Hello! Today let's summarize the DTM 2018 season and remember its best moments. Indeed, this year the whole era has come to an end.
The first half of the season was incredibly intense. And the start of the season at Hockenheimring was truly exciting. Two drivers issued a battle worthy of the confrontations of Klaus Ludwig and Johnny Chekotto. These drivers were Gary Paffett (Mercedes) and Timo Glock (BMW). In the second race of the weekend, the struggle between them went to the last lap, no one was going to give up the victory, even at the start of the season. In that race, Gary Paffett came to the finish line third, starting from the eighth position, the victory was won by Timo Glock, who started with pole position. The weekend at Lausitzring was extremely alert. The Audi team lost four of their cars in the first race, and the terrible accident Rene Rast continued his unsuccessful series at the start of the season. Meanwhile, the fight for points between Timo Glock and Gary Paffett continued, that weekend they were both on the podium.
Then there was Budapest and what happened there made it necessary to revise the rules for organizing races not only in the DTM series, but also in Formula 1 and other racing championships. During the rain, the pit lane of the Hungaroring turned into a real nightmare for the drivers and their teams, the cars were unmanaged, several accidents occurred and there were injuries. After the sixth race, Timo Glock began to noticeably slow down, while Gary Paffett still scored points and remained in first position in the championship. And then other title contenders began to appear on the scene. Paul Di Resta gave an excellent segment of the championship and joined the fight for the title. And he was the only one.
After the failed first half of the season, reigning champion Rene Rast joined the fight for the title. His extreme mood for the second half of the season allowed him to write his name in history as the only DTM driver who won six victories in a row. Coupled with the failures of Gary Paffett in the first ever night race in Misano, where the Briton did not score any points, and the failures of Paul Di Resta and Timo Glock, the champion was very close to defending his title. But in the end, only four points separated him and Gary Paffett. The British racer won his first title since 2005, having worthily spent his last season in DTM, he goes to Formula E in the status of a champion. Also DTM this year after thirty years of participation leaves the Mercedes team. So this season may well be called historical.
