Post Race Quotes - Hockenheim

Gary Paffett (Second, DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes): "I made a perfect move and passed Ekstrom. I expected an easy race, but a short time after the re-start, my door opened, which really hampered my car's performance, particularly in the fast corners, where I was hampered by massive oversteer. What could have been possible without this problem?"

Bernd Schneider (Third, Vodafone AMG-Mercedes): "At the start, I rolled a little bit forward but stopped at once. Yet, I was penalised with a drive-thru penalty what was okay as that's what the regulations say. But the great strategy of my team with one long and one short stint helped me to make up a lot of the lost ground."

Christian Abt (Fourth, Audi Sport Team Joest Racing): "This has been an extremely tough race. I have given my very best and pushed until I crossed the finish line. The car was perfect and the team worked fine. The battle of Ekstrom, Paffett and Green helped me to close the gap. At the end of the day, this has been a great result for a 2004 spec car."

Marcel Fassler (Ninth, Opel): "In the early stages, I had a great race and could match the pace of the leaders. After my second pit stop, I gained on Bruno Spengler and was pushed on the grass - following this incident, my tyres were completely ruined."

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Director Norbert Haug: "Today, our cars enjoyed an advantage over the race distance. To have six point scoring cars is a truly rare situation; therefore, this has been a special day for us. The strategy for Jean paid off as the tyres performed on a high level for a long time and the car worked fine from the start to the finish

Audi Motorsport Director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: "I'm delighted with Christian Abt's well deserved result. He delivered an inspired race and made no mistakes at all. Unfortunately, five of our cars were forced into early retirements. The battles between Ekstrom, Fassler and Paffett were great motor racing indeed, but at the same time they offered the field the opportunity of closing the gap."

Opel Motorsport Director Volker Strycek: "Marcel Fassler delivered in fine style. We could match the pace of the leaders. Unfortunately Marcel spun, destroying his fresh set of tyres. Therefore our strategy - to push in the closing stages - didn't work. But we are buoyed by the fact that Marcel made it to the second row on the grid."