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30.06.2008
Traditionally, the race held on Nuremberg’s street circuit represents the highlight of every season of the most popular international touring car series. In this Sunday’s mid-summer conditions, all those involved delivered an enormous effort with the battles on the track representing the perfect advertisement for both the coming races and attending the ‘Monaco of DTM’ once again, in 2009. Jamie Green and Bruno Spengler gave Mercedes-Benz a one-two, with Audi’s Timo Scheider completing the podium by finishing third. At the only street circuit on the DTM calendar, Ralf Schumacher also delivered in fine style but was stopped by a technical failure. dtm.com took a close look at the performances of all the teams and drivers and analysed them.
Jamie Green (14 / 5 / 7 / 2 / 9 / 1): There won’t have been a lot of pundits who will have put their money on Jamie - the majority was of the opinion that Bruno Spengler was on the way to securing his third consecutive Norisring win. Nonetheless, the Briton virtually rocketed away to take the lead right at the start - and defend it until having crossed the finish line. The only moment he had to encounter occurred following his second pit stop when he rejoined the race with the tank canister still on his car. Some hundred metres later, however, the canister was gone and the moment was over. His ups and downs in the two tests and the practice session can be neglected as Jamie delivered when it counted and holds a promising position in the championship, now.
Grade: 1
Bruno Spengler (6 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 10 / 2): Bruno proved to be the dominator of the Norisring weekend. With three best times, one of them clocked in the crucial qualifying session, he came very close to realising his dream of celebrating his third consecutive Norisring triumph. But he failed to make a good start and displayed a lack of aggressiveness while approaching turn one, thus offering Green the chance of taking the lead. Throughout the 74 laps on the street circuit, he didn’t find a way to pass his team-mate. Bruno is determined to finally secure his maiden DTM title - but with his second win in the 2008 season, Jamie Green now represents the Mercedes-Benz spearhead. To turn the table, Bruno has to really push in the final six races.
Grade: 2
Timo Scheider (2 / 6 / 2 / 4 / 1 / 3): Once again, Timo proved to be the best of the Audi drivers - both in the race and over the course of the entire weekend. Apart from the result in the second test session, the German always secured top-four positions. By finishing third, Timo defended his lead in the drivers’ championship - just. Following a mulled start it didn’t look as if Timo was going to make it to the podium. A good race strategy, fast pit stops and quick laps, however, helped him to work his way back up. And on the final lap, he benefited from the decreasing brake performance of his team-mate Ekström.
Grade: 2
Mattias Ekström (1 / 4 / 4 / 4 / 8 / 2 / 4): Just as Scheider, Eki failed just once to secure a top-four position. Unfortunately, it was just the qualifying session when things didn’t run perfectly for the reigning champion. In the race, the Swede succeeded in consistently making up for the lost ground. He gained two positions on lap two and kept on working his way up step by step. At the same time, he had to work hard for several laps to fend off the attacks of Schneider - and the unnecessary braking mistake on the final lap cost him third position.
Grade 3
Paul di Resta (13 / 9 / 5 / 3 / 4 / 5): A weekend with ups and downs: Paul secured his best result in qualifying. In the battle for the grid positions he finished third, behind his fellow Mercedes-Benz drivers Spengler and Green. In the other sessions, the HWA newcomer displayed a lack of consistency, with his results ranging from 4th to 13th positions. And in the race, things proved to be similar. In the opening stages, he made contact with a wall and later in the race he spun. Nonetheless, he displayed a lot of fighting spirit and in the end, he finished sixth. Still, this wasn’t the result the Scot will have hoped for after having qualified third.
Grade: 3
Bernd Schneider (4 / 2 / 3 / 7 / 12 / 6): The DTM Record Champion wasn’t as competitive on the Norisring as his team-mates Spengler, Green und di Resta. In the tests on Friday and the practice session on Saturday he never finished worse than fourth, therefore, Bernd hoped to also secure a better result in qualifying - but finished seventh in the battle for the grid positions and sixth in the race. Up to lap 16, Bernd even temporarily had dropped back to tenth. In the closing stages of the race, Schneider was hampered by a brake ventilation problem and had to back off.
Grade: 3
Tom Kristensen (3 / 11 / 8 / 6 / 5 / 7): Tom had hoped to do better in both qualifying and race. Sixth grid position and eighth in the race weren’t optimum results, for the Dane. And in most of the other sessions, Kristensen also was defeated by the other 2008-spec Audi drivers. In the opening stages of the race, the Le Mans record winner delivered in great style and chased the Mercedes-Benz drivers holding the first three positions. Still, he wasn’t able to seriously pressurise them. During the course of the race he struggled - like many other drivers - with overheated brakes and couldn’t keep on pushing, consequently. He dropped back lap by lap and in the end, he finished seventh. Furthermore, the Dane had cramps.
Grade: 4
Mathias Lauda (10 / 12 / 14 / 14 / 7 / 8): On the Norisring, Mathias did not only secure his first top-ten result of the 2008 season alone but even was rewarded with his first point, following the disqualification of Paffett. Throughout the weekend, the Austrian succeeded in securing midfield-positions without encountering any lows. In the race, he delivered on the same level as Ralf Schumacher, with Paffett being the only of Lauda’s direct opponents who succeeded in defeating him. Altogether, Mathias gained six positions in the race, proved to be the best of the 2007-spec car drivers and scored points for the first time, this year.
Grade: 2
Maro Engel (12 / 8 / 12 / 12 / 6 / 9): Just like his famous team-mate Schumacher, Maro also easily advanced to the second knockout phase of qualifying. Twelfth position on the grid represented the best qualifying result in the 22-year old’s DTM career to date. In the race, he kept close contact to the point-positions and when Ralf Schumacher was forced into retirement, he seemed to be on the way to securing his maiden point. In the closing stages, however, Lauda also suffered brake problems and had to back off.
Grade: 3
Susie Stoddart (18 / 19 / 17 / 15 / 13 / 10): Susie was particularly happy with her race performance. By finishing tenth, the Scot defeated all the 2007 and 2006-spec Audis. Thanks to a good strategy and two fast pit stops she gained five positions and secured her first top-ten result in 2008. With better qualifying results, Susie’s race performance would be good enough to score points.
Grade: 2
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