DTM 2007 ? Press Release No. 63

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Jamie Green claims maiden DTM victory in Barcelona
Barcelona. Jamie Green is the winner of the ninth DTM season round at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. At the 2.977 kilometres long track, the Briton won from his fellow Mercedes-Benz drivers Bruno Spengler and Paul di Resta. For Green, it was his maiden victory in the DTM. The points? scoring positions were completed by Alexandros Margaritis, Gary Paffett, Mathias Lauda (all Mercedes-Benz), Mike Rockenfeller and Lucas Luhr (both Audi). On the 50th of 58 laps, Audi had withdrawn all its remaining cars from the race as they had judged the driving conduct of the Mercedes-Benz drivers as being unfair. Before the season final at the Hockenheimring Baden-W?rttemberg, Mattias Ekstr?m is leading the drivers? standings with 44 points from Bruno Spengler (42 points) and Martin Tomczyk (40 points). An extensive press release with quotes from the drivers and motorsport directors will follow shortly.

The race in detail
Spectators over the weekend: 42,000
Weather conditions: sunny
Air temperature: 27.1 ?C
Track temperature: 34.9 ?C

Start    Tomczyk takes the lead, good start for Margaritis. H?kkinen is second. La Rosa spins at the first corner.
Lap 1    Kristensen spins after a collision with Paffett.
Lap 2    Stoddart into the gravel trap at Campsa.
Lap 3    Tomczyk is leading from H?kkinen, Spengler, Schneider, Green, Ekstr?m. Drive through penalty for Gary Paffett because of a jump start. At the end of the lap, he comes in.
Lap 4    Abt off the track,continues.
Lap 6    Mattias Ekstr?m and Tom Kristensen are the first drivers to come in for his pit stop.
Lap 7    Tomczyk and H?kkinen collide under braking for the first corner. Both into the grass, H?kkinen's car is moving slowly. Rockenfeller into the pits.
Lap 8    Spengler is now leading from Schneider, Green, Margaritis amd Scheider. H?kkinen into the pits - retires. Tomczyk has dropped back to eleventh.
Lap 9    Paffett and Abt side by side, battling for 15th place.
Lap 10    Tomczyk and Lauda battling for ninth, Tomczyk goes through. H?kkinen under investigation by the stewards.
Lap 13    Ekstr?m and La Rosa battle for twelfth, side by side, both off into the gravel trap. Paffett into the pits.
Lap 14    Ekstr?m crawling back to the pits. Schneider, Scheider, Winkelhock, Ekstr?m into the pits ? retires.
Lap 15    Green, Margaritis into the pits. Schneider int the pits - retires. Spengler into the pits.
Lap 17    Di Resta into the pits.
Lap 20    Ickx into the pits. The following drivers are under investigation: Spengler, Scheider, Abt, Margaritis.
Lap 22    Spengler overtakes Pr?mat as the Frenchman runs wide at the first corner. Tomczyk into the pits for his first stop.
Lap 23    Green, Pr?mat, Di Resta into the pits.
Lap 26    Tomczyk takes the escape road at the first corner. Margaritis, Winkelhock into the pits.
Lap 27    Scheider, Lauda into the pits.
Lap 28    Spengler is closing up on Luhr, who has yet to make his first pit stop.
Lap 30    Spengler alongside Luhr, trying to overtake him, but Spengler retains his position. Kristensen, Abt into the pits.
Lap 31    Drive through penalty for Spengler. Comes in at the end of the lap. Tomczyk into the pits for his second stop.
Lap 32    Spengler rejoins just ahead of Green, who is fourth. Rockenfeller, Spengler in for their second pit stops.
Lap 33    Tomczyk into the pits - retires.
Lap 35    Luhr into the pits for his second stop. The following drivers get a drive-through for setting the fastest sector time uinder yellow: Scheider, Abt, Margaritis and Paffett.
Lap 36    Paffett, Abt into the pits.
Lap 37    Scheider off the track after collision with Lauda.
Lap 39    Green is leading from Luhr, who is the only one in the top six who has yet to make his second pit stop. Di Resta is third from Rockemfeller, Spengler and Pr?mat.
Lap 40    Lauda under investigation.
Lap 42    Lauda into the pits for his second stop.
Lap 44    Ickx into the pits.
Lap 45    Abt into the pits.
Lap 46    Luhr into the pits for his second stop.
Lap 47    Spengler and Rockenfeller collide while battling for third, Spengler gets through.
Lap 47    Winkelhock into the pits, apparently with suspension damage ? retires.
Lap 48    Pr?mat into the pits.
Lap 49    Abt, Rockenfeller, Luhr, Kristensen into the pits.
Lap 50    Audi has withdrawn all its cars.
Lap 52    Spengler has overtaken Di Resta and is now second. The current order: Green is leading from Spengler, Di Resta, Margaritis, Paffett and Lauda.
Lap 58    Final lap. Green wins from Spengler, Di Resta, Margaritis, Paffett and Lauda.

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Green wins, Audi pull out of race

By Glenn Freeman Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 13:38 GMT


Jamie Green won his first DTM race at Catalunya, but the event was marred by the withdrawal of all the Audis in the field after several on-track incidents between Mercedes and Audis.

Only six cars were running at the chequered flag, with Green deservedly winning ahead of Bruno Spengler.

The Canadian has now moved to within two points of Audi's Mattias Ekstrom going into next month's final round at Hockenheim.

Both Ekstrom and fellow Audi title contender Martin Tomczyk retired as a result of incidents at the centre of the controversy.

Paul di Resta took third, having slowed to allow Spengler to pass him in the closing stages.

Classified:

Pos  Driver            Car       Time
 1.  Jamie Green       Mercedes  1h08:21.523
 2.  Bruno Spengler    Mercedes    +  11.549
 3.  Paul Di Resta     Mercedes    +  14.639
 4.  A.Margaritis      Mercedes    +  46.539
 5.  Gary Paffett      Mercedes    +  49.596
 6.  Mathias Lauda     Mercedes    +  50.501
 7.  M.Rockenfeller    Audi        +  9 laps
 8.  Lucas Luhr        Audi        +  9 laps
 9.  Tom Kristensen    Audi        +  9 laps
10.  Alexandre Premat  Audi        + 10 laps
11.  Christian Abt     Audi        + 10 laps
12.  M.Winkelhock      Audi        + 11 laps
13.  Vanina Ickx       Audi        + 11 laps

Not classified:

     Driver            Car       Laps
     Timo Scheider     Audi      36
     Martin Tomczyk    Audi      34
     Bernd Schneider   Mercedes  15
     Mattias Ekstrom   Audi      13
     Daniel La Rosa    Mercedes  12
     Mika Hakkinen     Mercedes  7
     Susie Stoddart    Mercedes  1

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Hakkinen and la Rosa punished

By Glenn Freeman Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 16:16 GMT


Mika Hakkinen and Daniel la Rosa have been punished for causing avoidable collisions during Sunday's DTM race at Barcelona.

Hakkinen was considered to be at fault for a collision in the early laps of the race with Martin Tomczyk, while la Rosa was blamed for a collision he had with Audi's other title contender, Mattias Ekstrom.

Hakkinen and Tomczyk were battling for the lead at the start of the race, and on lap seven the pair collided when Hakkinen dived down the inside at the first corner and locked a wheel.

La Rosa's contact with Ekstrom came after the pair had gone side by side through Turn 1, and la Rosa ended up on the grass coming out of the corner.

The German driver then lost control of his Mercedes, and as he rejoined the track at the next corner his car tagged Ekstrom's, forcing them both out of the race.

"I don't understand this penalty," la Rosa told autosport.com. "He did not need to push me on the grass, and after that I was on the brakes. There was nothing more I could do."

Both drivers have been fined, and handed a 10-place grid penalty for the season finale at Hockenheim, while Hakkinen was also fined for not attending the stewards' meeting, as he had already left the circuit.

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Audi defend race pull-out decision

By Glenn Freeman Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 16:34 GMT


Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich has said that he believes the decision to withdraw from Sunday's race at Barcelona was the correct one.

All the Audi drivers that were still in the race were instructed to pull into the pits to retire with 10 laps remaining, as their bosses believed that the battles on track with some Mercedes drivers had been too tough.

The decision was greeted with disgust by the fans at the circuit, but Ullrich believes that Audi made the right call.

"Motorsport has to be fair, and I don't think it was in this case," he said. "I think we made the right decision.

"Things happened that gave me the feeling that the harshness of the race was in a way we don't see motorsport.

"After two discussions with deciding people, I took the decision to say that this is not the way we want to race."

One of the men that Ullrich discussed the issue with was Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board for Audi AG.

The race was marred by several incidents between different drivers. The first was between Mika Hakkinen and Martin Tomczyk, who clashed at the first corner as the Finn dived down the inside at Turn 1 in an attempt to take the lead.

Hakkinen was out on the spot, while Tomczyk continued until much later in the race before retiring.

Championship leader Mattias Ekstrom retired from the race after contact with Daniel la Rosa, who was rejoining the track after he had taken to the grass while running on the outside of the Swede coming out of Turn 1.

Bruno Spengler then had separate incidents with Lucas Luhr and later Mike Rockenfeller, and it was shortly after the Canadian moved ahead of Rockenfeller that Audi withdrew their cars.

"A decision like this is not easily taken," Ullrich added. "This cost us some points that could be important for the championship."

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DTM 2007 ? Press Release No. 64
Hard fights in Barcelona ? titel race remains open
Barcelona. After a hotly contested ninth season round in Barcelona, the decision in the battle for the title in the DTM has been postponed to the final race of the year at Hockenheim. After much-discussed and disputable position fights, Audi decide to withdraw all its cars from the race after 50 of 58 laps. After that, victory went to Jamie Green with the AMG Mercedes C-Class from his fellow Mercedes-Benz drivers Bruno Spengler and Paul di Resta. For Green, it was the first DTM victory of his career.

The reason for the decision by Audi?s motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich were many duels that were too harsh from Audi?s point of view. Among others, Mika H?kkinen and the runner-up in the points? standings, Audi driver Martin Tomczyk, collided on lap seven. On lap 13, Mercedes-Benz driver Daniel la Rosa collided with the championship leader, Mattias Ekstr?m with his Audi A4 DTM. All four drivers had to retire from the race.

In front of 42,000 spectators during the race weekend, emotions were running high in the pit lane as well. The motorsport directors of both manufacturers, Norbert Haug (Mercedes-Benz) and Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Audi) shared the view that the emotions will cool down and expressed themselves in an optimistic way for the season final at the Hockenheimring in three weeks? time to bring a sporty and fair decision in the drivers? standings of the 2007 DTM.

The tenth and final DTM round of the year will be taking place at the Hockenheimring Baden-W?rttemberg, October 14th.

Jamie Green (winner, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes): ?I am totally relieved. When you are competing as the reigning champion of the Formula 3 Euro Series, expectations are quite high. During the season, I have been able to show that I can live up to these expectations. But often enough, I also dropped back while on course for a podium finish because of stupid situations, for which others were to blame. But that is typical for the DTM. It is up and down, it is exciting and fascinating. I am happy that I got my campaign underway again with this victory. This victory allows me to pay back something to all those who have kept their faith in me.?

Bruno Spengler (2nd place, DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes): ?The eight points that I managed to score today are well deserved and I am happy for being only two points down on Mattias Ekstr?m in the championship. The other drivers weren?t making life particularly easy for me either, but these were all position fights and therefore were all right for me. I am just happy that I made it to the finish with my car in one piece. In the final at Hockenheim, I will be giving everything, as in every race. I am looking forward to an exciting showdown with three title candidates.?

Paul di Resta (3rd place, JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes): ?The DTM season has been running well for me. It is my learning year in the DTM and I have learned a lot, also from mistakes. At Hockenheim, we can do what we already did in the first race, which is finishing on the podium. There, my car was really strong. Hopefully, I can further improve next year.?

Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?Now, we have to take a close look at the situation and only after that, one can make a thorough judgement. You always have to look at the overall picture first and then draw a conclusion. At the end of the main straight, Mika H?kkinen was much quicker than Martin Tomczyk. Maybe, the overtaking manoeuvre was a little bit optimistic, but he didn?t do it on purpose. Mattias Ekstr?m was driving very harshly in the situation with Daniel la Rosa. According to me, there was no reason to withdraw the cars from the race. I want to emphasise at this occasion that for us, there was no team order and that the actions at the track were by no means a revenge for Zandvoort. We would never do something like that. Now, emotions will cool down and we will see an exciting season final at Hockenheim.?

Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?Surely, the decision to withdraw all the cars from the race was far from easy for me. I am aware that this has cost us points as well that might be important in the end. We have come to Barcelona to have a fair race. But the things that happened here on the track were initially much and in the end, with the situation against Mike Rockenfeller, too much. That was definitely not what we had wanted to see here. Motorsport must be fair competition and that wasn?t the case in this race. Of course, cars touch on the track in a hard and fair race. But when the contact is the reason that cars retire, it is a form of behaviour that we do not want to see in motorsport. The decision to withdraw the cars from the race was meant to show that we don?t want that.?

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Mercedes surprised by Audi's decision

By Glenn Freeman Monday, September 24th 2007, 13:44 GMT


Mercedes have expressed their surprise at Audi's decision to withdraw their cars from Sunday's DTM race at Barcelona.

Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich decided to pull his cars in during the closing stages of the race, as he felt that several Mercedes drivers had been too rough on the track.

Their actions meant that only six cars were still running when the chequered flag came out, and the Spanish fans expressed their disgust with the decision as Audi team members walked up the pitlane.

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug said: "I cannot understand the decision to take the cars out of the race, when we already have a 1-2-3 that we deserved."

Bruno Spengler, who is now just two points behind championship leader Mattias Ekstrom after Sunday's event, added that he didn't agree with Audi's decision.

"There was no reason to take away the cars," Spengler told autosport.com. "We have also had hard moments, but we never took our cars away.

"I think it's a bit of an aggressive decision. It's a bit of a shame to do that for no particular reason."

Haug also said Mercedes were planning to appeal the penalties imposed on Mika Hakkinen and Danie la Rosa in Sunday's race.

"The HWA team will appeal against the penalties imposed on Mika and Daniel; there are comparable situations, which have been judged in a different way," he added.

"I now hope for an exciting final race in Hockenheim and that oil will be poured on the troubled water - I offer our cooperation for it."