Green and di Resta claim double victory for Mercedes-Benz
In the third round of the DTM in Mugello in Italy, Jamie
Green scored the first win of the season for himself and for
Mercedes-Benz. In his AMG Mercedes C-Class, the Briton crossed
the finish line after 33 laps with a margin of 3.1 seconds
over his team-mate, Paul di Resta. For Green, it is the third
victory of his DTM career and for Mercedes-Benz, it is the
143rd win. Third place went to Danish driver, Tom Kristensen
with his Audi A4 DTM. Timo Scheider, who had started from
pole, had a lot of bad luck, finishing tenth. At the start
already, race winner Green managed to overtake the German.
Moreover, the stewards of the meeting gave him a drive-through
penalty because of a jump start. The remaining point-scoring
positions were taken by Bernd Schneider (Mercedes-Benz), Oliver
Jarvis as the best-placed driver with a year old car, Mattias
Ekström, Markus Winkelhock and Alexandre Prémat
(all Audi) in fourth through eighth place. After three of
eleven rounds, Timo Scheider is leading the drivers’
standings with 18 points from Jamie Green (17 points) and
Mattias Ekström (14 points). An extensive press release
with quotes from the drivers and the motorsport directors
will follow shortly.
The race at a glance
Air temperature: 20,2 °C
Track temperature: 23,6 °C
Start Green pulls ahead of Scheider, Kristensen is third.
Rockenfeller runs wide on the outside of the first corner
after tangling with Tomczyk and Schumacher
Lap 1 Timo Scheider under investigation for possible jump
start.
Lap 2 Green is leading by 1.5 seconds from di Resta, Kristensen,
Scheider, Schneider, Jarvis, Prémat, Winkelhock. Tomczyk
into the pits, problems with the left front section of his
car. Drive through penalty for Timo Scheider because of jump
start. He comes in at the end of the lap, Schumacher also
into the pits.
Lap 4 After three laps, Green has a margin of 2.3 seconds
over di Resta, Third is Kristensen, followed by Schneider,
Jarvis, Prémat, Winkelhock, Ekström. Scheider
has rejoined in 16th place. Schumacher comes into the pits
again - retires.
Lap 6 Tomczyk and Rockenfeller under investigation.
Lap 7 Timo Scheider is closing up to Lauda in 13th place.
Lap 8 Nice battle between Lauda and Scheider, the Audi driver
is trying everything to find a way through. Albers overtakes
Rockenfeller for 15th.
Lap 9 Scheider gets alongside and overtakes Lauda.
Lap 10 Albers attacks Lauda for 14th. Green in for his first
pitstop, also Di Resta, Kristensen, Jarvis, Winkelhock, Ekström,
Engel, Paffett, Albers, Tomczyk.
Lap 11 Stoddart defending her position from Kristensen, who
re-joined right behind her. Paul di Resta in front of Stoddart
can pull clear. Pitstops for Schneider, Prémat, Spengler,
Stoddart, Scheider, Rockenfeller, Legge.
Lap 12 Stoddart under investigation. Lauda into the pits.
Lap 13 After the first range of pit stops, Green is leading
from Di Resta, Kristensen, Schneider, Jarvis, Winkelhock,
Prémat, Ekström, Engel and Spengler. Ekström
into the pits for his second stop.
Lap 14 Kristensen and Schneider come in for their second stops,
Kristensen comes out just ahead of Schneider.
Lap 15 Di Resta, Prémat, Paffett into the pits.
Lap 16 Green, Jarvis, Stoddart into the pits.
Lap 17 Engel into the pits.
Lap 18 Winkelhock, Lauda, Tomczyk into the pits.
Lap 19 Scheider into the pits.
Lap 20 Spengler, Legge into the pits.
Lap 21 Albers, Rockenfeller into the pits. Paffett overtakes
Scheider and is eleventh
Lap 22 After the pit stops, Green is leading Di Resta by 2.7
seconds, then Kristensen is third from Schneider, Jarvis,
Ekström, Winkelhock and Prémat. Scheider claims
back eleventh from Paffett.
Lap 23 Spengler overtakes Engel and is now ninth.
Lap 26 Winkelhock is getting closer and closer behind Ekström
in sixth place.
Lap 27 Tomczyk keeps the pressure on Lauda for 16th.
Lap 29 Scheider attacks Spengler for ninth.
Lap 33 Final lap. Green takes his first win of the season
from Di Resta. Kristensen comes home third from Schneider
and Jarvis, who is the best-placed driver with a year-old
car, followed by Ekström, Winkelhock and Prémat.
Excitement in the battle for the DTM title - victory for
Jamie Green in Mugello
With a double victory, Mercedes-Benz has proven to be back
in the battle for the DTM title. After 33 laps at the 5.245
kilometres long track, the longest circuit featuring on the
DTM calendar, British driver, Jamie Green won the third round
of the season in Mugello in Italy. With the third DTM victory
of his career, the 25-year old driver also secured the first
win of the season for Mercedes-Benz. “I am happy with
this victory, especially after the start of the season that
has been particularly difficult for all of us“, said
a delighted Green. His fellow-Mercedes-Benz driver, Paul di
Resta (GB) came home in second place, 3.166 seconds down.
Third place went to Audi driver Tom Kristensen from Denmark,
who was already on the podium after having finished third
in the season opener at Hockenheim. In the drivers’
standings, Timo Scheider remains in the lead with 18 points,
just ahead of today’s winner Green (17) and Mattias
Ekström (Audi/S) with 14 points. The race result from
Mugello has led to a situation in which there are now seven
drivers within seven points, all with good chances in the
drivers’ standings.
At the start, Green and di Resta had the upper hand over
the leader in the points’ standings, Timo Scheider (Audi),
who had started from pole position. Both drivers didn’t
lose their positions until the race was over. For Scheider,
the racing weekend in Tuscany brought mixed emotions. On Saturday,
the 29-year old made it to pole position in the final minutes,
but in the race, he started a little bit too early. A drive-through
penalty for his jump start deprived the Austrian-based German
of all his chances of a possible race win. After a recovery
with fascinating overtaking manoeuvres, Scheider eventually
came home tenth. Canadian Bruno Spengler, who had been the
best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver in the points’ standings
in fourth place before Mugello, only finished one place better.
Having started sixth, he was involved in a collision on the
opening lap and lost six places.
Behind the trio on the podium, DTM record champion, Bernd
Schneider, was classified fourth with his AMG Mercedes C-Class.
Briton Oliver Jarvis was delighted by finishing fifth, scoring
points with his year-old Audi A4 DTM. He was followed immediately
by a trio of Audi drivers with reigning DTM champion Mattias
Ekström (S), Markus Winkelhock (D) and Frenchman Alexandre
Prémat, the two latter drivers also with year-old machinery.
Canadian, Bruno Spengler, was the third driver with an AMG
Mercedes C-Class to make it into the top ten, finishing ninth.
Ralf Schumacher didn’t make it to the finish in the
third DTM race of his career. Schumacher’s car was damaged
in a collision and he had to retire after lap two already.
Audi driver, Martin Tomczyk, had his share of problems, too.
After a collision with fellow-Audi driver, Mike Rockenfeller,
on the opening lap, the 26-year old Bavarian had to come into
the pits, losing valuable time, which he could’t make
up anymore in the course of the race. Tomczyk finished 17th.
The fourth round of the DTM will be taking place at the EuroSpeedway
Lausitz on May 18th.
Jamie Green (winner, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes):
“I had a good start and I was well able to control the
race and the margin over the cars behind me. I am happy with
victory, especially after the start of the season that has
been particularly hard for all of us. We are proud of what
we have achieved today. In the DTM, there is no way to predict
anything and this year is tougher for us than last year.”
Paul di Resta (2nd place, AMG Mercedes):
“I reckon that Mercedes-Benz and I can be equally happy
with this result. We have been working hard and had to wait
for a long time to make it on the podium. The weekend didn’t
go that well for me, I was lacking consistency all the time.
Yesterday’s qualifying wasn’t too good as I made
a slight mistake and had to start from fifth place today.
I am all the more happy with my second place.“
Tom Kristensen (3rd place, Audi Sport Team Abt):
“The DTM is really tough. I am more or less happy with
the result and I am happy with being on the podium again.
My car was excellent. The team has done two great pit stops.
Jamie Green really has deserved this victory, he has driven
a great race.”
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug:
“It was a great race. We had a good strategy, quick
pit stops and our speed was good. In qualifying yesterday
and this morning after warm-up, it didn’t look like
that. Sometimes, differences in temperature of only three
or four degrees can have an effect on the set-up. The team
has done a great job and found exactly the right set-up for
this temperature. All in all, I am very happy. We have deserved
this victory, but it came earlier than I had expected.”
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich:
“I am not happy with the result. Apparently, Mugello
doesn’t suit us as we just don’t succeed in repeating
our qualifying results in the race. It is clear that we have
lost the race at the start. Additionally, some things happened
in the first couple of corners, which mixed up the order.
At a track like this, making up during the race is very difficult.
Especially when your opponent is quick, has a good tactic
and does good pit stops. We will continue to give everything
and now we are focussing on the next race and try to win it.
I am very pleased with the performance of our 2007-spec cars,
which were absolutely competitive and showed some good fights
between them.”
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