Spengler continues winning streak

The race started in wet conditions, and although he didn't make a great start from pole, it was enough for Spengler to lead a three-abreast pack into Turn 1.

This comprised Jamie Green (Mercedes), Bernd Schneider (Mercedes) and a fast-starting Christian Abt (Audi). Schneider got the better of Green into Turn 3 to take second.

Martin Tomczyk's Audi then surged through the field, ending the opening lap in fourth from 10th on the grid, with Tom Kristensen taking fifth after making a terrible start from the front row.

Further back, Mattias Ekstrom stalled his Audi and would drop to 14th by the end of the first tour.

Spengler was dominant throughout, and when the track had dried sufficiently, he made the change to slick tyres at his first mandatory pitstop.

This was the only time he actually relinquished the lead all day, as Mika Hakkinen (Mercedes) briefly hit the front as he stopped a lap later for fresh rubber.

Hakkinen's first stop was a disaster, as his car would not take on fuel, forcing him into an extra stop near the end of the race, dropping him to 12th.

Despite a slow second pitstop, when the fuel can split some of its contents causing some mild alarm among the pitcrew that he had a similar problem to Hakkinen, Spengler cruised to a 10 seconds victory over Schneider, who was an equally convincing second.

"It was a great weekend for me," said Spengler. "In the rain the car was perfect and in the dry it was very consistent too. The timing of the pitstops were perfect, so I have to say a big thank you to the team."

Schneider said: "My car was quite good until the final set of tyres, when I had a big vibration and I was having trouble seeing on the straights and under braking for the corners. But Bruno deserved to win today."

Tomczyk came through to finish third, mainly thanks to Green slipping steadily down the order in the wet conditions as his Mercedes slid wide in corner after corner.

When the track was fully dry at the end, Green was lapping faster than anyone, which suggests he was running a full-dry set-up that effectively ruined his chances. He would finish out of the points in ninth.

Jean Alesi drove a storming race from 14th on the grid to finish fourth. The former F1 star took full advantage of a rare slip from Kristensen, who overshot Turn 1 and was forced into a u-turn, losing him valuable points in his championship battle with Schneider and Spengler.

The Dane had to settle for fifth, ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Audi), Timo Scheider (Audi) and Ekstrom.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver           Make       Time
 1.  Bruno Spengler   Mercedes   1h06:28.696
 2.  Bernd Schneider  Mercedes   +    10.743
 3.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi       +    12.504
 4.  Jean Alesi       Mercedes   +    20.386
 5.  Tom Kristensen   Audi       +    25.743
 6.  H-H.Frentzen     Audi       +    27.479
 7.  Timo Scheider    Audi       +    32.380
 8.  Mattias Ekstrom  Audi       +    32.486
 9.  Jamie Green      Mercedes   +    32.866
10.  Christian Abt    Audi       +    48.479
11.  Stefan Mucke     Mercedes   +    49.882
12.  Mika Hakkinen    Mercedes   +    50.890
13.  Mathias Lauda    Mercedes   +    51.447
14.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi       +    58.050
15.  A.Margaritis     Mercedes   +    59.191
16.  Daniel La Rosa   Mercedes   +  1:03.792
17.  Nicolas Kiesa    Audi       +  1:22.764
18.  Vanina Ickx      Audi       +  4 Laps
 
NOT CLASSIFIED:
     
     Driver           Makw      Laps
     Susie Stoddart   Mercedes   27
     Frank Stippler   Audi       23