Maiden victory for Timo Scheider at Oschersleben
Oschersleben. He finally broke his duck in his 77th DTM race. German driver, Timo Scheider claimed his maiden DTM race win with his Audi A4 DTM. In the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the 29-year old was the first to cross the finish line after 44 laps with a margin of 1.452 seconds over his fellow Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. ?This is so great. But it was about time?, Scheider shouted over the radio while still in his car, overjoyed with victory. After his second place at Hockenheim, the Audi driver has now taken over the lead in the championship standings with 18 points. Third place went to Canadian Bruno Spengler with the AMG Mercedes C-Class. A total of 64,000 spectators came to witness the race weekend in the Magdeburg region. Next to the DTM and its partner series, Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel also thrilled the fans with a few demonstration laps in his Toro-Rosso-Formula 1 car.
Following a jump start by Tom Kristensen (Audi), who was second on the grid and got a drive-through penalty as a result, Timo Scheider had a clear drive and led all the way from lights to flag, scoring a never challenged victory. Kristensen made it back into the midfield, but retired after a collision with Maro Engel (Mercedes-Benz). With seven laps to go, the safety car was deployed and led the field for four laps. Engel was still classified 18th, Kristensen was 19th.
Together with Spengler, the two Mercedes-Benz drivers, Paul di Resta (GB) and Jamie Green (GB) completed the Mercedes-Benz trio in third, fourth and fifth place. Markus Winkelhock (Audi) showed a good performance by finishing fifth with a year-old car. Reigning DTM champion, Mattias Ekstr?m from Sweden, failed to improve himself from his grid position and finished eighth behind his fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller. Thus, Ekstr?m scored one point for the drivers? standings, in which he is third behind Scheider and Tomczyk.
DTM novice Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) only just missed out on a points-scoring finish in tenth place. The 33-year old was only 1.891 seconds short of eighth place. Only Alexandre Pr?mat with Audi A4 DTM came even closer to the points by finishing ninth.
In the drivers? standings, Scheider is now leading with 18 points from Tomczyk (12) and Ekstr?m (11). The third DTM round of the season will be taking place at Mugello in Italy in a fortnight (May 2nd ? 4th).
Timo Scheider (winner, Audi Sport Team Abt): ?This feeling is just incredible. Finally, the long years of waiting patiently have paid off. Thanks to my mechanics of the Team Abt. Thanks to Audi for giving me a sensational car, Thanks to Dr. Ullrich, who has seen that I am not the worst driver after all. It is strange that one always has to say thank you. But it was never more appropriate than today. This moment is very emotional. Now, I will do everything to be among the contenders for the title.?
Martin Tomczyk (2nd place, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): ?Today, Timo Scheider was in a class of his own. Our cars were perfect from the word go and we were able to pull away. After that, we took it a little bit easier. The safety-car phase brought some excitement, but our cars went like a rocket and as a result, we managed to pull clear right away once more.?
Bruno Spengler (3rd place, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes): ?The race went well. I couldn?t expect any more from fifth place on the grid. I got a lot of support from my team. Otherwise, this certainly wouldn?t have been possible. I am happy with third place and I didn?t want to risk too much. In the DTM, every point is important for the championship.?
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?First of all, I want to say that I am very happy that we have been able to score a 1-2 here. I am also very happy that Timo has made it. This season, he has been showing a strong performance from the very beginning. He was almost perfect at Hockenheim and he was really perfect here at Oschersleben. Unfortunately, Tom Kristensen messed up at the start and with a drive through penalty, you don?t have any chance of a podium finish in the DTM. After a collision, Mattias Ekstr?m lost aerodynamic parts from his car and during the race, he just kept the damage limited. I am impressed with how many spectators came to the Motorsport Arena today and I am happy to see the reception the DTM gets here at Oschersleben.?
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?Congratulations to Timo Scheider. I am happy that he has won a race after such a long time. He has deserved it. Even though we weren?t really in contention for victory here, we were much closer than at Hockenheim a week ago. In any case, we have to make one more step ahead when we want to win. But that will come for sure. For the championship, scoring as many points as possible is always important and the drivers have shown that they can deliver a very good performance while under pressure. One can?t always finish first and second, but one also has to pick up the points for third to fifth place. That surely isn?t a reason to celebrate, but I still want to thank the drivers for this performance.?
