Hockenheim: Engine failure prevents further top result

Fabio Scherer would have liked to end his first DTM season at Hockenheim with another highlight. But an engine failure in the first race prevented the young Swiss from doing so.

“It is a great pity,” says Scherer. “In the second safety car period I put some new tyres on and I could have attacked with them in the remaining laps. But when the race was restarted, the engine failed. I could have easily finished seventh or even sixth.”

Scherer, who is supported by STOBAG and ATS Banding Systems, had great hopes for the race finishing 10^th in the first qualifying. Unfortunately the DTM rookie, who lives in Engelberg, did not get off to a good start. “The temperature in the tyres was not ideal. I didn’t have enough grip.”

In retrospect, however, the bad start also had something good. Scherer was able to avoid a collision between three cars in the first corner. And after the restart things went very well for the driver from WRT Team Audi Sport. “I got into a good rhythm very quickly and gained back the positions which I lost at the start.”

Scherer also qualified for the second race on Sunday in tenth place, but said: “It could have gone even better; I lost two tenths on my fastest lap.” In the race, Scherer came close to scoring points in twelfth place, but in the end the Lucerne-born driver was left without points. “Today, the experience of the other teams on this track was obvious,” says Scherer. “I didn’t have the speed to keep going forward.”

Scherer’s conclusion after a DTM season under special COVID-19-conditions: “I had a few difficult races in the beginning and it took time before we as a team found ways to perform. But I think I was able to set a few highlights: In Zolder with two fifth places and P4 in qualifying. Or in Assen with the fastest race lap. Now let’s see what happens in 2021. By the way: Congratulations to my brand colleague René Rast from Audi on his third title, the second in a row! And of course also to my compatriot Nico Müller for P2 in the championship!”