Last year’s affair at the Norisring was one for 2005 Champion Gary Paffett to forget, following the heated incident between the Briton and Audi’s Edoardo Mortara that ended up in the pair slamming into the wall late in the race.
The Mercedes driver was on the pace, but he explained that his Hankook tyres dropped off rather early, but that was just the start of what was to come: “We then decided to fit a fresh set of tyres, which allowed me to go faster. Unfortunately, the track dried up too quickly for my purposes, and I had to pit for a second time. So our strategy did not work out.”
Retiree Martin Tomczyk was the man that caused drama for Paffett this time around after contact going into Grundig corner in tricky conditions, which meant the Briton ended up twelfth at the finish, just behind Bruno Spengler.
The 2011 champion explained to Das Erste during the live broadcast that it was his fault and that he out braked himself coming into the corner, having just switched onto the option tyres.
Paffett himself was happy for the fact that Mercedes continues their winning run at the Norisring and he can only hope for better results next time out at Moscow Raceway, as Mercedes can only get better: “We didn’t make the best of our opportunity to amass a big points haul at the Norisring, but at least Robert got the win.”
