[954Stealth]

No errors, Augusto!
By Augusto Farfus, Motorsport Magazine
09/18/2014




Today I once again ready a special story for you: My first steps with BMW in the DTM. And the very first, because I was included from the ground in the development of our M3 race cars. At the very beginning it was funny. We only had a completely empty cockpit, not even a seat, dashboard or the like. A strange feeling, something I had never experienced. The first seat fitting alone took more than ten hours! There is still a lot went wrong, even though we had very good engineers. Although they have an awful lot of knowledge, they are just not racers.



The second attempt worked then very good, although since the beginning there was only half a car. Early August 2011, followed by the first rollout of our new M3 at the BMW test track in Aschheim. I remember well how tense were all! So many people had come to see the first few meters of the car. "Be very careful," told me the engineers. It was a bit like a father who tells his son that he must note on the first date with a girl. The rollout was great, the atmosphere was great.



Later we went to Oschersleben for the first proper test use. There was a mega-atmosphere, because we had no idea what would happen. Huge anticipation at all, we were like one big family. It felt like being at the birth of a child there. Would the car run at all? About taxes? Understeer? I had quite a pressure, because so many people were there and hinschauten exactly how I turned the first laps and it was in his hand. What if I would have gone over the grass or something went wrong ... We had not even too many spare parts here. So no error, Augusto!


Then the first round of the M3, the far stood in the final version there. Get out of the narrow pit lane in Oschersleben. My heart beat faster than usual, I can tell you. Everything went well. After a few rounds came the moment when I thought: '. This is a race car - so I can step on the gas' If you pushst but, of course that is always associated with a certain risk.

We tested three days in a row. 60 rounds on the first day, 70 laps on the second and so on. That was a great experience and I had a great team of engineers around me. It was incredibly exciting for me because much depended on my feedback. Although we had some data but no references.



More tests followed, also at the Lausitzring. We collected more and more kilometers and experiences with our M3. From the first test at Oschersleben I told the team, 'Guys, this car fits me. This is a car for Augusto Farfus! 'I must say we had a blessed car. Of course, not everything went smoothly, but in development it was never bad phases. We always had a liquid transition in phases, if there were new parts. Eventually the car was then quite finished.


However, there were a few doubters who were not sure that my then-colleague Andy Priaulx BMW and I would be able to help develop a real DTM car. In a test BMW was then a driver in the M3, had the years of experience in the DTM and knows how feels like a car. After the first round he said: 'Wow! That fits. 'Andy, I and everyone in the team of something happy. I thank you today for the BMW trust placed in me. I had already helped many car developments, but never in a brand new concept.


Then the big moment, the first race of the 2012 DTM season at Hockenheim. For me, pretty much everything went wrong. Problems in practice and qualifying and during the race turned out even the radio. More than 15th place was not in it. After that I was traveling with a sick feeling in the stomach for the second race at the Lausitzring.

I could have saved me, because it was terrific! Place on the grid, just short of the pole over. In the race I was third and first stood on the podium. An awesome result and a huge boost for confidence. At that point I knew that if we work properly, it can work.

Your Augusto