Gary Paffett claims championship lead despite mixed Norisring weekend
Gary Paffett has taken over the DTM points lead despite a Norisring weekend that provided the Brit with both ups and downs.
The weekend started strongly with the Mercedes driver finishing second in the first race, claiming his fourth podium finish of 2018.
“Amazing! That was a mega race, and my car was very fast,” said Paffett who was close to manufacturer colleague Edoardo Mortara who won the race.
“It was a super battle with Edo, and I never gave up. It may have raised pulse rates among the team, but it was a really good race. P2 and taking over at the top of the championship are fantastic for me.”
The second race saw Paffett once again strong on pace but dropped back to finish 13th after a tough fight with BMW driver Timo Glock that left the Brit angry.
“My pit stop wasn’t perfect, and I came back out behind Timo. I tried to overtake him several times, but he kept forcing me into the wall, which practically ended my race. To some extent, I don’t think that was actually very fair of Timo, and I never expected it after the great race we had at Hockenheim,” said Paffett.
Mercedes has claimed a 1-2 in the championship after four race weekends completed with Mortara in second place.
“What an incredible finish! That’s precisely why we love the Norisring so much. Unfortunately, we did not make it a 20th victory in Nuremberg today, but it was certainly a great race for the spectators. All in all, it has been a very successful weekend for us. Congratulations to the whole team,” said Ulrich Fritz, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM.
