Alzen takes title on three wheels

But, after a race with more twists and turns than the old Nurburgring itself, Alzen won
through to take the title for Opel.

The 17-lap sprint race was a straight-forward duel between the title contenders.

Alzen, starting from pole, kept the lead, closely followed by Abt, who leapt up from fifth on the grid to second.

Abt gradually closed the gap, until they were nose-to-tail on the final lap.

Despite a final-corner attempt to pass, Alzen maintained his advantage across the line, with Kristensen's Honda Accord taking third place.

This brought Alzen to within 16 points of Abt, meaning that even if Alzen won the feature race, Abt would take the title if he finished second.

The 100km feature race started as it went on - furiously.

Abt made the best start, beating Alzen to the first corner. Alzen pushed his way into
the lead, with Abt following close behind.

For the first half of the race, they lapped in this order, with Kristensen a cautious third, keeping out of the championship battle.

On lap 19, Abt gave the tyres at the Veedol chicane a glancing blow, and his own tyres started smoking.

As the Audi slowed fractionally, Kristensen overtook him for second place, effectively giving Alzen the Championship.

The Honda driver began to haul Alzen in, until a small mistake from Alzen gave Kristensen the opportunity to take the lead. Abt, still third, was then winning the Championship.

On the final lap, Alzen caught up with Abt's team-mate Kris Nissen, who was a lap down.

Under braking, Alzen clashed with Nissen and went through the Veedol Chicane with two wheels up on the Audi.

He continued on three wheels, crossing the line in second place behind Kristensen.

In the meantime, Asch, who had come up behind Alzen and Nissen in the chicane, collided with Abt, who landed in the gravel, thereby losing the championship.

Asch, at the time, had been disqualified some time earlier for ignoring a stop and go penalty given for a jumped start.

'I'm super-satisfied to win with 40kg of ballast,' Kristensen said of his win. 'I really didn't expect it.'

His team-mate Tarquini, survived the final lap disarray to finish third.

Bartels and Meier finished in fourth and fifth places for the Phoenix team, while Abt was classified 10th.

But the day - and the title - belonged to Alzen.

'I thought I'd lost everything,' he said of the moment when he collided with Nissen.

'I stopped at the end of the pit straight, and heard I'd won - which isn't bad at all!'