Lausitz Main: Schneider wins at last

Schneider, who had earlier finished second in the qualification race, made a textbook getaway to muscle his way up the inside of pole man Laurent Aiello's Audi at the first corner. Aiello, fresh from his final corner pass of Schneider at the Norisring race two weeks ago, remained in fighting mood and had latched onto the leader's rear bumper within a couple of laps.

With the gap between the two a relatively static 0.4s, Aiello was content to pressure Schneider in the hope he would make a mistake or, failing that, he could pass him during the mandatory pitstops.

But Aiello's pressure was to go unrewarded, for when the mistake came it was not from either of the drivers battling out on the track, but from the championship leader's pit crew. A problem with the fitting of the rear left wheel kept Aiello in the pits for almost five seconds longer than expected, giving Schneider the golden opportunity to take an unassailable lead.

When Schneider pulled into the pitlane one lap later, only a similar error by his pit crew would threaten his lead, and much to the chasing pack's disappointment it was not forthcoming. Schneider was stopped for less that 5s, rejoining in fourth position behind temporary leader Patrick Huisman, Thomas Jager and Jean Alesi, all of whom had yet to stop.

Schneider soon dispatched former multiple Porsche Supercup champion Huisman's Manthey-run 2001 Mercedes to re-take the lead he was never to lose.

Aiello, meanwhile, had dropped behind Mattias Ekstrom, and lost out to Mercedes driver Marcel Fassler shortly after re-emerging. Although Fassler and Aiello, running in close company all race, caught the oversteering Ekstrom by the closing laps, the order was to remain the same to the finish.

Behind Aiello were the lead Opel Astra Coupe runners, two-times Le Mans winner Manuel Reuter and former BTCC champion Joachim Winkelhock. "Smokin' Jo" was the hero of the early stages of the race, swerving around the desperately slow starting Christian Abt and emerging from the first corner an impressive third from only seventh on the grid.

Alas, Winkelhock was unable to hold off the advances of Ekstrom, losing out to the Swede and the pursuing Fassler on successive corners on lap five. He later slipped behind the hard charging Reuter, who had started down in eleventh place, and had no choice but to settle for one point, taking his tally for the season to a meagre four.

Abt himself recovered to finish seventh, holding off Jean Alesi, who had made himself decidedly unpopular with Mercedes team-mate Uwe Alzen when a forceful move at the first corner early in the race forced the latter to retire.

The man Alesi replaced at AMG Mercedes, Peter Dumbreck, endured another trying race in his Persson run Mercedes CLK, finishing 15th in his 2001-spec Mercedes.

Despite his victory, Schneider still lies 21 points behind Aiello with four rounds remaining, and will be hoping for a few more races like today if he is to retain the title he has won for the previous two years.


Bernd Schneider (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39m19.277s
Mattias Ekström (S) Abt-Audi TT-R , 39m30.212s
Marcel Fässler (CH) AMG Mercedes-Bend CLK, 39m30.530s
Laurent Aiello (F) Abt-Audi TT-R, 39m31.463s
Manuel Reuter (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 39m40.171s
Joachim Winkelhock (D) Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 39m42.673s
Christian Abt (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 39m43.264s
Jean Alesi (F) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39m46.610s
Martin Tomczyk (D) Abt-Audi TT-R, 39m49.828s
Timo Scheider (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 39m50.594s
Alain Menu (CH) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 39m51.994s
Patrick Huisman (NL) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39m54.282s
Thomas Jäger (D) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39m57.010s
Christijan Albers (NL) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39.57.402s
Peter Dumbreck (GB) Persson Mercedes-Benz CLK, 39m57.840s
Stefan Mücke (D) Rosberg Mercedes-Benz CLK, 40m04.188s
Michael Bartels (D) Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé, 40m11.599s
Bernd Maylander (D) Manthey Mercedes-Benz CLK - brakes
Karl Wendlinger (CH) Abt-Audi TT-R - gearbox
Uwe Alzen (D) AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK - damaged steering
Yves Olivier (B) Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé - gearshift