Hakkinen takes fortunate win

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By Glenn Freeman Sunday, July 15th 2007, 16:54 GMT


Mika Hakkinen has taken a shock win from 15th on the grid in the DTM race at Mugello.

The Finn took advantage of some good fortune with the safety car to take the lead, as he was the only driver to make his second pit stop before the safety car was deployed.

Hakkinen has had good results ruined by the safety car twice this year, but for once it worked in his favour.

The former Formula One world champion then had to withstand significant pressure from pole-sitter Mattias Ekstrom for the final 15 laps, as the Audi driver ran within half a second of the leader all the way to the flag.

Ekstrom had led the race early on, and were it not for Hakkinen's good fortune he would have taken a comfortable victory.

Paul di Resta had showed good pace in the early stages of the race to work his way up the order, and he even passed the 2007-specification Mercedes of reigning champion Bernd Schneider as he moved into the points.

The Persson Motorsport driver then took advantage of problems for several other frontrunners to emerge in third position after the second pit stop, but he was not quite able to keep up with the top two.

Di Resta was under no pressure from behind though, as Bruno Spengler held up a train of cars all the way to the finish.

Daniel la Rosa never mounted a serious challenge, while Mike Rockenfeller put a late move on Alexandre Premat to snatch sixth place at the end.

Tom Kristensen recovered from a disastrous pit stop to score the final point, although the Dane had run in third position in the early laps.

Of the other Audis that started at the front of the grid, Martin Tomczyk had a pit stop problem and then spun shortly after the restart, while Timo Scheider was punted off on the first lap after making a poor start.

The results move Ekstrom into a clear championship lead ahead of Bernd Schneider who failed to score, while Spengler and di Resta are now tied for third ahead of Hakkinen.

Classified:

Pos  Driver             Car              Time
 1.  Mika Hakkinen      Mercedes  1h03:10.117
 2.  Mattias Ekstrom    Audi         +  0.371
 3.  Paul Di Resta      Mercedes     +  3.198
 4.  Bruno Spengler     Mercedes     +  8.722
 5.  Daniel La Rosa     Mercedes     +  9.420
 6.  Mike Rockenfeller  Audi         + 10.073
 7.  Alexandre Premat   Audi         + 11.975
 8.  Tom Kristensen     Audi         + 12.251
 9.  Markus Winkelhock  Audi         + 16.558
10.  Susie Stoddart     Mercedes     + 22.144
11.  Bernd Schneider    Mercedes     + 26.877
12.  Mathias Lauda      Mercedes     + 7 laps

Not classified:

     Driver             Car        Laps
     Martin Tomczyk     Audi       16
     Gary Paffett       Mercedes   16
     Christian Abt      Audi       16
     Alex Margaritis    Mercedes   12
     Vanina Ickx        Audi       4
     Jamie Green        Mercedes   3
     Lucas Luhr         Audi       1
     Timo Scheider      Audi       0

[fasteddy]

DTM 2007 ? Press Release No. 48
Second season win for Mika H?kkinen, Ekstr?m new points leader
Mugello. In summery conditions at the ?Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello?, Mika H?kkinen secured himself his second victory of the season with his AMG Mercedes C-Class. Having started from 15th place, the Finn came in for his two mandatory pit stops on laps seven and 13 and after that had the benefit of a safety-car-phase that became necessary on lap 14 after an accident of Alexandros Margaritis. Mattias Ekstr?m, who had started from first place, was just beaten with his Audi A4 DTM in the sixth season round. The Swede crossed the finish line in second place, 0.3 seconds behind H?kkinen. Ekstr?m?s second place allowed him to take over the lead in the championship standings. The final podium slot at Mugello was occupied by Paul di Resta, driving a 2005-spec AMG Mercedes C-Class. An extensive press release with quotes from the drivers and motorsport directors will follow shortly.

The race at a glance
Weather conditions: sunny
Air temperature: 39.8 ?C
Track temperature: 53.2 ?C

Start    Ekstr?m takes the lead from Tomczyk, who has overtaken Kristensen and is now second. Spengler, Rockenfeller in the grass.
Lap 1    Scheider off the track, continues. Scheider and Luhr into the pits. Luhr continues, Scheider's car is being pushed into the pit box - he retires.
Lap 2    Ekstr?m is leading from Tomczyk, Kristensen, Spengler, Green, Pr?mat, Rockenfeller, Schneider, Di Resta and Winkelhock. Luhr into the pits, retires.
Lap 4    Jamie Green through the gravel trap at Arrabiata 2 after running over a curb, his car is stuck ? retirement.
Lap 5    Ickx in the gravel trap at Arrabiata 2.
Lap 6    On the previous lap, the three Audis in front lapped one second faster than fourth-placed Bruno Spengler. Schneider, Di Resta, Pr?mat, Rockenfeller, Winkelhock, La Rosa into the pits.
Lap 7    Drive-through penalty for Alexandre Pr?mat. Spengler, Paffett, Abt, H?kkinen, Lauda into the pits.
Lap 8    Margaritis, Stoddart into the pits, Pr?mat in for his drive-through.
Lap 9    Race leader Ekstr?m into the pits.
Lap 10   Abt and Rockenfeller are under investigation by the stewards - drive through penalty for Rockenfeller. Tomczyk comes in for his first mandatory stop.
Lap 11   Tom Kristensen comes into the pits. There are problems with the right front wheel of his Audi A4 DTM, he drops back to 16th. Di Resta has overtaken Schneider and is now sixth.
Lap 12   Drive-through for Christian Abt. Rockenfeller comes in for his penalty.
Lap 13   Margaritis off the track at Biondetti 1, in the gravel trap. H?kkinen into the pits.
Lap 14   The safety car is being deployed. Ekstr?m, Tomczyk, Spengler, Di Resta, Schneider,Paffett, La Rosa, Winkelhock, Rockenfeller, Pr?mat, Stoddart, Kristensen, Schneider, Lauda into the pits.
Lap 15   H?kkinen is now leading the race behind the safety car. Problems for Schneider during his pit stop as his car has to be jacked up twice, the tank can is stuck on Tomczyk?s car.
Lap 17   Racing resumes. H?kkinen is leading from Ekstr?m, Di Resta, Spengler, La Rosa, Rockenfeller, Winkelhock, Pr?mat, Kristensen. Tomczyk spins and hits Paffett, who in turn collides with Abt. Abt in the gravel trap. Tomczyk into the pits with flat left front.
Lap 21   Ekstr?m is 0.15 seconds per lap faster than H?kkinen, he is 0.4 seconds behind the Finn.
Lap 22   H?kkinen has now extended his lead to 0.6 seconds.
Lap 23   Lauda briefly in the dirt, continues.
Lap 24   Ekstr?m has closed up to within 0.3 seconds of H?kkinen after the car of the Finn started sliding.
Lap 27   Lauda out at Arrabiata ? retires.
Lap 29   H?kkinen is leading Ekstr?m by 0.5 seconds, another 1.1 seconds down is Di Resta in third place. Spengler is fourth, 4.9 seconds behind Di Resta.
Lap 33   Final lap. H?kkinen takes his second victory of the season from Ekstr?m, Di Resta, Spengler, La Rosa, Pr?mat, Rockenfeller, Kristensen, Winkelhock, Stoddart and Schneider.

[fasteddy]

DTM 2007 ? Press Release No. 49
H?kkinen flies from 15th on the grid to DTM victory at Mugello
Mugello. The asphalt was glowing at Mugello during the sixth DTM round of the season. With air temperatures of almost 40 degrees, the spectators got to see a turbulent race with an overjoyed Mika H?kkinen (FIN), who went on to win the race after a great recovery from 15th place on the grid. It was the second victory of the season for the Mercedes-Benz driver. ?It was a fantastic race and it was great fun?, the 38-year old Finn said, delighted but visibly affected by the heat. Second place went to Mattias Ekstr?m (S) with the Audi A4 DTM, who started from pole position. At the finish line, he was 0.371 seconds down on H?kkinen. The Swede scored eight championship points for his race result and thus took over the lead in the drivers? standings. Third place in the race at the longest circuit on the DTM calendar (5.245 kilometres) was occupied by Paul di Resta. With his 2005-spec AMG Mercedes C-Class, the Scot climbed up from twelfth on the grid to finish on the podium.

An early second pit stop and a safety car phase at the right time brought valuable points in the championship for H?kkinen at Mugello. Shortly after his fellow Mercedes-Benz driver, Alexandros Margaritis, had slid off the track into the gravel trap, the former Formula 1 world champion made his second mandatory pit stop on lap 13. The safety car was deployed and led the field for three laps on the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. During this time, on lap 15, all other drivers came in for their second pit stop. H?kkinen, who had already completed his two mandatory stops, stayed on the track, overtook the entire field and took the lead that he wasn?t to lose anymore until the 33 lap race was over.

For Audi, the race didn?t go as planned. Having started from first through fifth place, only the new points leader Ekstr?m was able to use his favourable grid position. Problems during the pit stop made Tom Kristensen (DK), who had started second, drop back to eighth. Martin Tomczyk (D) and Timo Scheider (D), who had started from third and fourth place respectively, were early retirements. The three Audi drivers Christian Abt (D), Mike Rockenfeller (D) and Alexandre Pr?mat (F) set their fastest sector times under yellow and were given a drive-through-penalty as a result. Behind the Mercedes-Benz duo of Bruno Spengler (C) and Daniel la Rosa (D), Rockenfeller finished sixth while fellow Audi-driver Pr?mat was seventh. Abt retired after a collision.

Markus Winkelhock finished a considerable ninth. The son of Manfred Winkelhock only took over the cockpit previously occupied by Adam Carroll at Audi?s customer team, Futurecom TME. Susie Stoddart was also happy with her result: for the Mercedes-Benz lady racer, tenth place was her best finish of the season so far.

In the battle for the title, Ekstr?m is leading with 32 points. His closest rivals are Schneider at 25.5 and Spengler at 22 points. After his victory, H?kkinen is fifth with 20 points, just behind his fellow Mercedes-Benz driver, Di Resta. The seventh DTM round of the season will be taking place at Zandvoort in The Netherlands from July 27th till 29th.

Mika H?kkinen (winner, AMG Mercedes C-Class): ?It was a fantastic race and it was great fun. Before the race, I told an acquaintance: You know, I see a chance of winning today. And now look: here I am on the top step of the podium. Life is just amazing. Anyone who doesn?t give up, gets the reward.?

Mattias Ekstr?m (2nd place, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): ?I am very happy with my performance and my car. I had a good start and good pit stops, but I was unlucky with the safety car phase. I didn?t risk everything to attack Mika, as the track was very slippery and dirty off the ideal line. The points for the title and the lead in the championship were important.?

Paul di Resta (3rd place, JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class): ?When anyone would have told me before today?s race that I would finish third, surely I wouldn?t have believed it. The safety car phase helped me a lot to get up to the front. My team has done a perfect job during the pit stops. Three podium finishes from six races are almost too good to believe.?

Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?This really was a crazy race. I had never expected Mika H?kkinen being able to win from 15th place on the grid. He has shown a fantastic performance. At the Norisring, he was the loser of the safety car phase, here he is the winner. He really has deserved this win. I feel sorry for Audi as they would have deserved a better result, because in fact, they were superior. Only Mattias Ekstr?m can be happy. He is now leading the championship by six and a half points. That is a comfortable margin in the DTM.?

Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?I am happy that Mattias Ekstr?m finished second, has scored points and is leading the championship. Of course, I am not really happy with the race result in general. Although we still were having a good speed, we just weren?t good enough. We have made too many little errors. But now, this day is behind us and we are looking ahead.?