Schneider the man to beat at Lausitzring
Opel comes into this weekend's DTM double-header at the Lausitzring bolstered by a positive test on the brand new east German facility - but Mercedes ace Bernd Schneider is still the man to beat
After binning plans to race on the Lausitzring's tri-oval, the cars will race on the 4.5km road course, which includes the oval's start/finish straight. Double Nurburgring winner and DTM points-leader Schneider topped the timesheets after a two-day test last week, but after two disastrous rounds at the Sachsenring and Nurburgring, Opel took four of the top 10 times, including a second spot for Uwe Alzen.
Although the circuit's facilities received a universal thumbs-up from the DTM drivers, opinions were mixed as to how much of a challenge the road course itself is.
"The track is okay," said Opel's Jo Winkelhock. "I know this kind of circuit from racing in the USA, but as usual there is no section or corner where you need to have a special sort of courage. A key place will be at the end of the start/finish straight, where you turn left from the wide, fast stretch of the oval into the narrow infield."
Mercedes star Klaus Ludwig was more enthusiastic: "I am proud that we have such a circuit in Germany," he said. "Even the tracks in the USA don't compare to this. Okay, the circuit needs some additional kerbs, but that's just peanuts."
Opel's Manuel Reuter added: "Because of the combination of the infield with parts of the tri-oval, the track is totally different to anything else we use in the DTM. Every lap, I had more fun. I like it."
In the DTM standings, Schneider leads with 146 points, ahead of Ludwig (104) and leading Opel driver Reuter (95). There are 20 points for a win and after Sunday's Lausitzring double-header, only six races remain.
1 Bernd Schneider, Mercedes, 1m42.226s
2 Uwe Alzen, Opel, 1m42.470s
3 Marcel Tiemann, Mercedes, 1m42.947s
4 Thomas Jager, Mercedes, 1m42.969s
5 Timo Scheider, Opel, 1m42.976s
6 Marcel Fassler, Mercedes, 1m43.011s
7 Klaus Ludwig, Mercedes, 1m43.063s
8 Manuel Reuter, Opel, 1m43.200s
9 Peter Dumbreck, Mercedes, 1m43.240s
10 Stefano Modena, Opel, 1m43.314s
11 Darren Turner, Mercedes, 1m43.327s
12 Pedro Lamy, Mercedes, 1m43.330s
13 Eric Helary, Opel, 1m43.343s
14 Jo Winkelhock, Opel, 1m43.426s
15 Christian Menzel, Opel, 1m43.528s
16 Michael Bartels, Opel, 1m44.040s
17 Christian Abt, Audi, 1m44.419s
18 Kris Nissen, Audi, 1m45.518s
19 James Thompson, Audi, 1m45.662s
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