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Audi dominate Brands testing

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On Wednesday, the third of the four official DTM test days held at Brands Hatch, Tom Kristensen once again set the fastest lap time, in his Audi A4 DTM. On Tuesday, the Dane had also been the quickest.

In his fastest lap of day three, Kristensen crossed the line in 41.688 seconds, with his brand mates Mattias Ekström, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Frank Stippler finishing second, third and fourth respectively. Behind the wheel of his AMG-Mercedes C-Class, two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen took fifth place.

Feels comfortable in the new car right away: Tom KristensenBehind Häkkinen, who had contested his latest race in Brands Hatch back in 1990 in the British Formula 3 Championship, Jean Alesi, Bruno Spengler and Susie Stoddart came sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Yet, the Scot had to end her testing work early, today. With one more hour to go, the 23-year old went off in the McLaren Turn and hit the crash barriers, thus damaging her AMG-Mercedes C-Class. The necessary repairs can’t be conducted on site. Following the accident, Stoddart was taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up.

The second lady in the DTM field, Vanina Ickx, completed 91 laps, set a personal fastest lap time of 42.400 seconds and finished ninth, about seven tenth of a second behind Kristensen. At the same time, Christian Abt completed his first Brands Hatch laps, today. With his new Playboy Audi, the man from the Allgäu region lapped the 1.973-kilometre circuit in 42.420 to finish tenth.

Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “I completed many long-runs today and we could test a lot of things. Then I went out on a new set of tyres and succeeded in setting the fastest lap time. I’m really looking forward to the race in Brands Hatch as the people here are true motor racing enthusiasts. They love motor racing and certainly will also love DTM. I expect to see a huge crowd of inspired spectators here, in July.”

Mika Häkkinen (AMG-Mercedes): “This has been my first time to drive here with a DTM car and it was big fun. I really like the Brands Hatch circuit. As it’s a very short circuit you never get bored and have to be extremely focused all the time. My first day of testing went very well.”

Jean Alesi (Stern AMG-Mercedes): “The last time I have been racing here has been back in 1986, in Formula 3000. It’s just great that DTM is going to race in England and even more that Brands Hatch will be the venue of this race. It’s a historic circuit with a fantastic layout. I love to be here.”

1 Kristensen Audi A4 41.688
2 Ekström Audi A4 +0.181
3 Frentzen Audi A4 +0.244
4 Stippler Audi A4 +0.420
5 Häkkinen Mercedes C-Class +0.453
6 Alesi Mercedes C-Class +0.454
7 Spengler Mercedes C-Class +0.534
8 Stoddart Mercedes C-Class +0.679
9 Ickx Audi A4 +0.712
10 Abt Audi A4 +0.732
11 Mücke Mercedes C-Class +0.835
12 Tielemans Mercedes C-Class +1.058
13 Lauda Mercedes C-Class +1.101