DTM – Farfus and Werner offer the double to BMW

The use of soft tires and DRS were important in this first race of the 2013 season. DTM which took place in Hockenheim. If Audi had good hopes of winning with Timo Scheider's pole, the hierarchy was upset by the different strategies and the arrival of the safety car at the start of the race following the start of a fire on the A5 DTM of Adrien Tambay who had to quickly throw in the towel.

Augusto Farfus, who started on the front row alongside the Audi driver, implemented the best strategy by stopping in the pits when the race was interrupted. After overtaking Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes) to gain fifth place, the Brazilian took the lead when his competitors returned to the pits. BMW also had an excellent race with Dirk Werner who gained no less than 18 positions in the peloton to give the Bavarian firm a double after completing a very long stint on soft tires. Mercedes takes the last step of the podium with Christian Vietoris. The local driver regained his grid position after falling in the peloton and following his compatriot's strategy. Gary Paffett follows in fourth place ahead of Bruno Spengler.

If Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich celebrated a hat-trick yesterday in WEC at the end of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the manufacturer's performance on the rings is more disappointing at Hockenheim. Timo Scheider only offers a sixth place as his best result. The German was trapped by the safety car while remaining on the track unlike his opponents, causing him to fall to the back of the peloton and then forcing him to make a crazy comeback. Mike Rockenfeller takes eighth position behind the M3 DTM of Joey Hand. Roberto Merhi (Mercedes) completes the top ten. For his debut in the discipline, Timo Glock (BMW) managed to fight at the front. But the former Marussia driver F1 Team had to retire following a loose wheel in the pits.

Discover the report of the opening round of the DTM at Hockenheim produced by our special correspondent in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, exceptionally available from tomorrow in digital version on all platforms and from Tuesday on newsstands.