Feature race: Dumbreck flies high

From fourth on the grid, the Scot played a canny game at the first corner, staying on the normal racing line as his three AMG team mates ahead of him - Uwe Alzen, Marcel Fassler and Bernd Schneider - jealously guarded the inside. Dumbreck swept around the outside of Schneider and Fassler to grab second as Alzen held the lead.

Schneider was the first man to pit on the second lap, with Dumbreck following suit on the third - many chose to take this route in case of an early Safety Car period. Dumbreck rejoined with a decent advantage over Schneider, but that gap was negated when Alain Menu's Opel Astra shed its bonnet, laying a trail of fibreglass around the circuit, and the Safety Car was called out.

Second placed Fassler dived into the pits, leaving Alzen still in the lead but, effectively, he was a sitting duck and would have to pit under yellow and rejoin behind those who had already done so.

Fassler drove out of the pits and straight into the side of Christian Abt's Audi and then passed it under yellows, earning him a stop/go penalty. Others to incur penalties were Timo Scheider and Hubert Haupt, who both drove their Opel Astras past the red light at the end of the pit lane. Alzen, who did stop for the red, rejoined in 16th place.

At the restart, Dumbreck had Schneider right behind him and was forced to defend resolutely into the tight Turn Seven on the first lap after the green. A lap later at the same spot, Abt outbraked Fassler for third, with Marcel losing another place soon after the inspired Thomas Jager (Persson Mercedes).

Abt then received a stop/go himself, along with team mate Laurent Aiello, as their cars were spotted being worked in the pit lane after the time limit given for repairs.

The man to watch in the pack, however, was Audi youngster Mattias Ekstrom who was on a charge from 19th on the grid after his qualification race exit. He benefited from the stop/go penalties received by Scheider and Fassler but still had to battle past Jager, a move he performed at Turn Six with a little contact.

That placed him third, over eight seconds behind the Dumbreck and Schneider show. The gap between the leaders was never more than half a second until the penultimate lap, when Dumbreck eked out a little breathing space to take a jubilant victory.

"I know I won the qualifying race at Sachsenring, but I class this as my first proper victory since Macau in 1998," he said. "It's the main race that's important and, fortunately, it was the first time my car felt perfect all weekend. I had to try and stay cool and relaxed, but Bernd was always there."

Jager was a fine fourth in his 2000-spec car, earning a glowing tribute from Merc motorsport chief Norbert Haug in the process. Patrick Huisman took fifth in his Manthey-run Mercedes, ahead of Audi's Martin Tomczyk.

Manuel Reuter was the top Opel in seventh, ahead of the penalised Fassler and Darren Turner (Rosberg Merc).

Abt punted qualification race winner Alzen into a spin, and the Mercedes man finished four laps down in 20th place.




Peter Dumbreck, 2001 D2 Mercedes CLK, 42m19.096s
Bernd Schneider, 2001 D2 Mercedes CLK, +0.664s
Mattias Ekstrom, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, +9.010s
Thomas Jager, 2000 Persson Mercedes CLK, +13.105s
Patrick Huisman, 2001 Eschmann-Manthey Mercedes CLK, +19.734s
Martin Tomczyk, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, +21.735s
Manuel Reuter, 2001 Phoenix Opel Astra Coupe, +23.092s
Marcel Fassler, 2001 Warsteiner Mercedes CLK, +23.784s
Darren Turner, 2000 Rosberg Mercedes CLK, +27.142s
David Saelens, 2000 Rosberg Mercedes CLK, +28.675s
Timo Scheider, 2001 Holzer Opel Astra Coupe, +30.017s
Laurent Aiello, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, +30.815s
Bernd Maylander, 2001 Eschmann-Manthey Mercedes CLK, +44.024s
Joachim Winkelhock, 2001 Holzer Opel Astra Coupe, +53.518s
Hubert Haupt, 2000 Euroteam Opel Astra Coupe, +1m05.412s
Christijan Albers, 2000 Persson Mercedes CLK, +1m08.859s
Peter Mamerow, 2000 Mamerow Opel Astra Coupe, +1m11.831s
Christian Abt, 2001 Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R, +1m32.643s
Alain Menu, 2001 Euroteam Opel Astra Coupe, +1 lap
Uwe Alzen, 2001 Warsteiner Mercedes CLK, +5 laps
Yves Olivier, 2000 Phoenix Opel Astra Coupe, 11 laps
Michael Bartels, 2001 Holzer Opel Astra Coupe, 12 laps