Kristensen claims first season victory for Audi

Kristensen claims first season victory for Audi
For the first time this season, Tom Kristensen crossed the line as the winner with his Siemens Audi A4. Having started from pole-position, the Dane won the third DTM season round in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben from the two Mercedes-Benz-drivers Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class). With his first win of the season, Kristensen took over the lead in the drivers' standings with 26 points from Bernd Schneider (24 points), who finished fifth with his Vodafone AMG Mercedes C-Class. Fourth place went to Heinz-Harald Frentzen with the Veltins Audi A4.

The race at a glance
Air temperature: 17.0 °C
Track temperature: 20.5 °C
Spectators on race weekend: 64.000

Start Kristensen takes the lead from Spengler, Green and Frentzen
Lap 1 Stippler and Abt collide under braking before the Hasseröder corner, Abt through the grass. Scheider spins at McDonald's corner, continues
Lap 5 Order after five laps: Kristensen is leading from Spengler, Green, Fentzen, Häkkinen, Ekström, Tomczyk, Schneider and Margaritis. Abt spins at Hotelcorner
Lap 6 Pit stops for Kristensen, Tomczyk, Schneider, Abt
Lap 7 Pit stop for Frentzen
Lap 8 Stippler into the pits
Lap 9 Pit stop for Ekström
Lap 11 Tielemans into the pits
Lap 13 Bernd Schneider attacks Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Stoddart into the pits
Lap 14 Drive through penalty for Mathias Lauda because of crossing the white line at the pit lane exit. Spengler, Green and Scheider into the pits
Lap 15 Kaffer, Lauda into the pits
Lap 16 Häkkinen and Ickx into the pits. Kristensen tries to get past La Rosa, but can't. Drive through for Timo Scheider because of speeding in the pit lane
Lap 17 Bruno Spengler has closed up to Tom Kristensen, who is stuck behind La Rosa
Lap 18 Kristensen, Spengler into the pits. Kristensen just stays ahead of the Canadian. Scheider into the pits (drive-through)
Lap 19 Schneider, Ekström into the pits
Lap 20 Green, Tomczyk into the pits
Lap 21 Frentzen, Häkkinen, Abt into the pits
Lap 22 Margaritis, Mücke into the pits. Running order halfway through the race: Alesi is leading from La Rosa, Margaritis, Stippler, Kaffer, Kristensen, Spengler, Green, Mücke, Stoddart
Lap 23 Alesi into the pits
Lap 25 Stippler and Alesi into the pits
Lap 26 La Rosa, Kaffer into the pits
Lap 27 Drive through for Stippler because of pit lane speed infringement. Stoddart into the pits
Lap 28 Stippler into the pits (drive through)
Lap 29 Scheider into the pits
Lap 30 Margaritis, Tielemans into the pits
Lap 31 La Rosa into the pits
Lap 32 Kristensen is leading from Spengler, Green, Mücke, Margaritis, Frentzen, Schneider, Tomczyk, Ekström, Häkkinen. Lauda into the pits
Lap 33 Mücke into the pits
Lap 34 Ickx into the pits
Lap 35 Ekström overtakes Tomczyk for seventh under braking before the McDonald's corner
Lap 38 Ekström is closing up on sixth-placed Schneider
Lap 39 Frentzen, Schneider, Ekström, Tomczyk past Margaritis, who appears to have a problem. Alesi overtakes Häkkinen for eighth. Margaritis comes into the pits for a fresh set of tyres
Lap 40 La Rosa und Tielemans collide. Tielemans is being given a drive through for a dangerous manoeuvre
Lap 43 Margaritis into the pits again, retires. Lauda off the track, retires.
Lap 44 Final lap. Finish order: Kristensen wins from Spengler, Green, Frentzen, Schneider, Ekström, Tomczyk, Alesi, Häkkinen and Kaffer
Finish Tom Kristensen scores his second career win in the DTM and the first victory for Audi this year. He finishes ahead of Mercedes-Benz-pairing Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green and takes over the lead in the championship standings. Jean Alesi is the best-placed