The DTM records a hit in Holland

On a personal note, being there meant I had to miss the Rockingham CART race (I had managed to get to Lausitz the week before as recompense) and maybe the ever-present hospitality of Mercedes and Opel, followed by a Heineken-fuelled night out on the town with a couple of mates, was still having an effect. But Zandvoort certainly scored a 10 on my racing Richter scale.

It had all seemed quite innocuous until the mandatory pit stops occurred halfway through the race. Christian Abt's Audi TT-R held sway at the front from team mate Mattias Ekstrom. Behind them, the top Mercedes was Peter Dumbreck who decided to pit early, along with Audi's Laurent Aiello.

Aiello made a blinding stop and should have overtaken Dumbreck in the pits, but the Scot was told to go despite the fact Aiello was on a collision course. Crash! The cars collided in the pits. Bang! Aiello barged his way past Dumbreck two corners later as Peter slid wide on dirt from a spinning Alain Menu. Wallop! Aiello's splitter flew off on the approach to the ultra-fast Slotemaker-bocht and he spun wildly off the track.

Ekstrom, meanwhile, slid into a gravel trap all on his own, which left Abt a huge advantage at the front and seemingly cruising his way to his first victory in the series. But the man now in his mirrors was Uwe Alzen - the 'bad boy' of the DTM. If Alzen was a character in a cowboy movie, he would dress solely in black, smoke an evil-smelling cigar and posses a signature tune which only plays when he's on screen.

Opel's Hubert Haupt played a brief cameo role by delaying his pit stop to take an artificial lead, only to be punted into a spin by Abt who was over-anxious to reclaim the top spot for himself. The seconds he lost in that incident to Alzen would prove vital later on.

From Abt's bootlid, the nose of the black Mercedes that was closing in rapidly must have seemed quite Jaws-like. Alzen, who had started the race seventh, was miles off Abt's early pace (his fastest lap was almost a second slower) but his Mercedes was much easier on its rubber than Abt's Audi. By the last lap, Alzen was glued to Abt's tail.

Abt made a mistake with a couple of corners remaining by running wide and allowing Alzen to barge his way ruthlessly alongside. But Uwe was on the outside for the following right-left chicane. Brilliantly, he clung on through the first element and muscled past on the second, the cars making contact a number of times.

Into the penultimate corner, the fast sweeper of Mitsubishi, Christian gave Uwe one last punt, but it was too late. Alzen, overjoyed with the nature of his opportunistic win, locked all four wheels as he crossed the line. Abt, who was just 0.2secs behind at the flag, slammed into the side of him - he claimed he was confused - forcing Alzen into a post-race spin into the pit lane exit.

The thousands of Dutch spectators who lined the start/finish straight were in raptures at the antics they had witnessed, whooping with delight when Alzen received his trophy on the podium and boo-ing with all their might when Abt was awarded his.

Before this, Abt had remonstrated with Alzen in Parc Ferme, appearing to grab his arm, tell him what he thought of his tactics and then slam the door of the Merc as the still helmeted Alzen attempted to get out. When he did so, Alzen milked the applause for all he was worth. He deserved every second of it.

Bernd Schneider might be the Clint Eastwood of the DTM, but Uwe Alzen is its Lee Van Cleef.