Italy hosts final European stop for DTM

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race at Adria in Italy this weekend marks the final race of the year in Europe. The German series last raced on this track in 2004, a race won by Audi-driver Mattias Ekström.
“The circuit’s layout with its hairpins results in a stop-and-go rhythm. And no matter if you like it or not: in the past, this special characteristic always made for extremely thrilling races,” said Ekström.

The hunted man for the penultimate race of the year is Mercedes-driver Paul Di Resta, who has won the three last races.

“46 out of a possible 50 points in the last five races is an excellent result for me. Since Hockenheim I have been three points ahead of Bruno at the top of the table. I really hope that I can continue my current form in the next two races in Adria and Shanghai. I’m aiming for the championship title, and will be pushing with everything I’ve got to achieve it,” said Di Resta.

Closest competitor and previous championship leader is Bruno Spengler, trailing his manufacturer colleague with just three points.

“I’m now really optimistic about the next race in Adria. My chances in the title race are still extremely promising. The last time I was in Adria was in 2004, taking part in the Formula 3 Euro Series – it’s a challenging circuit which has the most corners per kilometre of any of the tracks in the current DTM calendar,” said Spengler.

While the title slipped out of reach for Audi in the last race at Hockenheim, Audi Motorsport-boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is keen on his drivers pushing for the victory.

“Needless to say we would have liked to again keep the championship open a little longer this season. But this year things just weren’t running smoothly for us, and our rival was as strong as usual. The title fight is over for us, but the season isn’t: we want to make as good a showing as possible at Adria and Shanghai and win these races,” said Ullrich.

As the title fight is an internal Mercedes fight, Mercedes Motorsport-boss Norbert Haug is looking forward to a battle between title contenders without team orders.

“It’s not often that we get such a situation in the world of motorsport and we are going to get a great deal of satisfaction out of it. Whether it will be Gary, Bruno or Paul who clinches it – I don’t know and in fact none of us knows. The only thing we all do know is that the battle for the title will be a hard but fair sporting fight, and will most definitely not be determined by strategic games or team orders,” said Haug.

The man with a big job ahead of him self this weekend is Gary Paffett. The Brit is currently third in the championship and the last driver with a mathematical chance of taking the title. Paffett is hoping that the fact that he is the only one of the Mercedes-drivers who has experience of Adria is going to boost his hopes.

“I’m the only Mercedes driver to have already driven in the DTM at Adria, and although it was around six years ago, I’m hoping that it will give me a slight advantage. I’m currently in third place in the overall rankings, lying 14 points behind Paul and 11 points behind Bruno. As long as it’s still mathematically possible, I’m not going to give up the fight for the title. The narrow, slow corners and hairpin bends in Adria are extremely demanding on the tyres. Traction is particularly important there, and it will be the deciding factor when it comes to victory or defeat,” said Paffett.