Round 1: Schneider takes victory
Bernd Schneider opened the DTM 2000 season with victory over Mercedes team mate Marcel Fassler. In front of 56,000 fans at Hockenheim
Schneider started from pole, but was beaten to the first corner by Manuel Reuter in the Opel, but Reuter ran wide at the second corner and dropped back to 10th place. Schneider was then chased by the Opel of Timo Scheider, and Fassler in a Mercedes.
Reuter began a charge through the field which would eventually see him climb to third place, to the delight of the legion of flag-waving, firework throwing Opel fans.
Schneider extended his lead to more than 20 seconds as Scheider and Fassler scrapped over second place. A quick rain shower on lap 5 also livened things up, with Eric Helary spinning out of ninth place. Fassler passed Scheider on lap 26 after a quick shove from behind.
Peter Dumbreck came from eighh on the grid to finish fifth having spent the first half of the race stuck behind Uwe Alzen and then Michael Bartels. The Scot got dust in one eye at the start, and spent much of the race with it closed.
Dumbreck was followed over the line by Persson Mercedes team mate Marcel Tiemann who had started the race back in 13th. Tiemann survived a clash with Pedro Lamy which saw the former F1 driver spin back down the order.
Klaus Ludwig charged thhrough from 15th place to ninth, ensuring that he will be a threat in the second race, which starts 30 minutes after the finish of the first.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments