Past Champions: Gary Paffett
After dominating the 2005 season, Gary Paffett became the first Briton to win the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and the third driver from outside of Germany to claim the crown in six seasons.
The penultimate instalment of the series profiling past champions of the DTM brings us to current McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 test driver, and Mercedes factory DTM driver, Gary Paffett
Paffett was born in the South-East London town of Bromley, and after being bought a kart for Christmas, he began competing at the age of 9, and success soon followed when he claimed back-to-back titles in the British Junior Championship.
After claiming the title in both 1995 and ’96, he moved into single seaters, in the form of Formula Vauxhall.
In his first season he claimed the Newcomer’s Championship title, and went on to claim the outright title in both 1998 and ’99.
After clinching the 1999 Formula Vauxhall title, Paffett’s achievements were honoured further, when he was named the BRDC McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year.
The start of the new millennium saw a move to the British Formula 3 Championship, where he again enjoyed success straight away with first place in the Scholarship Class.
From there, Paffett moved to Germany to compete in the German Formula 3 Championship. His first season saw him finish sixth in the title race, but in 2002 he clinched the title.
The DTM beckoned in 2003, as Paffett moved into tin-top racing with Team Rosberg. He ended the season 11th overall, and moved to the HWA team for 2004.
With HWA he claimed 3 race wins in 2004, and finished second in the title race, which provided a solid foundation for the following season.
In 2005 Paffett dominated the championship, taking five victories on his way to the championship title, a feat which saw him recruited to be the full-time test driver for the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team in 2006.
This new role meant that Paffett would not compete in the DTM that season, but he did return in 2007 with the Persson Motorsport team, again for Mercedes, but this time in a year-old specification car.
He finished 9th in the title race that year, and he mirrored that in 2008.
During both 2007 and 2008, Paffett continued to be the test driver for the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team, but not in a full-time role.
Paffett was promoted to a 2009-specification car for a full-scale assault on the championship title in 2009. He enjoyed great success, claiming four race victories, but could only manage second place in the championship standings at the season end.
Thus far in 2010, Paffett has continued his role testing the McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 cars, and has been heavily involved at the opening two rounds of the Formula 1 season.
He is confirmed in the HWA team for Mercedes in the DTM, and will be expecting to take the the title if his form can continue from last season.
Next in the Past Champions series: Timo Scheider
