Kristensen takes win at Hockenheim

Starting on pole for the shorter Sprint race, Kristensen made a poor start and dropped to fourth, while fellow Dane Kris Nissen took the lead, which he kept through to the chequered flag.

Kristensen climbed back up to second, with Reuter the best Opel in third.

Behind them, there was drama for the championship contenders, Alzen and Abt.

Abt, who started from tenth on the grid, was lying third ahead of Alzen when he spun while overtaking a backmarker.

Alzen could not avoid him, and the two collided, damaging the front of both cars.

They made their way back to the pits, to be repaired in time for the feature race.

'It was purely a racing accident,' Alzen commented.

In the main race, Kristensen made another poor start, while Bartels, driving a Phoenix Audi A4 quattro, moved up into second behind Nissen.

By lap 8 Kristensen had moved into the lead, touching Nissen's Audi slightly as he went over the kerbs.

Kristensen proceeded to race unhindered for the remaining 38 laps of the Hockenheim short circuit, taking the chequered flag ten seconds ahead of Bartels.

'Perfect!' Kristensen said afterwards. 'It's been a good weekend for us, with pole, lap record, and then the win - especially here, in the home land of the Audi quattro.

'The only problem was my starts - I always have too much wheelspin. So I had to win to make up for the bad start. It's a great day for Honda - the team has really progressed.'

Abt, 18th on the grid, and Alzen, who started from the pit lane, moved progressively up the field.

At the end, team orders came into play as both Nissen and Helary slowed to let their respective team-leaders through to 3rd and 10th places.

Abt's third place means that the gap between the Championship rivals has now widened to 64 points, with 90 still in play for the final round.

'Theoretically, anything is possible,' Opel driver Reuter said. 'We will try to finish 1-2-3 in the Nurburgring.'