Aiello: The title fight starts here

The Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R pilot won the opening two rounds at Hockenheim and Zolder before suffering a nightmare weekend at Donington last time out. He ended that race by getting black flagged for ignoring his third spot/go penalty of the event.

"I mainly have used the last few days to get the Donington round out of my system," said Aiello. "But once each year, you have a weekend in which nothing goes right. I am looking forward to the Sachsenring, where I would like to continue where I stopped in Zolder. Now, the fight for the top in the DTM is really beginning."

His closest title rival is now Mercedes ace Jean Alesi, who won his first DTM race at Donington. He says he is taking each event "one race at a time" but has never raced at the testing Sachsenring track in eastern Germany. His AMG team-mate Bernd Schneider won last year's race, despite qualifying at the back of the grid, and the reigning champion will be keen to open his winning account this weekend after being stung with two stop/go penalties at Donington.

Opel continues to threaten a race victory without quite achieving its aim. Alain Menu will be keen to make up for losing a second place finish at Donington due to a late-race puncture, while Michael Bartels hopes to repeat his form of last year that saw him qualify on the second row of the grid.Abt youngster Martin Tomczyk tested his Audi TT-R at Hockenheim this week ahead of the Sachsenring races. "Even when we are working determinedly on the Friday before a race, there are frequently points being left unconsidered," said Abt's chief technician Albert Deuring. "For once, we wanted to work on them quietly."
1 Laurent Aiello (F) Audi 25
2 Jean Alesi (F) Mercedes 17
3 Mattias Ekström (S) Audi 16
4 Christian Abt (D) Audi 12
5 Bernd Schneider (D) Mercedes 7
6 Martin Tomczyk (D) Audi 5