“Life goal” achieved for “proud” Fraga after first DTM win

The Brazilian DTM rookie earned Ferrari’s first win of the year with a controlled drive from pole, never coming under serious threat from runner-up Mirko Bortolotti as he won by 2.709s.

Fraga had started the season with a second place in the second Portimao race, after damage in the safety car restart in the opener forced his retirement.

But the 2016 Brazilian Stock Car championship’s title aspirations took a battering with a run of five consecutive non-finishes, starting at the Lausitzring where he suffered a puncture in race one and was unable to start race two due to a fire.

He also failed to finish either race at Imola due to a power steering issue and then a puncture, sustained in contact at the restart while he was battling for a net race lead. And in the crash-filled Norisring opener on Saturday, he was hit from behind by Esteban Muth at a restart and was unable to continue.

But Fraga rebounded on Sunday by securing his first series pole on his 27th birthday, then put in a confident drive to deliver a victory that moves him up to sixth in the standings.

Explaining his relief that he “finally finished a race after so many crazy races I had”, Fraga said:

“Until the pitstops, I gave my life, pushing really hard. I tried to stop looking to the mirror because [Bortolotti] would never let me breathe.

“But in the pitstops I think we were making a good gap, and then from there it was more okay.

“It was a perfect race, very important for the team as well.

“We had so many issues and stuff going on, but today the nice thing was that they were a big part of the win.”

Felipe Fraga, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Fraga explained that the breakthrough win was “really special” having earned his