Farfus looks forward to the delights of the Red Bull Ring

The DTM visits some amazing race tracks, but perhaps the most picturesque is next on the calendar and is in the Steiermark region of Austria. The Red Bull Ring has gone through several lay out changes over its 43 year history, but the current one only goes back a year.

Spielberg is the nearest town to the track and this area is loved by tourists as well as motorsport fans. The track itself was originally called the Österreichring and is one of five tracks the DTM races on that has been or is still used by Formula One. 

When it comes to track designers Germany’s Hermann Tilke is the most famous. It was from his pen that, not only the current 4.326 kilometre track but the one before that known as the A1-Ring, were conceived. While Augusto has not raced here, he does know it from testing in July 2011. The car the 28-year-old was testing then was the first version of his race car, so the Castrol EDGE BMW M3 DTM he will take to the track for the first practice on Friday will be a very different machine. 

After the first three races Augusto is eighth in the drivers’ points standings. While he feels his Brands Hatch finish didn’t really reflect how competitive the car is, he is hopeful of being back on the podium in the very near future. 

“Brands Hatch was disappointing for me as I seemed to be stuck in traffic for most of the race, but then this is the nature of that track. However, I am confident the much longer Red Bull Ring will produce great overtaking opportunities for all of us. 

“I really enjoyed the test there last year. However, I have to be realistic as when I go out on the track for the first time on Friday it will be with a clean sheet and another learning curve. Unfortunately we cannot really use a lot of information from the test, as it was in the wet and the car I am driving now is very different to the first version we were using a year ago. 

For further information on Augusto Farfus, please visit his website at www.farfus.com. There you will find all news and background information on the racing driver from Curitiba