Round three report
Manuel Reuter dominated Sunday's third round of the DTM at Oschersleben in Germany to secure Opel's first victory of the season
The former ITC champion edged out front row starter Michael Bartels into the first corner and was unthreatened throughout the 28 lap encounter.
Bartels managed to keep in touch with Reuter for the opening laps but spun off the track on lap seven, handing the runner-up position to Opel's Jo Winkelhock.
Behind the leading Opels there was a fantastic battle for third position, which was eventually won by DTM series leader Bernd Schneider.
The Mercedes driver had made a poor start to drop to seventh on the opening lap, but he steadily moved up the field as his Mercedes proved better over a full race distance.
He took fifth place from Timo Scheider across the finish line on lap seven and a lap later he got past Stefano Modena for fourth at the final corner.
Schneider then set a series of quick laps to close the gap on the third placed Opel of Eric Helary, but he struggled to find a way past the Frenchman.
However, on lap 22 he drew alongside the Opel on the start-finish straight and after banging door panels the pair collided at the first turn. Helary spun and recovered to finish fourth, while Schneider raced on to claim the final podium place.
Peter Dumbreck finished 11th following a collision with Opel's Uwe Alzen, while Darren Turner finished 13th. Briton James Thompson did race despite being ruled out of qualifying by an engine problem and finished 17th.
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