Augusto Farfus

Augusto Farfus is a Brazilian racing driver who has not won any major competitions yet, but he had missed several chances to became a champion at the very last minute. Most recently, he was a DTM vice-champion in 2013. Farfus competed in DTM with BMW from 2012 to 2018.

Earlier in a career, he spent seven seasons in the European Touring Car Championship and FIA World Touring Car Championship with Alfa Romeo and BMW, scoring fifteen WTCC victories and finishing two times as the third-placed driver in the world.

As occasional GT endurance racer, Farfus became the Nurburgring 24 Hours winner in 2010, driving a BMW M3 GT2. He also reached one podium at Daytona 24 Hours, finishing second in GTLM class in 2015. Four years later, in January 2019, he took GTLM class victory at Daytona.

Augusto Farfus

From minibike in backyard to Italy

Augusto Farfus is born in September 1983 in Curitiba. The fact that racing is in his blood could already be seen when he was eight years old, participating in local minibike races. A year later, he moved to karts and immediately won the title at the local competition in the province of Parana.

At age of 17, he moved to Italy where he competed in the Formula Renault Italian championship and then in Eurocup in which he was champion in 2001. The following year he moved to Formula 3000, and in 2003 triumphed in the Euro Formula 3000 Championship. It has been an excellent springboard to a higher level.

Video : DTM driver Augusto Farfus speaks about his home city and life out of racing

Impressive WTCC results with BMW

This was followed by years in the European Touring Car Championship, and then he turned to the World Touring Car Championship where he drove the Alfa Romeo. He achieved his best result in 2006: he was in the game to win the title up to the last race, but at the end of the season had to settle for the third place, mostly because of his outdated Alfa Romeo.

Since 2007, the Brazilian driver is a member of the BMW Team. He immediately confirmed the quality as he was the Championship leader in one part of the season, but eventually finished fourth. Two years later he won six races in WTCC, but again missed the chance to take the crown, finishing third at the end of the season. As a consolation, Farfus got a chance to test the BMW Formula 1 in 2007.

Augusto driving a BMW in WTCC

Seven seasons, four wins in the DTM

After BMW withdrew from the WTCC, Farfus had ventured into the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, also behind the wheel of a BMW. Since 2012, as a member of BMW Team RBM, the Brazilian had entered the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). In 2013, when he was the fastest at three races, he finished as a runner-up at the end of the season, mostly because he failed to take a single point in four races.

Unfortunately, the following two years in DTM were a complete failure. In 2014, Farfus finished at the 13th position with 2nd place at Spielberg as his best result that year, while in 2015, now as a driver of BMW Team MTEK, the Brazilian was 12th. The most notable results in that campaign were 2nd places at Zandvoort and Oschersleben.

Even worse results followed from 2016 to 2018 when Farfus finished 16th in the DTM classification for three seasons in a row. At the end of 2018, he left DTM.

Augusto Farfus competed in the DTM from 2012 to 2018

Successful GT career: wins at Nürburgring, Macau, Daytona

Outside touring car racing, Farfus gained plenty of success in GT races. As a member of BMW factory team he raced both at Le Mans 24h and Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2010. In his Le Mans debut, he was sixth in class together with Jorg Muller and Uwe Alzen in a BMW M3 GT3. The same car was victorious at Nurburgring Nordschleife, where Farfus won a race with Muller, Alzen and Pedro Lamy.

Later in a career, Farfus had two more attempts at Le Mans (in 2011 and 2018), recording two DNF. His next great success in GT racing came in 2015 when he reached a podium at Daytona 24 Hours. Driving a BMW Z4 GTLM for BMW Team RLL alongside Dirk Werner, Bruno Spengler and Bill Auberlen, he was fifth overall and second in GTLM class.

In 2018, he won FIA GT World Cup at Macau Guia Circuit in a BMW M6 GT3 and then even bigger success followed in January 2019 when he won GTLM class at Daytona 24 Hours, driving a BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team RLL.

Augusto Farfus (second left) at Daytona podium with teammates

Returning to world-class touring car competition in 2019

After leaving DTM, Farfus stayed with BMW as a GT racer but also found a new full-time job in touring car racing. He joined Hyundai Motorsport to drive a Hyundai i30 N TCR in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Championship, alongside defending world champion Gabriele Tarquini.

Photos: autoevolution.com, come4news.com, dtm.com, motrface.com.