It was too easy to dismiss Timo Scheider's pre-season form as meaningless in the early weeks of 2008. But as test after test went by with the black Audi at the top of the times, he became difficult to ignore.
Test after test then became race after race. The Scheider steam train showed no signs of running out of pace as he led a four-way battle mid-season, and it was only a late charge from Paul di Resta that kept the title battle alive to the Hockenheim finale.
By that time, Scheider was no longer considered as a journeyman that had lucked into a few good results. He was a fully-fledged front-runner, who had proved on several occasions that he could handle race-long pressure at the front of the field, despite not having a race win to his name in seven previous DTM campaigns.