Championship leader, Gary Paffett, will race at his home event this weekend as the DTM returns to the UK after a five-year absence to race on the Brands Hatch GP circuit for the very first time, marking the end of the 2018 summer break and the sixth round of the season.
Leading the prestigious German touring car series at the halfway point of the season, Gary Paffett will be looking to add to his 27 point advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Standings as the series races in the UK for the first time since 2013. Three wins, three poles and six podiums have seen Gary collect 148 points from the first ten races of the campaign and this weekend will be another chance for Gary to secure more crucial championship points, but this time, in front of his home fans.
Eight DTM races have been contested at Brands Hatch since 2006, with this weekend marking the return of the series to the UK after a five-year gap. This weekend, however, will see a change in procedure with the DTM using the longer, 3.908-kilometre GP circuit - as opposed to the 1.973-kilometre Indy layout previously used. This will offer the DTM drivers a unique challenge of battling on the rollercoaster GP layout that is regarded as an extreme challenge for both vehicles and drivers on the undulating circuit.
Gary’s highlight at the UK circuit came in 2012, when Gary finally scored DTM victory on home turf at his sixth attempt - with the win proving vital to Gary securing in second place in the Drivers’ Standings that year.
Despite high on confidence from his superb 2018 campaign and returning to home soil, Gary is under no illusions of how tough this weekend will be and is ready for the challenges the circuit will bring.
"Brands Hatch will be a tough weekend. It's a home race for me, but I've not driven there very often in the past, and that applies to the other drivers in the field. It's going to be a big challenge, as we won't be having Friday practice and don't know the circuit all that well. After all, we've never driven DTM cars on the grand-prix circuit before. It's going to be tough, but I'm confident that the car will be excellent. I must now focus on getting the best out of myself and the car. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully, we can get some good results"
With no running on Friday, the first track action will take place on Saturday morning at 09:00 (BST) with the first practice session of the weekend. Qualifying and the race, on both days, will take place at 11:20 and 13:30 respectively.
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