Starting from seventh on the grid Gary Paffett came through the pack to claim second place at the line.
The second race of the weekend featured tricky weather conditions and finding the right time to switch from slick to wet tyres was key.
“Today’s race was like a rollercoaster ride. After the restart, I was in fourth place. I got away pretty well, but on Turn 4, I went onto the grass and dropped down the field. After that, I thought it would be difficult to get into the points. But we made a perfect decision on the pit stop and switched to wets at just the right moment. The car was then really fast.”
Paffett took the opportunity to pass Marco Wittmann at the hairpin, after the pair had gotten past Lucas Auer at the same point a few laps before after the Auer had ran wide on his outlap.
“I overtook Marco [Wittmann] and went hunting for Jamie [Green]. The first time I saw the board at the pit wall, he was 16 seconds ahead of me, but by the end of the race, this was down to just four. You must never give up and always fight to the end. All in all, it was an incredible start to the season for the DTM: in both races, all three manufacturers were on the podium, and each time it was three different drivers.”
Paffett is joint second in the championship with Green – though is classified as third due to Green having had a victory. The pair have 26 points, 14 points adrift championship leader Auer.
