Manuel Reuter tips Augusto Farfus for title
Veteran DTM driver, Manuel Reuter, has tipped Augusto Farfus to win the 2013 drivers’ championship.
Reuter enjoyed a nine year DTM career with Opel from 1993 to 2005, and retired when the company withdrew from the series eight years ago.
He also won the International Touring Car Championship in 1996 whilst driving an Opel Calibra V6 4×4.
Following his retirement from the sport, Reuter joined the German TV channel, Das Erste, in 2006 as a commentator for its DTM coverage.
“I think Augusto [Farfus] is in a really good position to fight for the title,” he told TouringCarTimes.
“He’s really gelled with the RBM team, and if you look at the last two races of last season [in which Farfus claimed pole and victory at the penultimate round in Valencia, and then pole and third at the next race at Hockenheim] and the start of this year, he’s really on top of things with them [the team].
“The relationship between the driver and the engineer is such a key factor in the DTM now, because you have a really short period to find the right way to set the car up.
“If this is working for Augusto, then he can win the title.”
Farfus is also expecting a much stronger outing in this weekend’s DTM race in Spielberg than last year.
In 2012, the Brazilian struggled in his first outing around the Austrian track, despite managing to salvage a point.
With the feeling being that the BMW M3 is the strongest overall car in the field, the Brazilian believes he can have a much stronger outing this year.
“Last year I did not have such a great race in Spielberg, [and] I had to come home 10th,” said Farfus.
“This season, however, we line up in much better shape [as] I won the opening race in Hockenheim and was on course for a podium finish until I had to retire late on at Brands Hatch.
“As we [BMW] were competitive in Spielberg in 2012, I think we will be challenging for points again this time around.”
Farfus lies third in the championship with 25 points, four behind series leader, Mike Rockenfeller.
