Daniel Juncadella celebrates maiden victory in year which he may not have raced

Daniel Juncadella has called his first DTM victory the highlight of his racing career, in a season where a mountain biking accident ahead of the first race threatened to derail his entire season.

The 27-year-old converted pole position to victory at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in his HWA Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM, finishing eight seconds clear of Brands Hatch expert Augusto Farfus, and leaps into the top ten in the drivers’ championship as a result.

“I’ve been through quite a lot this year,” said Juncadella. “I didn’t even expect to be racing when I had the accident this year, as the team have quite a few reserve drivers. The team could have just said stay out for half the season; so to be racing was special, to have my first pole position was special, and now to have my first victory is one of the best days of my racing career.”

Juncadella’s race wasn’t plain sailing, after he lost two spots at the start to team-mate Lucas Auer and the Audi of last year’s champion René Rast, but was able to regain the lead after an early pit stop and a on-track pass on Auer.

“I’ve raced five times here on this grid, been three times on pole and never had a good start, so that was clearly in my head,” added Juncadella.