02/10/05 - Gary seals 2005 DTM title with charging drive

Gary Paffett was crowned the 2005 DTM champion at Hockenheim, putting the icing on the cake of a stellar season that has rewarded him with five race wins. He finished third at Hockenheim to ensure a famous series victory, and the promise of a Formula 1 test in Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, multiple world champions McLaren.

Works AMG Mercedes ace Gary ended the season 13 points ahead of former champion Mattias Ekstrom of Audi. Ekstrom needed to win the race, with Gary outside the top eight, to take the title away. But Gary made sure with a brilliant drive to finish on the podium, despite starting only sixth on the grid.
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02/10/05 - Fifth win puts Paffett one point away from title

Gary Paffett took what he called a “massive step” towards being crowned the 2005 DTM champion at Istanbul Park in Turkey by taking his fifth victory in the 10 races so far this year in his works AMG Mercedes C-Class.

The British star now only needs one point, an eighth place finish, in the final round at Hockenheim in Germany on October 23 to be champion. His title rival Mattias Ekstrom must win to have any chance at Hockenheim, even if Gary doesn’t finish the race, but the Swede failed to score a point in Turkey, slipping down to 12th position in a disastrous race for the Audi team.
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18/09/05 - Paffett second as title battle heats up at Lausitz

Gary Paffett scored a brilliant second position from seventh place on the grid at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, but he couldn't stop his archrival Mattias Ekstrom from retaking the series lead of the DTM after a thrilling battle between them that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Ekstrom, the reigning champion, crossed the line just 0.4secs ahead of Gary after a punishing 48-lap race, and now leads him in the championship by one point with just two races remaining.
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28/08/05 - Gary crushes his rivals to win in Holland

Gary Paffett retook the lead of the pan-European DTM touring car series in sensational style at Zandvoort in Holland as he scored his fourth victory from eight races in his factory-entered AMG Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

In the process, Gary overturned his one-point deficit to Audi’s reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom and now holds a one-point lead with three races remaining. Gary beat Ekstrom by over 12-seconds at Zandvoort in one of the most comprehensive performances of his racing career.
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7/08/05 - Gary third despite Nurburgring pit penalty

Gary was on course for his fourth victory in this year's DTM touring car series until the race stewards decided otherwise, giving him a drive-through penalty for clipping the white line at the exit of the pit lane following his second mandatory pit stop. Despite a storming recovery drive to third place, the decision meant Gary lost the lead of the championship to arch-rival Mattias Ekstrom, who inherited victory.

Before the penalty, Gary had driven superbly from pole position and skillfully judged the conditions, which started wet and then dried out. Gary was 4.3secs ahead of Ekstrom before the penalty, but 9.3secs behind when he rejoined. He halved that gap in just 12 laps, but fourth was the best he could manage.
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17/07/05 - Record crowd sees Gary Paffett score sensational DTM hat-trick

Gary Paffett scored his third win of the 2005 DTM touring car series at the Norisring street track in Nuremburg, Germany, on Sunday to grab the lead of the championship in front of a record crowd figure of 143,000 fans.

Despite dropping as low as 10th due to a Safety Car period that effectively wiped out his hard-earned lead, Gary fought his way through the hurly-burly of the DTM pack to notch up an amazing hat-trick of wins in just six races. He fought a tough duel with seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen on his way to victory that lifts him ahead of last year’s champion, Mattias Ekstrom, by three points.
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26/06/05 - Gary Paffett shows his class with second win of 2005

Gary Paffett stepped up his bid for this year's DTM touring car title with a stunning victory at Oschersleben in eastern Germany on Sunday, the Mercedes young gun scoring a convincing victory over his main title rival, last year's champion Mattias Ekstrom of Audi.

Mercedes star Gary started the weekend straight on leading pace, ending the three hours of testing on Friday in fourth place overall: "That wasn't too bad. We expected the Audis to be very fast here, like they were last year, but we did some good long runs that showed we were being very kind to our tyres. After 20 laps our lap times were the same as they were after four laps, so it showed we possessed very good consistency ahead of the race."
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05/06/05 - Paffett just misses the podium despite drive-through penalty

Gary Paffett scored pole position and added to his points tally in his quest to win the German-based DTM touring car series at Brno in the Czech Republic. Despite his second drive-through penalty in two races, this time for a jump start, Gary finished in a well-earned fourth position.

Gary’s weekend began slowly in Friday’s tests, and he could only manage the 13th and 10th fastest time in the two 90-minute sessions. He was not panicking, however, and had faith that his team would help him turn things around.
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04/06/05 - Gary Secures Pole at Brno in the Czech Republic

Championship leader Gary Paffett will start the fourth round of the DTM at Brno in the Czech Republic from pole position after topping the times in the single-lap Super Pole session on Saturday.

Paffett led the way in the preliminary qualifying session too, from which the top 10 proceed to the Super Pole, with a time of 1m52.173s, 0.056secs clear of Audi's Tom Kristensen. Reigning Champion Mattias Ekstrom was third fastest in his Audi A4, ahead of the leading Opel Vectra GTS of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who just pipped teammate Manuel Reuter for that honour in the dying seconds.
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16/05/05 - Gary Paffett scores point despite penalty

Gary Paffett maintained his championship lead in the German-based DTM touring car series at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday, adding to his impressive points tally despite incurring a drive-through pit penalty after a collision with a rival driver.

Gary’s weekend got off to a bright start in the Friday test sessions, setting the second-fastest lap time in the second session, two-tenths behind team-mate Jamie Green, but well clear of his ex-Formula 1 star colleagues Mika Hakkinen and Jean Alesi.

“The car was very good right from the start,” said Gary. “We tried four or five things on the car to see if it would make it quicker, but most of them didn’t work out, so it showed just how good a car we had from the beginning. We did a long run in the second session, but it rained halfway through so it was difficult to say exactly how strong we were, but we were second in the timesheets, so I was happy with that. I felt we were quick and consistent.”
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1/05/05 - Gary Wins at Lausitzring.

Gary Paffett wins the second round of the 2005 DTM at the Lausitzring.

Gary Paffett (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes) won the second round of the 2005 DTM at the Lausitzring. After 48 laps Mika Häkkinen (Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes) finished third behind Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM). With his fourth victory in the championship, Paffett took the overall lead in the drivers' ranking with 18 points ahead Jean Alesi (AMG-Mercedes, 12 points), who had won the season opener at Hockenheim two weeks ago and came home seventh today. A crowd of 78,000 attended the event over the weekend.
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30/04/05 - Gary Paffett on Pole Position

Three of a Kind: Gary Paffett on Pole Position Ahead of Jamie Green and Mika Häkkinen

Gary Paffett (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes) will start Sunday's second round of the 2005 DTM at the Lausitzring from pole position. Fighting for the Super Pole, last year's runner-up achieved a time of 1:15.808 and was the only driver under 1:16min. Despite an additional weight of ten kilograms each, a consequence of the Mercedes-Benz victory at Hockenheim two weeks ago, two more 2005 AMG-Mercedes C-Class cars qualified second and third respectively: Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes) with a 1:16.015 ahead of double Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen (Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes) with a 1:16.106. It is Gary Paffett's second DTM pole position.
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26/04/05 - Preview DTM Round 2 at the Lausitzring

Round two at the Lausitzring - Ten Kilos of Additional Weight

The five new AMG-Mercedes C-Class cars will start the second round of the 2005 DTM at the Lausitzring this coming weekend with a handicap weight of 10 kilograms each. After Jean Alesi won the season opener at Hockenheim 10 days ago, the 2005 Mercedes-Benz cars will have a total weight of 1,060 kilograms, according to the new DTM rules. Audi which was the second-ranked brand at Hockenheim will keep the basic weight of 1,050 kilograms whilst Opel is allowed to reduce their cars' weight by 10 kilograms each after ending up third.
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18/04/05 - Jean Alesi Wins – 1-2-3 Victory for Mercedes-Benz

2005 DTM, round 1: Hockenheim

Jean Alesi (AMG-Mercedes) won the first round of the 2005 DTM at Hockenheim. After 37 laps and a turbulent race, Alesi came home ahead of his HWA team mates Gary Paffett (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes) and Bernd Schneider (Vodafone AMG-Mercedes). In his DTM debut, Mika Häkkinen (Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes) improved from 15th on the grid to eighth place at the finish line. 116,000 spectators attended the event during the weekend.
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14/04/05 - Preview: DTM, round 1:

2005 DTM: Premiere at Hockenheim

First DTM race for Formula One Double World Champion Mika Häkkinen

Mercedes-Benz will start with four new drivers among their eight-driver line-up in the 2005 DTM starting at Hockenheim this coming weekend. Thus four out of the eight DTM rookies this year will drive for Mercedes. The most prominent new entry is 1998 and 1999 Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen (Team: Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes).
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05/04/05 - Mercedes-Benz in the 2005 DTM:

Enthralling DTM Presentation in Hamburg's City

25,000 attend the show at the city hall square and along the track

Mercedes-Benz introduced their eight DTM drivers for the 2005 season during the championship’s presentation at Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday. 25,000 enthusiastic spectators attended an action-packed show programme including drivers of Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Opel. At Hamburg’s Rathausmarkt, the square in front of the city hall, and along a temporary track in the centre of the city, they experienced driving activities, acceleration demonstrations and pit stop competitions. The 2005 DTM will begin at Hockenheim on 17 April.
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05/04/05 - Seven Drivers from Five Nations Will Drive the AMG-Mercedes C-Class

Seven drivers from five nations, including rookies Mika Häkkinen, Jamie Green and Bruno Spengler, will drive the AMG-Mercedes C-Class in the 2005 DTM.

Häkkinen, the 1998 and 1999 Formula One World Champion is the most spectacular new entry. Like Jamie Green, Champion of the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series, he will race a new car, as well as four-time DTM Champion Bernd Schneider, Jean Alesi and Gary Paffett, last year’s runner-up. Spengler’s and Stefan Mücke’s teams will enter 2004 cars.
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