Photo: DTM Media

Short and fast laps for DTM at Brands Hatch

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Brands Hatch in England is next up for the DTM drivers and teams from Audi, BMW and Mercedes. The 1.9 kilometer indy circuit is as in previous years going to be used, meaning that the race is of 98 laps.
“As we are racing on the Indy circuit it will be a really intense sort of lap. There are going to be a lot of laps in the race so there is not going to be much space between the cars. The circuit at Brands Hatch is obviously fantastic for the fans, as they get to see the cars a lot during the race,” said BMW driver Andy Priaulx.

And while Priaulx was not able to step on top of the podium in the previous race at Lausitzring, BMW took the honors with Bruno Spengler. But the German manufacturer is not expecting it to be easy this race weekend.
“The first two races have shown us that our BMW M3 DTM is competitive. In Brands Hatch, however, the balance of power may once again look completely different. After all, we are yet to drive a single meter there with a DTM car and still have no set-up data available,” said Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director.

Mercedes was closest to BMW at Lausitzring and Gary Paffett heads to his home race Brands Hatch as championship leader.
“It’s great to be returning to Brands Hatch for my home race and to be showcasing DTM racing for the British fans. The track is very demanding and represents a major challenge on the calendar. A single lap is very short, but we complete almost 100 of them, so it’s a tiring weekend. I aim to send the British fans home satisfied with a result that matches the first two races of the season,” said Paffett.

With BMW and Mercedes fought for the top positions last time out, Audi is more than keen to get back in to the very top fight at Brands Hatch, a track which the four rings has dominated in the past.
“We’re going to put our heads together even more intensively. At the Lausitzring we had a positive trend in the race. We tried out some things there which gave us a bit of performance. But naturally that’s not enough yet by a long shot. We’ve got to work hard in order to manage another step,” said Timo Scheider, who currently lies ninth in the championship.

Last year saw Audi claiming a 1-2-3 at Brands Hatch. But things are different this year with BMW and Mercedes starting the season strongest. Will the short and fast Brands Hatch turn things around again?