Martin Tomczyk wins at the Ring

Martin Tomczyk converted his pole position into a great victory in the sixth round of the 2009 DTM season.

Audi completed their second 1-2-3 finish in as many races, as Tomczyk crossed the line first in front of 86,000 spectators at the Nürburgring, closely followed by Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekström.

Tomczyk was understandably ecstatic about his victory, and this was evident in the post-race press conference.

“It was a long time ago when I won my last race! After the good race at Oschersleben I am back in the championship race now“, said Tomczyk.

Second placed Scheider was also happy to follow up his victory at Oschersleben with another strong performance, “I am really happy about my result because I was much closer to Martin in the race”.

Coming into the race, Gary Paffett was joint top of the standings, but he could only manage 8th in the race, and loses ground in the championship race.

The best placed Mercedes was that of Jamie Green in 5th. The Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes driver started from 11th on the grid, and drove well to climb through the order.

Green said “To be the best Mercedes is a big surprise because I’ve only started from 11th! The level of competition is so close in DTM”, and concluded with “I am really happy!”.

The story of an entertaining race began with Tomczyk making a perfect start, but behind him the action was unfolding.

Tom Kristensen spun on the opening lap after contact with Paul di Resta. Kristensen lost a significant amount of time entering the pits at the end of the first lap. On rejoining he was following a number of slower cars, which hampered his progress, before he later retired in the pits.

Fellow Audi drivers Bruno Spengler and Mattias Ekström came together in the first lap. Ekström left debris on the circuit, but he was able to continue without losing time,or the need for a pit stop.

After the race, Ekström said of the incident “In turn three I tried to overtake Bruno! I really didn’t want to hit him. But the car wasn’t damaged.”.

The safety car was deployed to allow the debris to be removed, but it was soon called back in and racing resumed.

Gary Paffett and Katherine Legge came together on the first lap. Legge retired with suspension damage, and Paffett dropped down the order.

Another all Audi crash soon followed, as Alexandre Prémat caused the retirement of both himself and Oliver Jarvis. The pair were contesting eighth place when Prémat hit the Briton, who ended up in the gravel at the first corner. Prémat retired in the pits at the end of the lap.

The earlier safety car caused problems for Susie Stoddart, who set her fastest race lap while following the safety car. She was penalised with a drive through penalty.

Scotsman Paul di Resta was first to make his compulsory pit stop, but it was to no avail. His rear wing detached at high speed n the main straight, causing him to end up in the gravel trap at the first corner.

After all drivers had completed their first pit stops, Tomczyk led from Scheider and Ekström.

Maro Engel and Susie Stoddart made successful passes on Christian Bakkerud, as the three 2-year old Audi cars became grouped at the back of the running order. Bakkerud had begun 18th on the grid, but ran as high as 10th early on.

The end of the second round of pit stops saw Tomczyk continue to lead the race, still being followed by fellow Audi drivers Scheider and Ekström. Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver Markus Winkelhock was enjoying a good day, as he followed the leading trio.

Tomczyk began to come under pressure from both Scheider and Ekström, as the picked up their pace late on in the race, but it was the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline car of Tomczyk which took the chequered flag to take his first victory of the 2009 season.

The head of Audi motorsport, Dr. Ullrich, reflected on another good weekend for his team, saying it was “an excellent weekend for Audi! Everyone did a fantastic job”.

He went on to add that the success ballast the Audi cars will be hit with before the next round, could change things, “With the new weight we will see an interesting race in Brands again!”.

Ullrich’s counterpart at Mercedes, Nortbert Haug reflected on what was a difficult race for the Mercedes marque, focusing on the incident between Paffett and Legge.

“After Gary was pushed around from Katherine he had a hard race but was still able to finish 8th! Without the crash he had the chance to score some more points”, he said.

He passed comment on the best placed Mercedes of Green, “I am happy for Jamie Green but it would be much better if Gary had been 5th”.

At the end of today’s race Scheider moves into the sole lead of the driver championship standings, on 35 points, followed by Ekström on 34. Paffett has lost ground in the standings on 29, with Spengler on 26.

The next round of the DTM season will be held at Brands Hatch in Southern England, with racing on the 6th September.