DTM EuroSpeedway Lausitz - Analysis part 1

For the second consecutive time, the young guns were outclassed by their experienced rivals. Just as it had been the case in the season opener, at Hockenheim, Bernd Schneider once again prevailed. Prior to his champagne shower, the crowds witnessed a thrilling race with the pit stops turning out to be a key factor. We took a close look at the performances of every single driver and summed them up, for you.
Bernd Schneider (5th / 2nd / 1st / 4th / 1st / 1st): Bernd’s winning run was continued: at the EuroSpeedway, the DTM Record Champion secured his third consecutive win. In the qualifying session, he didn’t succeed in bringing his tyres to the optimum grid level and had to settle for fourth grid position. In the race, however, he delivered and took the lead when Mika Häkkinen lost valuable time during a pit stop. Afterwards, he secured the win in superior style. Grade: 1

Tom Kristensen (8th / 9th / 3rd / 5th / 8th / 2nd): from his fifth grid position, Tom drove a somewhat conservative race as he had only one fresh of tyres available and had to save tyres, hence. But his strategy worked and he succeeded in defending his top-flight position. When he was just was planning to pressurise Ekström for second place, the Swede was forced into retirement. Grade: 1

Pit-stop problems cost Häkkinen his second DTM winMika Häkkinen (12th / 7th / 12th / 2nd / 5th / 3rd): Mika turned out to be the ‘unlucky hero’ of the 2006 season’s second DTM round, held at the EuroSpeedway. From his second grid position, the Finn took the lead right at the start and successfully defended it against fiercely pressurising Audi ace Ekström. During Mika’s second pit stop, however, a wheel nut jammed, costing Mika two crucial seconds. But with a little luck and a lot of fighting spirit, he secured a podium finish. At first, he benefited from Ekström’s retirement and then he passed Green with just metres to go to the finish line. Grade: 2

Jamie Green (11th / 5th / 16th / 1st / 3rd / 4th): When it comes to pole positions, Jamie’s record is flawless: two races, two poles. Now, the young Briton has to learn to make perfect use of these poles in the race. Once again, his start was worse than the ones of his opponents and at the end of turn one, he had dropped back to fourth position. Later in the race, he fought his way back to third, but on the final lap, he was passed by two-time F1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen. His strategy also wasn’t perfect, hence, he again had to settle for a non-podium finish. Grade: 3

Bruno Spengler (7th / 1st / 8th / 7th / 6th / 5th): The Canadian heart-throb finished fifth at the EuroSpeedway, thus securing his best DTM result so far. “I hope this was my breakthrough,” said Bruno after the race. There’s particular room for improvement when it comes to his qualifying performances. A better grid position than seventh would have been possible but he spun on his fastest lap. In the race, he delivered in fine style to gain two positions - a promising performance. Grade: 3

Alexandros Margaritis (13th / 4th / 5th / 8th / 9th / 6th): Another impressive performance of the young Greek. Following his great season opener, Alexandros finished sixth, thus again scoring points, at the wheel of his 2005-spec Mercedes C-Class. Even more, he now holds the great fourth position in the championship. The Bonn based driver once again defeated the other 2005-spec car drivers and in the race, he prevailed in a thrilling battle with Jean Alesi. Grade: 2

Jean Alesi (14th / 6th / 10th / 6th / 2nd / 7th): In the qualifying session, Jean finished sixth, thus being the quickest of the 2005-spec car drivers. According to his own words, the Frenchman experienced a rather unspectacular race. Jean failed to prevail against his young team-mate, Margaritis, took no unnecessary risks and at the end of the day, he scored two points. Grade: 3

Good race performance: Martin Tomczyk gains four positionsMartin Tomczyk (4th / 8th / 4th / 12th / 13th / 8th): In the practice sessions, Martin made clear that he wants to be a factor again, in 2006, following the set-backs he had to cope with in the 2005 season. In the race, however, and particularly in the qualifying session, he failed to make full use of his potential. Still, he gained some positions in the race to score the final point. Martin is determined to strike back in round three, at Oschersleben. Grade: 3

Timo Scheider (2nd / 12th / 11th / 13th / 4th / 9th): Timo made a good start into the race, thus compensating for his poor qualifying result. The DTM repatriate came very close to scoring a point, but at the end of the day he failed to prevail in the battle with Alesi - and lost crucial ground due to a problem during his pit stop. Grade: 3

Pierre Kaffer (6th / 13th / 7th / 11th / 10th / 10th): Pierre was a classic victim of the DTM field’s extreme competitiveness. When it came to the pace, the young gun from the Eifel region was able to match the front-runners at any time but his eleventh grid position was anything than optimal. And in the race, he failed to gain positions. Grade: 4