October 11th, 2009
Paffett wins, title showdown with Scheider at the finale
DTM
Dijon-Prenois. The premiere of the DTM in the French city of Dijon was much to the liking of the 26,000 spectators. Great recoveries, spectacular pit stops and door-to-door fights marked the ninth round of the season. Eventually, the fans celebrated the victory of the overjoyed British Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett. The 28-year old started from eighth place, made his way up and ran in second place behind Audi driver Mattias Ekstr?m from Sweden for a huge part of the race. With six laps remaining, the left rear tyre on Ekstr?m?s car blew and that left the road clear for Paffett to claim victory and ten valuable points for the championship battle. ?The result in qualifying wasn?t what we had wanted. Making up from eighth to first was our goal, and we succeeded. Moreover, scoring the first victory here is just fantastic. Following Mattias? puncture, I was able to back off a little bit. But finding the balance between attack and caution wasn?t easy?, said Paffett about the 13th victory of his DTM career. With 49 points, Paffett is seven points down on reigning champion Timo Scheider (Audi), who still finished sixth after a great recovery from 16th place on the grid, in spite of a puncture in the race, and managed to score three points. ?That was a topsy-turvy race. I had a puncture during my first stint two corners before the pitlane entry. With luck, I still made it into the pits and there wasn?t any further damage to the car. From 16th place on the grid, we have made up ten positions. We have to be happy with that?, said Scheider about the race.
In ninth place, Ekstr?m just missed out on scoring any points and now has no chance of playing a role in the battle for the title anymore. This will be decided by Scheider and Paffett in a fortnight during the season finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-W?rttemberg.
Four further Mercedes-Benz drivers in second to fifth place completed the lock-out of the top five for the brand from Stuttgart. Scotsman Paul Di Resta, Bruno Spengler from Canada, Brit Jamie Green as the best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car and ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher crossed the finish line behind the winner. For Schumacher, this was his best result in a DTM race to date.
The finale at the Hockenheimring promises excitement. Scheider could become the first driver after DTM record champion Bernd Schneider (Mercedes-Benz) to successfully defend his title. When Paffett wins the title, he would be inducted into the DTM Hall of Fame after his championship win in 2005. On top of that, victory in the teams? championship is also still at stake in the finale. Here, Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes is leading with 88 points from Audi Sport Team Abt with 77 points. The grand final weekend of the DTM will be taking place at the Hockenheimring Baden-W?rttemberg from October 23rd till 25th.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?I am still convinced that the battle for the title is already over for us. Today, we have scored a five-way victory. We were just cleverer and our opponents had to cope with setbacks. Challenging your opponents at the limit is always part of the job. That is what we have done. For the spectators, it is great that we will have an open race at Hockenheim, and that is the most important thing for me. That is even more important than winning the title.?
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?Five punctures in one race aren?t normal. Above all, that doesn?t help us winning the championship. All cars had the same set-up and after warm-up, there weren?t any indications for possible problems. Today, we had a very good pace, but we failed to turn it into scoring points. It was a disappointing result for us, but Timo Scheider is still in the lead of the championship. That is important. Now, the battle for the title will be decided during the finale. That is good for the spectators and for TV, but personally, I would also have been happy had it been different.?
