German Touring Cars, 2009

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Jamie Green wins thrilling DTM race at Norisring

NORISRING 28th June 2009 - British driver Jamie Green wins an absolutely thrilling DTM race at the Norisring for Mercedes-Benz and thus continues the winning streak of the brand from Stuttgart in the only race on a street circuit on the DTM calendar.
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Since 2003, a Mercedes-Benz driver has been on the top step of the podium every year. For Green, it was the fifth victory of his DTM career and the second in a row at this circuit.
“I just can’t find words to express my joy. Timo has closed the gap very well and I wasn’t sure as to what strategy I should take. I was in a new car for four years, and now, with a year-old car, it all went so well. Being back here again and facing all the critics was nice”, the 27-year old said. His fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Bruno Spengler (CDN) completed the 1-2 for Mercedes-Benz by finishing second. Swede Mattias Ekström finished third, which made him the best-placed Audi driver. “The race was good and fair, although I am sorry that Audi hasn’t won. I am looking forward to the upcoming races”, the DTM champion of 2004 and 2007 said.
What a great finale for the DTM weekend at the Norisring, that attracted a total crowd of 132,000 spectators. On the final four laps of the 80 laps’ race, the fans saw three different race leaders. Driving his Audi A4 DTM, defending champion Timo Scheider was ahead of Spengler and Green until four laps before the end. At times, the trio were less than 0.6 seconds apart. On the penultimate lap, Green takes the lead from Scheidetr after a door-to-door battle. Spengler and even Mattias Ekström, who had been running in fourth place up to that point, also overtake Scheider, claiming second and third place with less than four kilometers remaining. Scheider still scores five points in the battle for the championship by finishing fourth and thus remains on top in the points’ standings.
There was a reason to celebrate for Mercedes-Benz driver Ralf Schumacher, too. The former F1 driver scored his best result in a DTM race so far in sixth place. As the chequered flag was out, he was only 0.31 seconds down on his fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett, the winner of the second season round at the EuroSpeedway. Dane Tom Kristensen (Audi), who had won the season opener of this year’s DTM, ended up eighth behind Scottish driver Paul Di Resta (Mercedes-Benz).
British lady racer Katherine Legge was unhappy after the race. Having started from fifth place for the third round of the season, the 28-year old had a rather poor start and finished only twelfth after 184 kilometers. The second lady in the field, Susie Stoddart (GBR/Mercedes-Benz), ended up tenth.

In the points’ standings, Scheider remains in the lead with 17 points from Spengler (16) and Paffett (14). The fourth DTM round of the season will be held at Zandvoort in The Netherlands from July 17th till 19th.

Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: “That was an incredibly exciting race and already our seventh victory at the Norisring. I thought that we would be able to secure the points earlier on, but neither during the first nor during the second pit stops, we were able to catch up. Timo has taken a lot of risk with his line and he will be disappointed now, but that is normal. Jamie is a real specialist at this track. This was one of the best touring car races we have ever seen, and we have had many good races.”
Race Results:
1. Jamie Green
2. Bruno Spengler
3. Mattias Ekstrom
4. Timo Scheider
5. Gary Paffett
6. Ralf Schumacher
7. Paul di Resta
8. Tom Kristensen
9. Mike Rockenfeller
10. Susie Stoddart
11. Martin Tomczyk
12. Katherine Legge
13. Markus Winkelhock
14. Mattias Lauda
15. Christian Bakkerud

DNF. Maro Engel
DNF. Alex Premat
DNF. Tomas Kostka
DNF. Oliver Jarvis
DNS. Johannes Seidlitz

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Timo Scheider clinches 50th DTM victory

Ingolstadt 2nd Aug 2009 – The anniversary has been perfected: In front of 64,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) title defender Timo Scheider clinched the 50th DTM victory for Audi at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk completed a commanding 1-2-3 win by Audi.
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As in qualifying on Saturday, the four Audi A4 DTM cars of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline were in a class by themselves in the race as well. The best Mercedes crossed the finish line after 50 laps with a gap of almost 17 seconds.

"The 50th pole position for Audi in the DTM at Zandvoort and now the 50th victory – two nice numbers on the occasion of the Audi’s brand’s centenary," said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Our drivers Timo Scheider, Mattias Ekström, Martin Tomczyk and the team did an absolutely flawless job today and dominated the race. I’m proud of this performance but also of the spirited drive of Tom Kristensen, who showed a fantastic recovery after a drive-through penalty."

Timo Scheider laid the foundation for his fourth exploit in the DTM with a perfect start at which he outran the quickest in qualifying, Tom Kristensen, and turned into the first corner as the leading car. After that, he only had to temporarily relinquish his first place during the two mandatory pit stops. "Many, many thanks to the team, the car, and the pit stops today were perfect," said Timo Scheider after his first victory of the season. "After the start, I was able to control the race. Losing the lead of the standings at Zandvoort was painful. Now I’m back in the title fight."

Mattias Ekström moved forward from fourth place on the grid to second in the race. On the second lap the Swede took advantage of a small mistake by his team-mate Martin Tomczyk and subsequently benefited from a drive-through penalty imposed on Tom Kristensen. The Audi A4 DTM of the Dane was not standing exactly within the lines prescribing the position on the starting grid.

With his second place Mattias Ekström caught up with the leader of the standings, Gary Paffett. Both have 28 points at the season’s mid-point. Timo Scheider ranks just one point behind them in third place.

Martin Tomczyk finished third and thus clinched his best podium result of the year. After his mishap on the grid, Tom Kristensen managed to push forward from 17th to eighth place. On the last lap he bumped Norisring winner Jamie Green out of the points in the process. As a result, all four drivers of a current Audi A4 DTM scored points at Oschersleben.

For the drivers of year-old cars, the race was a disappointment. Oliver Jarvis lost two points he had seemed to be sure of three laps before the finish due to a puncture – a fate he shared with Markus Winkelhock. Mike Rockenfeller bumped Alexandre Prémat into the gravel trap with three laps to go and received a retroactive time penalty of 30 seconds. Katherine Legge’s race as well ended prematurely after an off.
Race Results:
1. Timo Scheider
2. Mattias Ekstrom
3. Martin Tomczyk
4. Paul di Resta
5. Gary Paffett
6. Bruno Spengler
7. Maro Engel
8. Tom Kristensen
9. Jamie Green
10. Susie Stoddart
11. Ralf Schumacher
12. Mattias Lauda
13. Mike Rockenfeller
14. Tomas Kostka
15. Oliver Jarvis
16. Alex Premat
17. Katherine Legge

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Timo Scheider on course for DTM title

Montmeló 20th Sept 2009 - A perfect strategy, two ideal pit stops and a flawless race. At the Circuit de Catalunya, this was the base for Audi driver Timo Scheider for a big step towards his title defence.

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After 59 laps and a total of 175.643 kilometres, the reigning DTM champion from Germany scored a dominant victory in the eight DTM round of the season. His two fellow Audi drivers Tom Kristensen from Denmark and German Martin Tomczyk completed Audi’s winning trio on the podium. “I had a rocket start. I think that it would be nice when you could plan something like this. But today, it was largely luck and good work by my team. A margin of twelve points in the championship sounds very good. Now, we can take on the two remaining races in a relaxed way”, said the joyful winner about his fifth career victory in the DTM and his second win of the season.

With ten points for first place and a total of 53 points, the 30-year old remains in the lead of the points’ standings. His main rivals are Swede Mattias Ekström (Audi) at 41 points, who ended up fifth in the Spanish DTM round behind Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz), and Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett at 39 points. The Briton was the best-placed driver with an AMG Mercedes C-Class by finishing fourth. “Of course, I am disappointed. We want to be in contention for the top positions and we wanted to beat Audi. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, we just didn’t have the necessary speed. In qualifying, we had the same speed as Audi. But today, it wasn’t enough – for whatever reason. Probably, fourth place was all we could achieve”, said Paffett about his result.

The eighth round of the most popular international touring car series started with a tactical masterpiece by Audi. Both Kristensen, who started from pole position, and Tomczyk, who was standing right behind the Dane in third place, moved over to the right side of the track at the start and thus made way for Scheider, who, in fifth place, was also starting from the left grid row. The eventual winner took the lead coming out of the second corner and wasn’t to lose it anymore until the end of the race. Behind him, there were numerous fascinating duels to be enjoyed by the fans. It was particularly exciting after Ekström’s late second pit stop on lap 43. The two times’ DTM champion from the years 2004 and 2007 rejoined the field right behind Paffett and attacked the Brit several times. This resulted into some bodywork contact, for which Ekström was warned with the black-and-white flag. With one lap to go, Ekström tried overtake Paffett on the outside. The attempt didn’t succeed and Spengler was able to overtake the Swede.

The best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car was Frenchman Alexandre Prémat with his Audi A4 DTM in eighth place. Ralf Schumacher showed a great recovery. After the 34-year old had to start from 20th place following an engine chance after warm-up, the Mercedes-Benz driver made it all the way up to finish 13th.

The ninth and penultimate DTM weekend of the season will be taking place at Dijon-Prenois in France from October 9th till 11th.

Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “I am very happy with the result. This was a great team performance. We haven’t secured the championship title yet, but this was an important step into the right direction. A convincing performance and real hard work by our teams were decisive. It was a perfect weekend in Barcelona. Especially for Timo, who made a perfect start. Probably, you make such a start only once in your life. Tom and Martin were driving at a very good speed. I hope that the spectators have enjoyed the battle for the point-scoring positions.”

Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: “I would rather have seen the battle for fourth, fifth and sixth place at the front of the field. That really was an entertaining fight. In spite of our ten kilograms of additional weight, we were strong in qualifying. But in terms of consistency, we just weren’t good enough in the race. Now, it is very much likely that the championship has already been decided. But from second place down, everything is still open and we will give everything in the remaining races.”

Race Results:

1. Timo Scheider Team Abt Audi A4 DTM 09
2. Tom Kristensen Team Abt Audi A4 DTM 09
3. Martin Tomczyk Team Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 09
4. Gary Paffett Salzgitter AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 09
5. Bruno Spengler Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class 09
6. Mattias Ekstrom Team Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 09
7. Paul di Resta AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 09
8. Alex Premat Team Phoenix Audi A4 DTM 08
9. Oliver Jarvis Team Phoenix Audi A4 DTM 08
10. Maro Engel GQ AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 08
11. Mathias Lauda Stern AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 08
12. Mike Rockenfeller Team Rosberg Audi A4 DTM 08
13. Ralf Schumacher Trilux AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 09
14. Jamie Green Junge Stern AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 08
15. Susie Stoddart TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class 08
16. Tomas Kostka Kolles Futurecom-BRT Audi A4 DTM 07
17. Christian Bakkerud Kolles Futurecom-TME Audi A4 DTM 07
18. Johannes Seidlitz Kolles Futurecom-TME Audi A4 DTM 07

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The premiere of the DTM in the French city of Dijon was much to the liking of the 26,000 spectators.
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Great recoveries, spectacular pit stops and door-to-door fights marked the ninth round of the season. Eventually, the fans celebrated the victory of the overjoyed British Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett. The 28-year old started from eighth place, made his way up and ran in second place behind Audi driver Mattias Ekström from Sweden for a huge part of the race. With six laps remaining, the left rear tyre on Ekström’s car blew and that left the road clear for Paffett to claim victory and ten valuable points for the championship battle. “The result in qualifying wasn’t what we had wanted. Making up from eighth to first was our goal, and we succeeded. Moreover, scoring the first victory here is just fantastic. Following Mattias’ puncture, I was able to back off a little bit. But finding the balance between attack and caution wasn’t easy”, said Paffett about the 13th victory of his DTM career. With 49 points, Paffett is seven points down on reigning champion Timo Scheider (Audi), who still finished sixth after a great recovery from 16th place on the grid, in spite of a puncture in the race, and managed to score three points. “That was a topsy-turvy race. I had a puncture during my first stint two corners before the pitlane entry. With luck, I still made it into the pits and there wasn’t any further damage to the car. From 16th place on the grid, we have made up ten positions. We have to be happy with that”, said Scheider about the race.

In ninth place, Ekström just missed out on scoring any points and now has no chance of playing a role in the battle for the title anymore. This will be decided by Scheider and Paffett in a fortnight during the season finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg.

Four further Mercedes-Benz drivers in second to fifth place completed the lock-out of the top five for the brand from Stuttgart. Scotsman Paul Di Resta, Bruno Spengler from Canada, Brit Jamie Green as the best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car and ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher crossed the finish line behind the winner. For Schumacher, this was his best result in a DTM race to date.

The finale at the Hockenheimring promises excitement. Scheider could become the first driver after DTM record champion Bernd Schneider (Mercedes-Benz) to successfully defend his title. When Paffett wins the title, he would be inducted into the DTM Hall of Fame after his championship win in 2005. On top of that, victory in the teams’ championship is also still at stake in the finale. Here, Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes is leading with 88 points from Audi Sport Team Abt with 77 points. The grand final weekend of the DTM will be taking place at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg from October 23rd till 25th.
RACE RESULTS:
1. Gary Paffett Salzgitter AMG Mercedes
2. Paul di Resta AMG Mercedes
3. Bruno Spengler Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG
4. Jamie Green Junge Stern AMG Mercedes
5. Ralf Schumacher Trilux AMG Mercedes
6. Timo Scheider Team Abt
7. Martin Tomczyk Team Abt Sportsline
8. Mathias Lauda Stern AMG Mercedes
9. Mattias Ekstrom Team Abt Sportsline
10. Markus Winkelhock Team Rosberg
11. Alex Premat Team Phoenix
12. Maro Engel GQ AMG Mercedes
13. Mike Rockenfeller Team Rosberg
14. Susie Stoddart TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes
15. Oliver Jarvis Team Phoenix
16. Katherine Legge Team Abt Lady Power
17. Tomas Kostka Kolles Futurecom-BRT
18. Tom Kristensen Team Abt