Quotes from the Mercedes drivers

The fourth race of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters on the EuroSpeedway Laustitz saw the first DTM victory for Scotsman Paul di Resta. The Mercedes driver was fastest in qualifying, the race and set the fastest race lap, giving new hopes for the title to the squad from Stuttgart. Here is what the Mercedes drivers had to say after the race.

Paul Di Resta (1st place):
“I am really happy and I cordially thank my team for a great job throughout the weekend and for a perfect car. Our pit stops were great. The race was not as easy as it might have looked like; I had to stay focussed and another Safety Car period would have destroyed my advantage. After second place in Mugello and my victory here I hope this will continue. Now I look forward to the next race at the Norisring.”

Jamie Green (5th place):
“An interesting race. In the beginning, there were five cars very close together behind Paul. I had the chance to overtake Martin Tomczyk ahead of me, but then I didn’t want to take chances. My grid position determined my result.”

Bruno Spengler (6th place):
“I suffered from oversteer throughout and was therefore not able to go Paul’s pace. Also my pit stops were not perfect. It’s a pity – starting from the front row I had hoped for a better result. At least I wanted to score more points. Now I hope for the Norisring race in six weeks time. There are still seven races ahead of us and everything is possible.”

Bernd Schneider (7th place):
“My start was good and the car ran great. However, if you want to achieve a better result and score more points in the DTM you need a better grid position.”

Gary Paffett (10th place):
“From 16th on the grid the 10th place is still ok. It’s a shame that I didn’t score points – with a better qualifying yesterday I would certainly have achieved a better result today.”

Maro Engel (11th place):
“I was quick off the line and improved by a couple of positions. In the course of the race, however, I suffered from oversteer and the balance was not ok. Therefore, Gary was able to pass me.”

Mathias Lauda (12th place):
“I made a good start and pushed hard from the beginning, that helped me to improve from 19th on the grid to 12th. No driver overtook me on the track and the fight with Ralf was really fun.”

Ralf Schumacher (13th place):
“I started well, but I had to avoid the accident of Tom Kristensen and lost several positions. My car had a good speed, but on this track overtaking is almost impossible, therefore I was not able to move up. I will try to qualify higher up the grid for the next race; that should be the basis for a better race result.”

Susie Stoddart (retired):
“I had brake problems throughout the race which got worse and worse. Towards the end it was just impossible to continue and I had to give up.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“What a race and what a win of Paul – victories so clear and superior are rare in the DTM. Congratulations to him on his first win in his 14th DTM race; he will certainly remember this weekend with yesterday’s pole position and today’s fastest race lap and win for a long time. Paul did an outstanding job, he had the perfect set-up and his team had the optimum strategy. Thank you to the HWA team headed by Gerhard Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis for their work during the last couple of weeks which was rewarded with two victories in two consecutive races. We have a strong competition and will all continue to work hard to be again well prepared for the season highlight at the Norisring in six weeks and to preferably add to our five wins within the previous five years.“