Interview with leader Timo Scheider

Reigning Deutche Tourenwagen Masters champion Timo Scheider took over the championship lead after the race at Nürburgring. TouringCarTimes took the opportunity to talk with the German after the race.
“The race was relatively unspectacular, only the start was a bit turbulent,” said Scheider to TouringCarTimes.com.

Scheider’s team mate Mattias Ekström is only one point behind in the championship and closed in on Scheider in the closing stages of the race at Nürburgring.

“The pit stops were not perfect. We had trouble with the rear right tyre and because of that, Mattias was able to get closer. We were 23 seconds ahead of the fastest Mercedes in the end which shows how hard we were pushing,” said Scheider.

Scheider has had a rather stable season so far, with the exception of Zandvoort where he got penalized and scored no points.

“The season has had ups and downs! The hardest moment was at Zandvort, when I got penalized. I still can’t understand that penalty. I just came few minutes too late to the doping test. I think the penalty was too hard! Definetly!

I lost two important points for the championship and I really hope that i am not loosing the championship because of those two points at the end of the year! But thats life! I can’t do anything anymore!” said Scheider.

Despite the incident at Zandvoort, Scheider is pleased with the progress of the season so far.

“After Zandvort we were seven points behind the leader and after Oschersleben it was only one point!” said Scheider.

Scheider has made good progress in the last couple of races, something he thanks the tests in Italy for.

“We have found the speed from last year and it is the right time for it! Before Oschersleben, we had a two day test in Italy where we found some important details for the setup! Since then I have had a much better feeling for the car,” said Scheider.

For next year the DTM is going to freeze its current rules and development of all cars. Currently the Audi’s seem to have the pace over the Mercedes cars. But Scheider thinks it is too early to say anything about next year.

“It is difficult to say. The Mercedes cars were still ten kilos heavier at Nürburgring then we were. It depends on the track, but it is much more difficult to say if our car or the Mercedes is stronger on a specific track than the years before.

At the moment we really have a strong pace. But in each race this season, Mercedes has had one car at the top!”

Instead of looking forward, if Scheider looks one year behind, he has got fond memories of taking his first ever DTM title.

“Last year was the best time in motorsport so far for me! I had a lot of work to do with promotion after the championship win. It was cool and interesting!

But after a while I felt a bit tired. I lost some of my emotions because it was very much the same questions all the time! In february, I was very tired about it and I wanted to test the new car and get back in my cockpit! After the first test I got my emotions back!”

Despite all the hard work with Audi after the title, the family is the most important thing for Scheider.

“My family is very important! If something is wrong at home, I cannot give 100% at the track! My parents are supporting me since many years! Without my parents I would not be here!

My girlfriend Jasmin is very important as well. We have been a couple since ten years now and she really know what she has to do in every situation. In 2003 we got our first son and after every race it is a very special moment to hugg him!”

There are still four races left of the DTM season with the next stop being Brands Hatch in the UK.

What do you think about the next races?

“I had a long and strong race last year. I fought for 88 laps with Paul Di Resta and there were just a few tenths between us in the end. I was very proud to be able to beat him after that long and hard battle!

My target for Brands Hatch this year is to keep in the lead!”