Victory for Jamie Green in Mugello
“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 maneuvers, 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 couldn’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 focusing 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."
Results
|
Pos. |
N° | Driver | Nat. | Car | Time / Gap. | Laps | Fastest lap |
| 1 | 5 | Green | GBR | Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 59:39.961 | 33 | 1'45.273 |
| 2 | 4 | Di Resta | GBR | AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 03.166 | 33 | 1'45.381 |
| 3 | 9 | Kristensen | DEN | Audi A4 DTM | 05.313 | 33 | 1'45.832 |
| 4 | 6 | Schneider | GER | Original-Toile AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 09.410 | 33 | 1'46.046 |
| 5 | 15 | Jarvis | GBR | Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM | 15.037 | 33 | 1'46.033 |
| 6 | 1 | Ekström | SWE | Red Bull Audi A4 DTM | 15.798 | 33 | 1'46.246 |
| 7 | 19 | Winkelhock | GER | Playboy Audi A4 DTM | 16.989 | 33 | 1'46.166 |
| 8 | 14 | Prémat | FRA | Audi Bank Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM | 22.656 | 33 | 1'46.453 |
| 9 | 3 | Spengler | CAN | Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Klasse | 23.260 | 33 | 1'46.637 |
| 10 | 10 | Scheider | GER | GW:plus / Top Service Audi A4 DTM | 23.774 | 33 | 1'45.822 |
| 11 | 12 | Engel | GER | JungeSterne AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 35.741 | 33 | 1'46.640 |
| 12 | 7 | Paffett | GBR | stern AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 41.366 | 33 | 1'46.846 |
| 13 | 21 | Albers | NED | Audi A4 DTM | 45.259 | 33 | 1'46.502 |
| 14 | 18 | Rockenfeller | GER | S line Audi A4 DTM | 55.234 | 33 | 1'46.849 |
| 15 | 16 | Stoddart | GBR | TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1'11.329 | 33 | 1'48.002 |
| 16 | 8 | Lauda | AUT | Pixum AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1'12.233 | 33 | 1'47.423 |
| 17 | 2 | Tomczyk | GER | Red Bull Audi A4 DTM | 1'13.944 | 33 | 1'45.676 |
| 18 | 20 | Legge | GBR | Audi A4 DTM | 1'16.587 | 33 | 1'47.088 |
| 19 | 11 | Schumacher | GER | TRILUX AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 31 laps | 2 |