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Gary Paffett looking forward to ‘old school’ Zandvoort

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The Mercedes AMG team is ready for the fifth round of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season taking place this weekend at Circuit Park Zandvoort. Paul Di Resta is in the charge for the title for the Stuttgart squad, but is Gary Paffett the one holding the best record at the Dutch track.

The Briton has won three times at the seaside circuit, back in 2005, 2009 and 2010. Last year, Paffett scored a point in a difficult weekend for Mercedes AMG. “Last year’s race went well for me. Consequently, I’m hoping for a good result”, said the Team ART driver.

Zandvoort is a favourite for many, as presents features from old style circuits. Gary Paffett thinks is one of the most difficult tracks in the calendar: “Zandvoort is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. It’s really fun to drive there. It counts as an ‘old school’ circuit, by which I mean that if you stray from the track, you quickly end up in the barriers. There are no tarmac run-off areas, which makes it quite exciting. At the same time, the track is very narrow and twisty. We drive with a lot of downforce, and the surface is relatively bumpy. So the setup is quite different from Hockenheim, for example. For this reason, it will be interesting to see where we stand compared to the other cars.”

Paul Di Resta arrives in Zandvoort as Mercedes AMG’s best placed driver in the standings, in third place, just five points behind leader Marco Wittmann. The Scot hopes to continue on the pulse for the title after the Dutch round: “Looking ahead to the race weekend at Zandvoort, I find myself in a strong position with regard to the championship. I’m therefore really keen to get back in the car and out on the track. In recent years, the circuit at Zandvoort has not been very good for us. But I believe that we now have a better understanding of the reason why and, moreover, that we are better placed to rise to the challenge.”

Mercedes AMG currently lies third in the Manufacturers’ standings, 88 points behind leader BMW Motorsport. The Stuttgart outfit had a difficult time in Norisring, losing results due to on track incidents. Last week, the squad had a team training camp in Austria, which has lifted the spirits ahead of the visit to the Netherlands.

Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes AMG DTM, said: “After a disappointing weekend at the Norisring, we travel to Zandvoort with our motivation very much boosted. In Paul, Robert and Lucas, we have three drivers in the Top Ten. And just two good results would be enough to put Chris and Gary back in touch with the championship leaders. Consequently, the situation as we approach the halfway stage of the campaign is encouraging, although of course we lost a lot of points at the Norisring through no fault of our own.”

The Mercedes AMG team principal hopes for the C63 DTM to fare well in the Dutch circuit: “The track at Zandvoort is quite special, if only for its unique location next to the sea, and its characteristics certainly make it one of the greatest challenges of the season. Our drivers have repeatedly shown in the past how speedy they can be at Zandvoort. But the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM has surprised us all through the season so far for different reasons on the tracks where we’ve competed. We are therefore being cautious about making any forecasts. But as I’ve already said, our team certainly won’t be lacking motivation.”

The DTM action kicks off at 17:00 CEST on Friday afternoon for the first free practice session.