9th round champion : Paul Di Resta
BARCELONA, Spain : September 21, 2008 - The battle for the DTM title is entering its decisive stage and could hardly be more thrilling.
9th round of the DTM at Barcelona
The main rival of points' leader Timo Scheider (Audi), Scotsman Paul di Resta, claimed victory in Barcelona. German driver Scheider ended up second and now is only seven points ahead of di Resta. "I was having a great fight with Timo. At some parts of the circuit, he was faster, but at other parts, I was", said 22-year old di Resta after his second win of the season. Third place was taken by DTM record champion Bernd Schneider. The two drivers with year-old Audis, Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Pre'mat, landed a big surprise by finishing fifth and sixth behind their fellow Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. British Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green, who was second in the drivers' standings, tied on points with di Resta, came home seventh. He is now 15 points down on the leader. With his AMG Mercedes C-Class, Ralf Schumacher again achieved a points' scoring finish by coming home eighth. The German had reached the same position at the Nu"rburgring.
For Bernd Schneider, the joy about his 25th pole position and the first one since Zandvoort in 2005 didn't last long. At the start already, Scheider and di Resta managed to overtake the 44-year old and started a thrilling duel. On lap 19, di Resta overtook the points' leader and managed to pull a slight gap that he didn't lose anymore until the chequered flag was out. Rockenfeller also had a very good start and made up two places, moving up into fifth. Eventually, he drove this result home. Further down the order, some duels were too hard. Going into the final lap of the race, reigning DTM champion Mattias Ekstro"m (Audi) from Sweden was sixth. He became involved in a battle with Mercedes-Benz driver Green, who was in front of him. The duel ended with a collision. The stewards of the meeting saw the Swede at fault and gave him a 50 seconds' time penalty. For Ekstro"m, this meant ninth place, no points and, 18 points down, only mathematical chances of defending his title.
No. 4 DI RESTA, Paul - AMG Mercedes - AMG Mercedes C-Klasse 2008
Driver comments :
Paul di Resta (winner, AMG Mercedes): "Today, I probably had the fastest car in the field. I had a great fight with Timo Scheider. At some parts of the track, he was faster, but at other parts, I was. The overtaking manoeuvre was absolutely clean and Timo played along perfectly. I knew that I would have to be very close to him all the time in order to being able to start an attack at all. But it was also my goal to avoid too many risks as I didn't want to drop back in the points' standings. There are still two races remaining, we will see what we can do."
Timo Scheider (2nd place, Audi Sport Team Abt): "I am not at all disappointed with second place. My start was good and I was able to overtake Bernd Schneider before the first corner. After that, Paul di Resta put me under quite some pressure. He was a little bit faster and made good use of a slight gap. Being on the podium today was our goal. There are still 20 points at stake. Anyone who knows the DTM also knows that everything is still possible, even though we remain in front."
Bernd Schneider (3rd place, Original-Teile AMG Mercedes): "Unfortunately, I had wheelspin at the start and therefore really had to battle for third place in the first corner. I couldn't really keep up with Paul di Resta and Timo Scheider out in front. I had hoped to be able to fight with Timo for second place. But unfortunately, we had a slight problem during the pit stop which cost us some time. After that, I could work with my tyres quite well and I was running pretty much on my own. For a man of my age, it is quite comfortable not having somebody right behind me all the time.
9th round of the DTM at Barcelona : Race result
| Pos | No | Driver / Team | Car | Time | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Paul Di Resta (GBR) - AMG Mercedes | AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1:07:42.9 | 10 |
| 2 | 10 | Timo Scheider (GER) - Audi Sport Team Abt | GW:plus / Top Service Audi A4 DTM | 1:07:47.4 | 8 |
| 3 | 6 | Bernd Schneider (GER) - Original-Teile AMG Mercedes | Original-Teile AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1:07:54.6 | 6 |
| 4 | 2 | Martin Tomczyk (GER) - Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Red Bull Audi A4 DTM | 1:07:58.7 | 5 |
| 5 | 18 | Mike Rockenfeller (GER) - Audi Sport Team Rosberg | S line Audi A4 DTM | 1:08:18.5 | 4 |
| 6 | 14 | Alexandre Prémat (FRA) - Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM | 1:08:18.6 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | Jamie Green (GBR) - Salzgitter AMG Mercedes | Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1:08:19.4 | 2 |
| 8 | 11 | Ralf Schumacher (GER) - TRILUX AMG Mercedes | TRILUX AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1:08:48.9 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 | Mattias Ekström (SWE) - Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Red Bull Audi A4 DTM | 1:09:07.1 | - |
| 10 | 15 | Oliver Jarvis (GBR) - Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM | 1:07:49.9 | - |
| 11 | 21 | Christijan Albers (NED) - Futurecom-TME | Audi A4 DTM | 1:07:57.6 | - |
| 12 | 19 | Markus Winkelhock (GER) - Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Playboy Audi A4 DTM | 1:08:03.6 | - |
| 13 | 9 | Tom Kristensen (DEN) - Audi Sport Team Abt | Audi A4 DTM | 1:08:04.8 | - |
| 14 | 12 | Maro Engel (GER) - JungeSterne AMG Mercedes | JungeSterne AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | 1:08:15.7 | - |
| Not Classified : | |||||
| - | 16 | Susie Stoddart (GBR) - TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes | TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | +34 Lap | |
| - | 3 | Bruno Spengler (CAN) - Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG | Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Klasse | +41 Lap | |
| - | 17 | Katherine Legge (GBR) - Futurecom-TME Audi | Audi A4 DTM | +41 Lap | |
| - | 8 | Mathias Lauda (AUT) - Pixum AMG Mercedes | Pixum AMG Mercedes C-Klasse | +54 Laps | |
Driver Championship Standings :
| Pos | Driver - Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timo Scheider / GER | 62 |
| 2 | Paul Di Resta / GBR | 55 |
| 3 | Jamie Green / GBR | 47 |
| 4 | Mattias Ekström / SWE | 44 |
| 5 | Bruno Spengler / CAN | 31 |
| 6 | Martin Tomczyk / GER | 27 |
| 7 | Bernd Schneider / GER | 22 |
| 8 | Tom Kristensen / DEN | 8 |
| 9 | Gary Paffett / GBR | 6 |
| 10 | Mike Rockenfeller / GER | 6 |
| 11 | Markus Winkelhock / GER | 5 |
| 12 | Oliver Jarvis / GBR | 4 |
| 13 | Alexandre Prémat / FRA | 2 |
| 14 | Ralf Schumacher / GER | 1 |
| 15 | Mathias Lauda / AUT | 0 |
| 16 | Maro Engel / GER | 0 |
| 17 | Susie Stoddart / GBR | 0 |
| 18 | Christijan Albers / NED | 0 |
| 19 | Katherine Legge / GBR | 0 |
Constructor Championship Standings :
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG | 86 |
| 2 | Audi Sport Team Abt | 84 |
| 3 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 75 |
| 4 | Salzgitter / Original-Teile AMG Mercedes | 74 |
| 5 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 12 |
| 6 | stern / Pixum AMG Mercedes | 9 |
| 7 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 9 |
| 8 | TRILUX / JungeSterne AMG Mercedes | 2 |
[Source : DTM]
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