DTM: How Hankook has revived Ralf Schumacher

April 2, 2006. That's five years and one month, or 1855 days if you're counting. But why is that date so significant?

It is in fact the last time Ralf Schumacher made it onto the podium of a motor race; or at least, it was.

Now the 35-year-old German can answer that old podium question with a much more respectable date after taking his maiden rostrum finish in the DTM at Hockenheim last weekend.

Such a breakthrough result was hugely necessary for the six-time grand prix winner, who, his pole position at the Norisring last year notwithstanding, had failed to deliver the goods in his previous three years in the world's fastest tin-top series.

All weekend he had looked like the driver Mercedes wanted when it signed him in 2008. The quickest representative of the three-pointed star in both practice sessions, only a sensational pole lap from Bruno Spengler prevented him from carrying that accolade through qualifying and the race.

So what was the difference? A paddock insider had heard that Ralf had been karting extensively during the winter to keep himself race-sharp, and his awareness was certainly not found wanting at Hockenheim - save, perhaps for his failure to bolt at the same time as Spengler and Mattias Ekstrom when the safety car came in after a few mid-race laps on-track.

A more common consensus was that he'd simply found his missing performance from the DTM's brand-new Hankook tyres - the Korean manufacturer has taken over from the series' previous rubber partner Dunlop. And Ralf agreed.

"The car is much easier to drive on the Hankooks," he said. "You feel the car much more and that makes you work with the car much better.

"This is a surprise. It's not natural for a new manufacturer to come in and make such a consistent tyre straight away, so they have done a very good job."

His thoughts on the rubber were echoed all the way down the pitlane. At Audi, two-time champion Mattias Ekstrom had a more creative way of describing the new rubber. He might have even been auditioning for a role as the championship's resident 'Dear Deirdre'.

Hankook's tyres have proved a delight for some drivers © LAT

"When you talk to your wife or your girlfriend, you get much more from them than if you don't talk, and it's the same with these tyres," said the wily Swede. "If you speak to them, they give you a lot of feedback. You don't need to predict what's coming next, because you already know."

Back at Mercedes, Schumacher's boss, Norbert Haug, who knows a racer when he sees one, was full of praise for his highest-profile HWA driver.

"If anybody had told you at the last race of last year that when we came to Hockenheim, Ralf would be 0.3s-per-lap faster than Gary Paffett - consistently - over a 20-lap run, you would not have believed me," Haug said. "He has been very impressive this weekend.

"But these new tyres give a driver more feedback [than the Dunlops they replaced], and some drivers respond very well to this. You can see right down the pitlane. Ralf is one and [Martin] Tomczyk is another who is going very well in this situation."

Norbert was dead right about Tomczyk. Demoted to an older-spec Audi for the first time in his DTM career, the 29-year-old German was a sensation.

Bang on the pace in practice, he then qualified sixth and finished fifth - four places above his former Abt Sportsline team-mate Oliver Jarvis and six ahead of the man who stole his seat during the winter, Mike Rockenfeller.

Rockenfeller, incidentally, had told AUTOSPORT during the build-up to the Hockenheim race that the wider operating window afforded by the Hankooks would enable older-spec cars to run much more competitively this season. I'm willing to bet that he now wishes it didn't.

Just how well Tomczyk drove at Hockenheim cannot be underplayed. The quickest man on track between laps five and 15, he had leapfrogged Timo Scheider's Abt car for fourth place at the opening round of pitstops and was right on Schumacher's tail.

Martin Tomczyk enjoyed a welcome return to form at Hockenheim © LAT

But the Phoenix Racing man made a small error at the Sachs Kurve on his in-lap, catching a moment of oversteer too late and putting two wheels into the gravel. It probably only cost him 2.5s at most, but that was enough to let Scheider get back past when he made his final stop two corners later.

Even the fact that he left the pits with a fuel can still attached to his car could not harm his charge, although it did bring out the safety car.

It's early days, for sure, but if Tomczyk - who was thoroughly chuffed with his result - keeps driving like he did at Hockenheim, he'll be back in a top-line car before you know it.

Maybe by then we'll be treated to a Schumacher/Tomczyk title battle of epic proportions...