Title is Timo Scheider’s “dream”

Heading into this weekend’s title showdown at Hockenheim, championship leader Timo Scheider has admitted retaining his DTM crown is his “dream”. Having won the 2008 title at the Baden-Württemberg track, the Audi driver is ready to repeat the feat, in the process sealing a historic hattrick of titles for the company.

“At Hockenheim, I already had the chance of experiencing how exhilarating the feeling after the championship fight can be,” said Scheider, who heads into the race with a seven-point lead over Gary Paffett. “It would be the greatest and best thing for me to be able to clinch this exploit again in front of a German audience and to celebrate it. In any event, this is my dream.”

The signs appear to be on the 30-year-old’s side, with Audi having won the last three DTM races run at Hockenheim and the Ingolstadt marque also taking pole position on the last four occasions the series visited the track. In 2008 Scheider won the final round to defeat another British challenger from the Mercedes camp, Paul Di Resta, while the three pointed star hasn’t been successful at Hockenheim since October 2007, meaning Paffett has an uphill challenge to overturn his points deficit.

Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is confident going into the weekend, saying; “Our starting base before the finale is even better than last year when Timo only had a two-point lead.

“That’s why’ve got a positive feeling, particularly since our performance in the first race of the season at Hockenheim was very good and we clinched a one-two-three-four victory for Audi. We need to tackle the task in a focused manner to again deliver a good team performance at the finale. If we manage that, then we should be able to successfully defend the championship.”

The title would also be Audi’s third in a row, something no make has ever achieved in the history of the DTM, giving extra importance to Scheider’s potential victory.

Another Audi driver who knows what it feels like to win at Hockenheim is Tom Kristensen, who will be competing in his final DTM race on Sunday, as he prepares to turn his focus solely to sportscars. But in the meantime the Dane will be on hand to help his teammates championship tilt, though he still has ambitions to repeat his opening round win.

“We’ve got a very good chance with Audi and of course I’m hoping for Timo to be able to win the championship there.

“For the spectators, too, it’ll probably be a dream round. Now, if I only knew who won the first race of the season at Hockenheim, I’d say I’d try and do the same thing at my last DTM race …”

With Mathias Ekström looking to hold off the challenge of Di Resta to keep third in the championship and fellow Abt Sportsline driver Martin Tomczyk looking to overtake the Scot and Bruno Spengler to move up to fourth in the standings, there’s still plenty to play for throughout the field.