In qualifying both RBM drivers helped to secure the best-ever overall starting positions for the team in second and third. In the race, however, Hand was compromised from the very start after the American lost three positions at the standing start when the lights went out. From thereon in, Hand faced an uphill battle to get close to the podium positions.

Nevertheless, Hand scored his best-ever result in the DTM since he joined the German series at the start of 2012. The former GT driver finished in fifth, securing the only finish for the team after Farfus retired with gearbox problems.

“The race flew by, which is always a good sign. I told my guys over the radio that I gave myself a mini high five for finishing every lap of my DTM career,” said a pleased Hand. “Not a super big high five for my start, as that is where it all went wrong and we were definitely a podium car. You can’t blame the race car or the crew.

“I did my best, as usual, but am still finding my way here. I am pretty happy with how the weekend went – this is not the easiest place from a handling aspect or from a driving aspect, and it surely isn’t an easy place to finish a race as there is a lot going on. I am happy to take my fifth place points and run.”

Winner of the season opener, Farfus had been challenging eventual winner Mike Rockenfeller for the lead until the Brazilian was forced to retire from the race on the 65th lap. Farfus had been struggling with a gearbox problem, coming to a halt on the main start straight. The situation prompted a safety car period as he struggled to get the car going again.

“After my second stop I had a gearbox failure and I could not shift up or down, as I was stuck in third,” explained Farfus. “I tried to stop the car on the track hoping to get a gear again, but it was impossible. It is disappointing to be running second and then have to stop with a mechanical failure.

“I ran ten races last year without any mechanical failures and this was the first one. It is a shame to give away 18 points as I certainly felt this was possible.”

Team Principal Bart Mampaey added that the team quickly realised they would be unable to challenge Rockenfeller in the race, switching their strategy to defend Farfus’ second before his mechanical dramas hit.

“Augusto made a good start but was then unable to put Mike Rockenfeller, who was very quick out front, under any serious pressure,” said Mampaey. “Therefore, we concentrated on defending second place. Our pace was definitely good enough. Unfortunately a gearbox problem then put a spanner in the works.”

The Hong Kong based racer finished qualifying with the 18^th fastest time and he was one of 14 drivers called before the stewards and they gave him a 5 place grid drop – but with the other penalties applied, the ROAL Motorsport driver actually moved up the order to 17^th.

“For three laps on my qualifying session, each attempt resulted in me catching traffic therefore making it impossible to complete a fast lap,” said O’Young about his qualifying session.

“I was later penalized for going too slow on the circuit, but in my opinion, this ruling was completely unfair as I had no option to pass the cars in front as the circuit was blocked. As a result, I took a 5-place grid penalty in Race 1,” added a frustrated O’Young on his qualifying penalty.

O’Young saw his weekend go from bad to worse as his weekend was prematurely ended with three laps of the opening race to go.

Having climbed up the order to 14^th position, he was in a five way scrap for the final two points paying positions when the two Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320TC’s came together and the unfortunate O’Young was collected by Franz Engstler.

“I was having a strong race moving up three spots to overall P14. I was involved in a 5-way fight for P9 when suddenly two cars spun in front. I was unable to avoid Engstler and he hit my door as he spun around,” said O’Young of the accident at the final chicane.

The damage sustained on the ROAL Motorsport car was too heavy to be repaired and O’Young sat out the second race of the weekend.

“The damage on the doors was severe due to having carbon doors. I didn’t expect it, but the team was unable to fix the car before Race 2. My weekend was over,” said a despondent O’Young.

Despite the double no score in Austria, O’Young is currently sixth in the Yokohama Independents’ ahead of the sixth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship, which will be held at the Moscow Raceway over the 8^th/9^th June.

Having originally qualified 15^th fastest, the Swiss driver was promoted to 5^th after a number of drivers ahead of him received penalties after driving too slow during the second part of qualifying.

From the rolling start, Barth held his position for the first half of the race before having to concede his position to the Chevrolet of Yvan Muller. He brought the BMW 320TC home sixth overall and fifth in the Yokohama Independents’.

Having started 15^th for the second race, Barth was able to bring the car home 13^th overall and 4^th in the Yokohama Independents, having run as high as 11^th during the 12 lap encounter.

“With these two races, I’m satisfied,” said Barth. “It just shows how the grid position is critical in the short sprint races of the World Touring Car Championship. Since we have a handicap with the BMW 320 TC, I sat in the slipstream of a rival on the fast straights.

“Due to the numerous grid position penalties I could start driving for the first race from the third row. There I never had problems to go with the pace of our rivals. If anything, our BMW 320 TC had an excellent balance. I was able to attack over the entire race distance and in the end even push. So it’s fun,” he concluded.

Wiechers-Sport Team Manager Dominik Greiner is pleased with how the team performed in Austria and is excited for the challenges which the team will face next time out in Russia, at the Moscow Raceway.

“I am very excited about these two good results in Austria,” he said. “The Salzburgring has brought us happiness yet again with positions 6 and 13, the best results of the season.

“Kudos to Fredy. He reacted greatly and with a savvy response, and showed that he can keep with the pace of our rivals in both races. Now we must still improve in qualifying. More top positions should then definitely be possible.

“Further praise must also go to our great mechanics. They have again prepared a perfect car for Fredy. Soon we will travel to Russia and we enter uncharted territory – I’m very excited for what awaits us there!” he concluded.

On the 26th lap of the race Audi’s Tambay dived up the inside of the BMW driver at Druids and the pair made contact, sending Priaulx into a half-spin. The move cost the Guernseyman significant time and as a result of the incident he was lapped by race leader Mike Rockenfeller.

Priaulx feels that he was then hindered by the use of the blue flags, costing him time in a race which also saw him handed a five-second pitstop penalty for not obeying the blue flags.

“Obviously this is disappointing, in so much as I could have had a reasonable race, but I got hit by Adrien Tambay,” said a frustrated Priaulx. “He has apologised, but it doesn’t really help me.

“I am unhappy with the blue flags, as I don’t feel they were used in the right way – some came out too early and some not at all. But the most important thing is I have to look at the race data and try to work out what I need to do for the next race. I am very hungry for points and felt a few were on offer after our good qualifying.”

Tambay was apologetic for the incident, which compromised his own race and saw him finish down in 18th, one position ahead of Priaulx.

“It began with a poor start where I lost a lot of places due to wheel spin,” said Tambay. “Afterward, I turned Andy around, for which I’d like to say sorry. Then of course the drive-through penalty that was due for the incident ruined my race. Now we’ve got to analyze this weekend, learn from it and very quickly start looking ahead to Spielberg.”

The Portuguese driver gained a position at the start of round 10 and was holding onto third until the closing laps when Yvan Muller in the Chevrolet Cruze passed him for third.

Fourth position meant that he moved into the overall top 10 in the drivers’ Championship ahead of the trip to Russia and the Moscow Raceway over the 8^th/9^th June.

“Our race was good but it was very difficult to beat the Chevrolets,” explained Monteiro.

“4th place is still a very important result for me and for the team. We continued to develop the car and we must continue this process before the next race.”

Qualifying saw Monteiro set the 7^th best time of the session but he was denied the chance to improve his position after getting caught up in the train which meant that none of the top 12 could improve their times.

Later, Monteiro was given a 12 place grid penalty for his involvement in the qualifying chaos and subsequently, all of the Honda’s were sent to the back of the grid and Monteiro had to start 22^nd for the first race.

From 22^nd on the grid, the Portuguese racer moved up the order to take 13^th place and ensured that the car didn’t collect any damage ahead of his second row start for the second race.

“We did not want to take any chances, but our pace was still very good. Starting from the back of the pack, there was no reason to risk losing everything for the second race. Nevertheless, 13th place was quite satisfactory,” he explained.

After the grid ahead of race one was confirmed after the penalties from the second part of qualifying, James Thompson in the #10 LADA Granta lined up 8^th and secured a ninth place finish to score two Championship points.

“I’m satisfied with the results for our team this weekend,” said the 2002 and 2004 British Touring Car Championship Champion.

“We scored points in the drivers’ championship and were fastest in the warm-up. However even the ninth place we took in Race One doesn’t fully reflect the potential speed of our car. I had some contact with one of the drivers and broke the front suspension, so my main goal in the second part of the race was just to finish it.”

The second race of the weekend saw Thompson line up 17^th on the grid but he worked his way up the order to finish 12^th. He showed the speed of the Granta as he posted the second fastest lap of the race, only bettered by the Chevrolet Cruze of Yvan Muller.

“In Race Two I started from 17th on the grid but managed to overtake some of our competitors, although it was very difficult. But we still did it and even set the second-fastest lap in the race,” added Thompson.

Team-mate Mikhail Kozlovskiy inherited a second row starting position for the opening race after all of the penalties – 4^th on the grid marked his and the LADA Sport Lukoil’s best ever WTCC race starting position – he was unable to convert his grid position into a points paying finish though as he finished 16^th, before a 15^th place finish in the second race.

“In Race Two the car was stable from start to finish, as we can all see from the timesheets,” said the 23 year old Russian.

“But it was a bit hard to keep pace with some of the other cars on the long straights. On the whole, Race Two was not bad. I managed to improve my starting position and for a while I was in the top 12. All the drivers were very close at the end: the top 16 cars were covered by just 16 seconds.

“Looking at the times we were quite competitive and I’m very happy about that. I had a few good battles with the other drivers and we were also able to take the fight to other manufacturers. The LADA Granta had good pace: this was a track that definitely suited us and allowed us to show it,” he concluded.

Having qualified on Pole Position for the first race of the weekend, the Frenchman was demoted 12 places on the grid for the opening race after being penalised for his part in the chaos at the end of the second part of qualifying.

He fought his way up the order in round nine to finish third and complete an all Chevrolet podium lock out, as Michel Nykjær in the Nika Racing Cruze and James Nash in the bamboo engineering car finished 1^st and 2^nd.

Muller lined up 10^th for the second race and was able to secure his second podium of the weekend and the RML Group saw their cars finish 1-2 as Nash in the bamboo car secured his and the teams’ first outright WTCC victory.

His Austrian results have seen the Frenchman further extend his Championship advantage; he holds an 80 point advantage over his nearest rival, Gabriele Tarquini in the Honda.

“At the end of the day I am pleased with this weekend, especially for the fantastic job of the Team,” said Muller. “The key to the performance is the Team and the way they work. The ambience and the attention to detail is fantastic.”

Team-mate Tom Chilton started 15^th after his penalty for the qualifying issue and he fought his way back up to finish 7^th in the opening race, while race two didn’t go the British drivers’ way as he was forced wide at the first chicane and had to pit for repairs.

He returned to the race but with the damaged sustained, he spent the final six laps cruising around at a gentle pace.

“It’s been a tough time in Austria,” added Chilton.

”It’s nice that we were bang on the pace all weekend which is the good thing to take with me to Moscow. I really enjoyed the first race coming from 15^th and the battles we had but am disappointed to have dropped back in the Championship.”

In atrocious conditions, which caused the race to be stopped for a mammoth nine hours, the #9 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGT GT3 emerged victorious, having been piloted by Schneider, former DTM racer Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Nicki Thiim.

The race was stopped due to heavy rain and fog banks which dramatically reduced visibility around the 20.8 km Nordschleife. The race was resumed on Monday morning.

Finishing second was the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, with the BMW Z4 being piloted by DTM test driver Maxime Martin, Andrea Piccini, Yelmer Buurman and Richard Göransson. After 80 laps of racing they finished less than five minutes behind the lead car, where a lap takes over eight and a half minutes.

Former DTM and WTCC driver Thomas Jäger took turns at the wheel of the cars which finished in third and fourth for ROWE Racing.

Fresh from his first win of the season at Brands Hatch on Sunday, Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller finished the race in fifth having flown from England to Germany on Sunday afternoon in quick time. Rockenfeller shared his G-Drive Racing by Phoenix car with former DTM drivers Marcel Fässler, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock.

Rockenfeller wasn’t the only driver who hot-footed it over to the ‘Ring on Sunday after the DTM race – BMW’s Martin Tomczyk and Augusto Farfus joined him on the flight. Tomczyk finished the race in sixth after sharing his BMW Z4 GT3 with Dirk Adorf, Claudia Hürtgen and Jens Klingmann (pictured) and being involved in an incident with the sister Schubert car.

An accident prevented the second Schubert Motors BMW Z4 being driven by Farfus from finishing the race. After just six laps and with former DTM driver Uwe Alzen at the wheel, the #19 car went into the back of it’s sister #20 car which was being driven by Hürtgen at the time. Whilst the latter was able to continue and finish in sixth, Alzen, Farfus and Dirk Müller would be out of the race.

Numerous other former DTM drivers participated in the legendary race, including Lucas Luhr (7th), Darren Turner (8th), Stefan Mücke (8th), Pedro Lamy (8th), Frank Biela (9th), Patrick Huisman (17th), Rahel Frey (19th), Marco Werner (19th, 33rd), Volker Strycek (22nd), Peter Dumbreck (23rd) and Kurt Thiim (26th).

The #7 Aston Martin, driven by Turner, Mücke, Allan Simonsen and Lamy was involved in the lead battle for the first half of the race, before dropping down the order. in the wet conditions and after an off-track excursion from Lamy.

Current World Touring Car Championship Marc Basseng was also competing in the race for Prosperia-C. Abt Team Mamerow. The German also had to make a special journey to the circuit after competing in the WTCC races at the Salzburgring. Ultimately he would end up classified down in 134th, out of 180 entries.

“It was a tough weekend and little went as we expected,” reports Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader for WTCC development from Honda R&D. “We had a small increase in straight line speed and will continue to refine boost and ignition controls. It is important that we look at possible improvements in aerodynamics for the next race.”

Having brought the cars home safely in the opening race with Gabriele Tarquini finishing as the top Honda in 12^th, race 2 saw the drivers starting from their original grid positions, which left Zengö Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz 2^nd on the grid and the Castrol Honda’s on rows 2 and 3.

Michelisz secured his third podium finish in three events while Monteiro finished fourth, having held third until the seventh lap of the 2.6 mile Salzburgring circuit.

“We have to keep fighting for places and points,” said Monteiro, who has moved into the top 10 of the Championship with his fourth place finish.

“There is still a long season ahead and nothing comes easy in this competitive championship but this is why it is the actual World Championship. I really believe we can keep on collecting points right to the finish.”

Having started on the third row of the grid, Tarquini was unable to work his way forwards and dropped down the order to finish eighth, a result which secured him an additional 4 Championship points.

“I had to work hard to keep positions but I lost out but we got the car home safely and can now take a little time for testing before the next WTCC race in Moscow in June,” said Tarquini, who finds himself 80 points off the Championship lead.

Despite the issues in qualifying and the lack of a top ten result in the opening race, Honda has further extended their advantage in the Manufacturers Championship over LADA ahead of the Russian manufacturers home race next time out in Russia, at the Moscow Raceway.

Rockenfeller, 29, inherited pole position from BMW’s Martin Tomczyk when the former champion was thrown out of qualifying for having an underweight car. In the race, Rockenfeller led from start to finish to secure his second DTM win, with everything going to plan for the German.

“Of course I’m happy and relieved that we put the things we’d been planning for on track,” said Rockenfeller. “In the DTM, in the race, all sorts of things can happen.

“Obviously, we had a superb foundation with the great qualifying session yesterday. Then it was up to me to perform a good start, and that worked out too. Afterward, my team and I gave everything. I tried to push on each lap. I think you could tell that we had the race under control.”

Audi Sport Team Phoenix boss Ernst Moser added that whilst the team wanted to celebrate their first DTM victory since Brands Hatch in 2011 the party would have to wait until the end of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, which the team and Rockenfeller were also participating in on Sunday and Monday.

“It’s simply a great feeling when everything works out on the whole weekend, if you take the pole position, then have a good car for the race and the driver does everything right as well,” added Moser. “The pit stop strategy fitted too – and so, in the end, you stand at the very top. We’re going to enjoy this now but postpone the party because we’re still active at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.”

Rockenfeller and his Phoenix Racing team went on to finish fifth overall in the Nürburgring 24 Hours on Monday.