Bromley’s Gary Paffett stormed through the field to take a well-earned podium on the opening weekend of the DTM season.
The 34-year-old behind the wheel of Mercedes made up twenty places during the one hour race, in doing so securing the 33rd podium of his career in the DTM.
Qualifying had looked to have gone fairly well for the Brit with him securing 8th on the grid, but having infringed the rules he was demoted to 23rd on the grid.
This would work in his favour though as in tricky weather conditions as he made up the twenty places to move through the field, after pitting earlier to change to wet tyres.
After the double podium secured by Pascal Wehrlein and Paul Di Resta in the first race on Saturday, the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team claimed a third Top Three finish of the weekend. No fewer than 75,000 fans came through the gates this weekend to watch the first two rounds of the 2015 DTM campaign.
Speaking after an excellent weekend Paffett said: “What a race that was! The weekend was a roller coaster. Obviously I was feeling disappointed after the first race yesterday and the second qualifying session today. We had a really good car this weekend that was unbelievably fast in the rain. In these conditions, it’s very easy to make mistakes. But the team did a fantastic job, and the race went perfectly for me.
“After this difficult opening weekend, it’s great to be back on the podium. The switch to rain tyres worked beautifully, and our strategy paid off in the end. I’ve never before been so happy about a third place as I am today. A big thank you to my team. The crew did a great job and have thoroughly deserved this result. Thanks, guys!”
Gary Paffett will next race when DTM moves on from Hockenheim to the Lausitzring for the second race weekend of the season (May 29th-30th). As is usual this season, two races will again be staged at the 3.478 km Lausitzring.