Peter Dumbreck Q&A
Scotland's Peter Dumbreck has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders this weekend as the DTM arrives in Britain for its sixth round at Donington Park. Dumbreck has scored points in every race so far this season and lies fourth in the championship, but could only qualify seventh for his home race. Charles Bradley caught up with him after qualifying was over
"No. We just haven't got the ultimate pace of the Mercedes or the Audi around here. They've got a little bit over us, especially on the Grand Prix loop. To be fair, I made a pig's ear of the last corner on my Super Pole lap, which didn't help.
"Two tenths. It's the story of my life, really! I strive for the perfect lap, and it was going really well. I made a small mistake at the Melbourne hairpin when I locked the rears, but it wasn't too bad, and then I was too careful into the last corner and braked way too early."
"Yes, but that would have been the absolute maximum the car was capable of. We could never have matched [Bernd] Schneider's time."
"It's certainly not the fast corners, because we're there, setting the pace. It's the slow corners. We struggle to get slowed down and then lack on traction out of the corner. The Mercedes front end is really good in the middle of the corner - they've basically got a better slow corner package than us. That's what we need to work on."
"Yes, I think they have. Looking at the times compared to last year, they're much quicker. They seem to have found steps with the engine and the chassis since 2002."
"The first goal is to get into the top five. I know I'm capable of it from qualifying, and I'd say that qualifying has been a bit of a weak point from us, and we're stronger in the races. I think, come the race, we'll have some good speed and overtake some of the guys ahead of us and give the crowd something to shout about. It's a nice feeling that people are getting behind me in the family favourite Opel team."
"I suppose he has, but we'll fight hard and fair. I've got a lot to lose too, so I'm not going to do anything stupid. I want to keep my record of the highest Opel finisher every time, and I want to keep my 100 per cent finishing record. I won't jeopardise that with an outlandish overtaking attempt on him, just because he's the series leader."
"Yes, when I think about it, it is important. But I try not to think about things too much, and just get on with driving. I want to do the best I can do, every time I'm in the car. As long as I can do that, then it's good enough for me."
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