Spengler wins, Schneider takes title

Spengler led from start to finish, but had AMG Mercedes teammate Mika Hakkinen in his mirrors throughout the race.

Although Hakkinen fell away in the early stint, he tirelessly ate into Spengler's advantage throughout the race, and finished just three tenths of a second behind him.

Tom Kristensen finished third for Audi, which wasn't enough to keep his slender title hopes alive into the Hockenheim finale.

Schneider was in trouble early on, clashing with Mattias Ekstrom's Audi on the opening lap and taking a long trip through the gravel, which dropped him to last place.

But a charging recovery drive to fifth, just three-tenths behind Martin Tomczyk's fourth placed Audi at the finish, was enough to crown him as champion regardless of Kristensen's finishing position.

Jamie Green finished sixth for Mercedes, despite a drive-through penalty for nerfing Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Audi, while Alexandros Margaritis (Mercedes) and Timo Scheider (Audi) rounded out the point scorers.

A big crash on the opening lap left Frank Stippler shaken after his out-of-control Audi ploughed into Mathias Lauda's Mercedes at high speed. He wasn't physically injured, however.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver           Make      Time
 1.  Bruno Spengler   Mercedes  1h03:09.292
 2.  Mika Hakkinen    Mercedes  +     0.398
 3.  Tom Kristensen   Audi      +    12.770
 4.  Martin Tomczyk   Audi      +    23.709
 5.  Bernd Schneider  Mercedes  +    24.044
 6.  Jamie Green      Mercedes  +    24.510
 7.  A.Margaritis     Mercedes  +    28.702
 8.  Timo Scheider    Audi      +    29.203
 9.  Christian Abt    Audi      +    40.180
10.  H-H.Frentzen     Audi      +    42.277
11.  Jean Alesi       Mercedes  +    42.649
12.  Pierre Kaffer    Audi      +    50.128
13.  Susie Stoddart   Mercedes  +    54.876
14.  Thed Bjork       Audi      +    59.708
15.  Stefan Mucke     Mercedes  +    1 Lap
16.  Vanina Ickx      Audi      +    2 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver           Make         Lap
     Daniel La Rosa   Mercedes      7
     Mattias Ekstrom  Audi          0
     Frank Stippler   Audi          0
     Mathias Lauda    Mercedes      0