Klettwitz. With an impeccable tactic and well-timed pit stops, Briton Gary Paffett claimed victory for Mercedes-Benz after 52 laps at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in the second round of the 2009 DTM. The 28-year old planned his two mandatory pit stops late in laps 24 and 34 and was thus able to extend his lead in first place lap after lap. Second-place went to his team-mate Bruno Spengler from Canada, who also went past Swedish Audi driver Mattias Ekstr?m thanks to late stops. The champion of 2004 and 2007, who had started from pole position, came third in the second DTM race of the year.
?I don?t know what was wrong at Hockenheim, but today, everything was just perfect. Especially the strategy that my team worked out was the key to success. This is going to be a great season. I am already looking forward to Norisring in four weeks? time?, said Paffett after his eleventh victory in the DTM. For his employer Mercedes-Benz, it was already the 148th race win in the most popular international touring car series. Ekstr?m, who already made his first stop on lap 13 and his second one on lap 22, said about his third place: ?I drove a race without any mistakes and still, I wasn?t as fast as the two Mercedes. Of course, when you start from pole, the goal is to win, but we will be faster next time round.?
Last year?s runner-up Paul Di Resta (GB/Mercedes-Benz) finished in fourth place ahead of reigning champion Timo Scheider (Audi). Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green from Great Britain ended up sixth as the best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car.
With a great recovery in his AMG-Mercedes C-Class, Ralf Schumacher thrilled the fans in the Lower Lausitz. Having started last, the German made it all the way up into tenth place. The winner of the season opener at Hockenheim, Tom Kristensen (DK) had a rather disappointing weekend. Initially, the Audi driver failed to make it into the second heat of qualifying on Saturday. On Sunday, the 41-year old was involved in many duels and incurred one drive-through penalty and a pit stop time penalty for his manoeuvres. This left Kristensen without a chance of challenging for a top position. After 180.856 kilometres, he finished twelfth.
In the overall standings, champion Scheider is leading with twelve points from Kristensen and Paffett, who have ten points each. The third DTM race weekend of the year will be taking place at the Norisring in Nuremberg from June 26th till 28th.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?I am surprised that I can speak first. Before the race, I didn?t expect that we would be strong enough to win here today. But this weekend, we were stronger than at Hockenheim. In qualifying, we already had a good strategy. After the last race, Gary was relegated five grid positions and had to start from seventh. From there, he made it onto the podium. Today, it has shown that one can do a good race with used tyres. That was the key to success for us today. We have five cars in the points, all eight drivers among the first eleven and a fastest lap time for Jamie. Today, luck went our way. The next race at Norisring will be another season highlight.?
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?Throughout the race, we just haven?t been able to match the pace that Mercedes had. With our slight weight disadvantage, we particularly feel the surface here at the EuroSpeedway. Moreover, Ekstr?m and Scheider were all the time in a group where they had to defend their positions. Mercedes was simply strong today. But it will start all over again in the next round at the Norisring. That is what makes this series so exciting.?
