Drivers’ comments after the race

It took him 77 races to win his first DTM race, but no one else but Timo Scheider deserved to win today at Oschersleben. He dominated the entire weekend and every time he was out on track he was the fastest man around. Here is what he and his collegues DTM drivers said about todays race at the Oschersleben Motorsport Arena.

Timo Scheider – Audi (1st place):
“I can’t find words for it: it has been a perfect weekend! Fastest time in all the practise sessions, pole position and the race win. I never believed that something like that was possible. Days like these are very special, especially since I had to wait for it this long. A big thank you to Audi and Abt Sportsline, who have given me a perfect car. I only had to drive it home, and that’s what I did.”

Martin Tomczyk – Audi (2nd place):
“Second place was the highest possible against such a strong Timo Scheider. Especially since my weekend didn’t start of quite so good, I’m happy with the result. It’s top result for Audi. Great!”

Bruno Spengler – Mercedes (3rd place):
“I’m reasonably satisfied. We wanted to score a podium place and we have managed that. After starting from fifth, third place isn’t too bad. After the restart from the Safety Car there might have been more in it, but I didn’t want to risk to much and get home in third. Thanks to my team, who have worked hard and long this week after Hockenheim. They have done everything possible in such a short period after the last race.”

Paul di Resta – Mercedes (4th place):
“It wasn’t an easy race. My goal was to score some points and I’ve managed to do that.”

Jamie Green – Mercedes (5th place):
“It has been a very difficult race. Especially the battle with Markus Winkelhock in the last stage of the race asked a lot of me. I gave everything I had and improved from seventh on the grid to fifth place after the race. The back of my car was damaged heavily, which cost me a lot of performance.”

Markus Winkelhock – Audi (6th place):
“It has been quite a succesfull day for me. The start was good, but then someone hit me in the side of the car and I had to take avoiding actions. The spin of Jarvis forced me to go on the gras. I thought it was quite a good start of the race. Untill the first pitstop it was quite hard to drive the car. We changed the pressure of the tires so I could make up a lot of time in the middle stint. That won me some points today.”

Mike Rockenfeller – Audi (7th place):
“I’m dissapointed, eventhough seventh place and the first points of the season isn’t too bad. Especially after considering my starting position. But obviously there was more possible. Mattias Ekström has slowed me down for a long time with his strucken car, untill I finally managed to pass him.”

Mattias Ekström – Audi (8th place):
“I had a very good start. I overtook three Mercedes’, but then someone hit me from behind. This damaged the rear section and I had no more downforce on the rear axle. So I really had to fight extremely hard. One point is more than I could have hoped for in the beginning.”

Alexandre Prémat – Audi (9th place):
“That was a tough race. I had a good start and was able to follow the group of ‘Rocky’, Markus and ‘Eki’. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pass without perhaps taking too much of a risk. Even though I barely missed a points finish, I’m not unhappy. I think our car will be better at Mugello than it was here. Last year we were very strong there as well.”

Ralf Schumacher – Mercedes (10th place):
“Tenth place is quite a good result for only my second DTM race. In the beginning of the race was my speed not quite optimal, but later on I got used to the car and improved myself. After the restart I had some problems with my front axle, but I still managed to keep Gary and Bernd behind me.”

Gary Paffett – Mercedes (11th place):
“The car was good and our speed was right. The manouvre in the pitlane was unlucky. I just didn’t see the other car. Without the resulting drive through penalty I could have scored points, just like in Hockenheim.”

Bernd Schneider – Mercedes (12th place):
“I’m not happy with the weekend. The jump start today was my fault. After that I tried to get everything out of the car. Without my error I’m certain I would have scored points.”

Mathias Lauda – Mercedes (13th place):
“I had a good start and was eleventh into the first corner. However, in the second corner there was not enough space and there was a collision that damaged my car. The rest of the race I had a lot of oversteer and wasn’t able to gain positions.”

Susie Stoddart – Mercedes (14th place):
“I was part of a collision in the first corner, which damaged my car. My car understeered after that. I improved on my position in Hockenheim, where I finished 16th, and I want to improve in two weeks in Mugello again.”

Oliver Jarvis – Audi (15th place):
“That was definitely not the race I’d been hoping for. Immediately after the first turn, a Mercedes hit me in the rear and turned me around. That actually ruined my race. To top it off, I had to sit a drive-though penalty because of brushing Christijan Albers. That’s too bad for the team as well, which did a great job.”

Christijan Albers – Audi (16th place):
“The start was okay. At first, I was able to follow Ralf Schumacher pretty well, but then Oliver Jarvis brushed me and I slid into the guard rail. After that, I had a problem with my suspension and steering system. Actually, I could have headed for the pit lane right then and there, but I wanted to finish the race at all cost, if for no other reason than to gather data. On new tyres, I even set some decent times, although the car’s balance was gone.”

Katherine Legge – Audi (17th place):
“That was a very turbulent race. I’m satisfied with my lap times and with my car, but not with my result.”

Tom Kristensen – Audi (did not finish):
“The start was very good, but, unfortunately, much too early. That’s really a shame because the Audi A4 DTM was fantastic today. In the fight with Maro Engel and Ralf Schumacher I got onto a slippery part of the track and the car got out of control. That was a really, really bad day for me.”

Maro Engel – Mercedes (did not finish):
“Untill the accident with Tom Kristensen I had a good race, in which I could have scored a top ten finish.”