Schneider takes commanding win
Bernd Schneider kept up his spectacular record at Hockenheim by winning the DTM season-opener for Mercedes today
The 2003 champion took an early lead after pole-sitter Jamie Green was pushed wide in the first corner and had to retire with a damaged car at the end of the first lap.
This followed a curious spin for the Briton on the warm-up lap, although he had moved through to reclaim his pole spot before the green light.
Tom Kristensen (Audi) turned out to be Schneider's biggest rival today, setting a slightly faster best lap.
But by the time Kristensen had worked his way through from his ninth place on the grid, he was several seconds down on the leading Mercedes. In a race with no safety car periods, all he could do was hold the gap.
Third was Heinz Harald Frentzen, who stayed out of trouble and fought off a late challenge from Mika Hakkinen.
2004 champion Mattias Ekstrom had to retire mid-race from what would likely have been third position, with what appeared to be a tyre failure.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. Bernd Schneider AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 59:51.850 2. Tom Kristensen Audi A4 DTM + 4.286 3. H.H. Frentzen Audi A4 DTM + 6.279 4. Mika Hakkinen AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 7.067 5. A. Margaritis AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 11.276 6. Jean Alesi AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 17.399 7. Martin Tomczyk Audi A4 DTM + 19.397 8. Timo Scheider Audi A4 DTM + 23.482 9. Bruno Spengler AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 40.626 10. Susie Stoddart AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 44.918 11. Mathias Lauda AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 53.284 12. Frank Stippler Audi A4 DTM +1:02.638 13. Olivier Tielemans Audi A4 DTM +1:30.373 14. Daniel la Rosa AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 1 lap 15. Vanina Ickx Audi A4 DTM + 1 lap 16. Mattias Ekstrom Audi A4 DTM + 12 laps 17. Stefan Mucke AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 14 laps 18. Pierre Kaffer Audi A4 DTM + 23 laps 19. Christian Abt Audi A4 DTM + 25 laps 20. Jamie Green AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse + 35 laps
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