Alzen sets pace in Hockenheim testing

Alzen, sacked over the winter by Opel after taking out team leader Manuel Reuter in the penultimate race of the year, lapped in 1m00.581s, three-tenths faster than fellow recent Merc recruit Christijan Albers.

The first of the old boys was Darren Turner in his Rosberg-run CLK, the Englishman lapping in 1m01.252s. Although he was third quickest on the day in his 2000-spec machine, Turner was a little disappointed.

"We just didn't get the best out of the day," he said. "After we had such a good test last time out, what we tried there in the wet didn't quite work in the dry as we thought it might. We have plan for tomorrow, though, when Pedro takes over from me."

Peter Dumbreck was fourth quickest in his D2 AMG car but suffered an excursion into the gravel.

"It was one of those days where you had either massive understeer or massive oversteer," he said. "The rear just kicked out over the crest in the stadium and I backed it into the gravel, but it was no big deal."

Joachim Winkelhock was fastest of the new Opels, but could only manage fifth ahead of Opel colleagues Manuel Reuter. Yves Olivier, who has been confirmed as Reuter's team mate in the Phoenix team, was seventh quickest and just 0.003s slower than his illustrious colleague.


1, Uwe Alzen, Warsteiner AMG Mercedes, 1m00.581s
2, Christijan Albers, Persson Mercedes, 1m00.931s
3, Darren Turner, Rosberg Mercedes, 1m01.252s
4, Peter Dumbreck, D2 AMG Mercedes, 1m01.589s
5, Joachim Winkelhock, Holzer Opel, 1m01.863s
6, Manuel Reuter, Phoenix Opel, 1m02.037s
7, Yves Olivier, Phoenix Opel, 1m02.040s
8, Patrick Huisman, Eschmann AMG Mercedes, 1m02.057s
9, Timo Scheider, Holzer Opel, 1m02.129s
10, Alain Menu, Euroteam Opel, 1m03.061s

Opel youngster Steffen Schulz has been dropped from the Holzer squad after admitting he wasn't prepared for the rigours of the DTM.

"I don't feel I'm ready at the moment to compete against the best touring car drivers," he said. Opel motorsport chief Volker Strycek added: "We still believe in Steffen and his talent, but we also feel that the physical pressure is very high. We will have to find a replacement for Steffen and think about another programme for him."

The smart money for the vacant Holzer seat is on Michael Bartels, who raced for Phoenix last year.