Bernhard's late, late Supercup win

Poleman Ortelli controlled the race from the start, as Bernhard had to fend off the attentions of Silverstone winner Jorg Bergmeister at the first corner. But despite opening up an early 0.7sec lead, Bernhard reeled in the leader and was almost able to capitalise on an Ortelli mistake under braking at the first chicane at half distance.

They then swapped paint at the same place on the following lap, but Ortelli clung on to the lead. Bernhard then appeared to back off, saving himself for a last lap attack.

His first attempt at the first chicane saw them collide, with Ortelli just coming out in front. But, on the following straight, Bernhard towed past the Monegasque and was already ahead as they braked for the Ostkurve.

"I drew alongside Stéphane several times but I knew he´s as tough as nails and I didn´t want to risk us both flying off the track," said Bernhard. "When Stéphane has victory in sight he doesn´t budge."

Ortelli said: "As I accelerated out of the Ostkurve chicane I suddenly lost second and fourth gear. Maybe I was too hard in my gear shifting during the fight with Timo, but I must admit, it was a fantastic fight. A couple of times we drove shoulder to shoulder at top speed - that was awesome!"

With his gearbox playing up, Ortelli backed off but stayed clear of third placed Jorg Bergmeister, who had a racelong dice with team mate Marco Werner. Tim Bergmeister came through to finish fifth, ahead of Wolf Henzler.

Guest driver Marino Franchitti, brother of Champ Car star Dario, finished 17th on his Supercup debut.

"That was a lot of fun, although I had quite some trouble keeping up with the other cars on the straights," he said. "In the beginning I made the mistake of driving over the kerbs too hard, so I lost some time and the contact to the cars in front. But all in all my times improved over the weekend."

Timo Bernhard, UPS Junior Team, 12 laps
Stephane Ortelli, Kadach Tuning, +2.0s
Jorg Bergmeister, Team Farnbacher, +2.7s
Marco Werner, Team Farnbacher, +3.5s
Tim Bergmeister, MAT Racing, +5.2s
Wolf Henzler, PZ Rhein-Oberberg, +5.3s