02.08.2009
Audi driver Scheider wins at Oschersleben once again
DTM
Oschersleben. Audi showed a convincing performance in the fifth season round of the DTM at Oschersleben. Last year?s winner and reigning DTM champion Timo Scheider celebrated his maiden victory of the season and in total the 50th race win for the manufacturer from Ingolstadt in the DTM. ?That was a good weekend for me. Being on the winning way again is a great feeling. Of course, people are paying even more attention when you are the defending champion. Being the prey is not easy at all. The race here looked easy, but it was really hard, also because of the temperatures and the humidity.? The 30-year old German had a margin of 5.417 seconds over his Audi team-mates Mattias Ekstr?m and Martin Tomczyk. Best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver was Paul Di Resta in fourth place. Points? leader Gary Paffett had an impressive recovery with his AMG Mercedes C-Class. The Briton moved up from twelfth place on the grid to fifth. At the halfway-point of the season, he is tied with Ekstr?m in front of the points? standings with 28 points. Scheider is only one point down.
Pole-sitter Tom Kristensen had a misfortune on the starting grid. He put his Audi A4 DTM a little bit too far forward in the starting box and therefore was given a drive-through penalty immediately after the start which made him drop back to 17th place. He arduously made his way up again and finished eighth. During the race, Mercedes-Benz broke Audi?s dominance in qualifying with seven cars in the top eight. After 48 laps and 177.408 kilometres, the team from Stuttgart scored valuable points in the battle for the championship. Eventually, they had four cars in the top eight with Paul Di Resta, Gary Paffett, Bruno Spengler and Maro Engel. Di Resta summed up his impressions: We got the best out of it and we were as strong as we could. We had a good car and I am quite happy with my speed. Now, we are looking ahead, because at the end of the year is when it matters.?
The 64.000 spectators at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben got to see a particularly exciting finale with plenty of action and overtaking manoeuvres. On lap 46, Oliver Jarvis slid off the track after a puncture and lost seventh place, Alexandre Pr?mat retired after a collision with Mike Rockenfeller. Rockenfeller spun, ended the race in tenth place, but was given a time penalty and was classified 13th. On the final lap, Kristensen battled his way past Jamie Green and still scored one point for finishing eighth.
The action continues in a fortnight. The N?rburgring will be the venue for the sixth DTM race weekend of the year from August 14th till 16th.
Audi motorsport director Dr Wolfgang Ullrich: ?The guys have done a great job. The performance was strong and that makes me proud. That was Scheider?s second win in a row at Oschersleben. As to Kristensen, he always seems to be strong in qualifying here, but in the race, it was Timo?s turn. Timo?s performance was very good throughout the weekend. Now, we are at the end of the first half of our championship and there are only slight differences in the points? standings. Our weight concept has proven to be right. It will be exciting, because traditionally, the cars are closely together in the DTM.?
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?I am glad that the guys didn?t give up. On Saturday, we only had one car in the top eight. But today, we had a good strategy and also a good performance. Gary Paffett is half-time champion and Mercedes-Benz is leading in the teams? standings. We can live with that very well. Everything looks set for an exciting remainder of the season. A well-balanced series, that is what the spectators want to see. We can look forward to the next round at the N?rburgring.?
