DTM – First success for Farfus, good move from Spengler

The penultimate event of the season in Valencia will have many surprises in store and promises a thrilling finale at Hockenheim on October 21. After winning his first pole in DTM, Augusto Farfus (BMW) becomes the first Brazilian to win in the discipline after a race controlled from start to finish. Edoardo Mortara (Audi) seemed headed for the podium before retiring eight laps from the finish. This retirement benefits Adrien Tambay (Audi) who signs his first podium in the discipline in Valencia while Mattias Ekström (Audi) climbs to the last step.

After the rout of Mercedes During qualifying, Bruno Spengler had a great opportunity to increase his title chances even if the Canadian only started from 12th place. The BMW driver saw his race become more complicated after receiving a penalty for an early start, but he reacted wonderfully and moved up the peloton to grab sixth place behind Filipe Albuquerque and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi). If Jamie Green (Mercedes) manages to take the last point of tenth place despite a drive-through, Gary Paffett (Mercedes) loses his lead in the Championship. The Briton received a stop & go for contact with Joey Hand's M3 DTM and finally retired after suffering damage to his car.

Before the Hockenheim final, Gary Paffett only has a three-point lead over Bruno Spengler. Jamie Green is still 18 points behind the Championship leader. Audi takes the lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with 31 points ahead of Mercedes and 41 points ahead of BMW.

Discover the report from the DTM in Valencia in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.