Hockenheim 2: Siedler's slick decision

Early on, of course, Siedler struggled in the conditions but, starting from 12th, he had little to lose. At the front, poleman Timo Glock led from Ryan Briscoe, Gary Paffett and Kousuke Matsuura. Matsuura snook past Paffett for third on lap three, a move repeated by Briscoe on Glock on the next tour to take the lead.

But this race was all about tyre choice, and the few on slicks were in for a treat as the sunny skies helped the track dry fast. Vitantonio Liuzzi was the best placed of the dry-tyred runners, but he tangled with Paffett at the hairpin on lap 10, and was also clipped by team-mate Bernhard Auinger, which let Siedler through.

Siedler then carved his way past the wet-shod leaders in ridiculous fashion, and was about 12secs per lap quicker as their tyres went off. Siedler hit the front on lap 12 and held a 14sec advantage over Liuzzi to the flag. Markus Winkelhock, who was involved in a multiple spin with Robert Doornbos and Kimmo Liimatainen early on, finished third.

The 'wets' race was won by Glock, who finished well clear of Briscoe after nipping past him on lap 12. Slick-shod Kaichi Sato took the final point from 28th on the grid, moving ahead of new champion Paffett on the final lap.


1 Norbert Siedler, Swiss Racing Team Dallara-Opel, 17 laps
2 Vitantonio Liuzzi, BSR Dallara-Opel, +14.1s
3 Markus Winkelhock, Mucke Dallara-Mercedes, +24.5s
4 Timo Glock, KMS Dallara-Opel, +56.9s
5 Ryan Briscoe, PREMA Dallara-Opel, +1m01.7s
6 Kaichi Sato, van Amersfoort Dallara-Opel, +1m26.9s