Quotes after the race

Bernd Schneider, Vodafone AMG-Mercedes C-Class (Winner): „A great race which was a lot of fun. I had to fight a lot to hold off Ekström. We had a very good strategy and executed our pit stops very fast. I thank everybody in my team. I dedicate this victory to my son Luca who became seven on his birthday on Friday.”
Tom Kristensen, Siemens Audi A4 DTM (2nd place): „That was a good race for me, the strategy and pit stops were perfect, which shows me that I can rely one-hundred per cent on my team. My A4 was very fast, and I was able to overtake several other drivers, which was great fun. Unfortunately, we only had a single set of new tyres with which we could play with in the race. We could have won today if we’d had a second set. Even so I was quicker at the end than the leaders and Mattias, who was directly in front of me. I didn’t try to overtake him, but then he suddenly slowed down, which was lucky for me and means more important points. A pair of second places isn’t such a bad start to the season.”

Mika hugs Bernd after the raceMika Häkkinen, AMG-Mercedes C-Class (3rd place): „This was a tough weekend. We had a very good set-up, but unfortunately I lost time during my second pit stop. However, I finished on the podium like one year ago at this track.”

Jamie Green, Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes C-Class (4th place): „It was a very exciting race for me. First I lost some places and I made an early pit stop that got me stuck in traffic. After that I was driving well and catching up. I’m very happy to score some points.”

Bruno Spengler, DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes C-Class (5th place): „I started well and it was a thrilling race. Fifth is my best DTM finish so far. I hope this was my breakthrough.“

Alexandros Margaritis, Easy Rent AMG-Mercedes C-Class (6th place): „A great race. I’m really happy to finish in the points again after Hockenheim. I thank everybody in the team for their efforts.”

Jean Alesi, stern AMG-Mercedes C-Class (7th place): „An uneventful race for me. I’m glad to finish in the points like I did at Hockenheim. A fair result for me and our team.”

Martin Tomczyk, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM (8th place): „The race, unfortunately, was not very thrilling for me. Now we need to analyse why my car was so difficult to drive. At least I did score one point even though that only happened because Mattias retired. I am sure that we will strike back at Oschersleben.”

9th and 11th place for Timo Scheider and Frank StipplerTimo Scheider, Gebrauchtwagen plus Audi A4 DTM (9th place): „I had a sensational start and immediately gained a few places. The race went well, and so did the first pit stop. The second set of tyres was good also, but I got caught behind Jean Alesi and ruined my tyres. We wanted to overtake him in the pits but he stopped on the same lap. Unfortunately, we had a problem during the second pit stop and dropped behind because of that. We lost a seventh place today that we almost had in our pocket.”

Pierre Kaffer, Castrol Audi A4 DTM (10th place): „I look back on my race with mixed emotions. We did a good job throughout the weekend and I feel very comfortable being part of Audi Sport Team Phoenix. My start and the pace in the race were good but, unfortunately, that little bit of racing luck was not on our side today. I feel that we’re very close and therefore look forward to the next race already.”

Frank Stippler, S line Audi A4 DTM (11th place): „The result could have clearly been better even though the drivability of my car wasn’t as convincing as usual today. We had the same turn-in-oversteer as we did in the qualifying practice. My start was good but in the midst of my Audi colleagues I wasn’t able to take any risk, of course. That’s why I lost a bit of ground in the first corner. I had a hard time overtaking and lapping from my position during the course of the race. With a better qualifying result, the situation would have been different.”

Stefan Mücke, TV-Spielfilm AMG-Mercedes C-Class (12th place): „I’m not satisfied with this result as we haven’t been quick enough all weekend. We had a problem with the balance and I was just not able to achieve more.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Veltins Audi A4 DTM (13th place): „This wasn’t a good day for our team. I didn’t get up to the right speed the whole weekend. We carefully need to analyse the reasons.“

Mathias Lauda, Second Hand AMG-Mercedes C-Class (14th place): „I’m the best driver with a 2004 car which is not bad. My start was not so good, but afterwards I was able to keep up and my fastest lap took less than a second longer than the fastest lap of the race.“

Susie Stoddart, AutoScout24 AMG-Mercedes C-Class (15th place): „The race was fairly boring for me. I am a little disappointed and I know I have to work hard to be better at Oschersleben. Mathias was just better than me.“

Vanina Ickx, Original Zubehör Audi A4 DTM (16th place): „In the beginning of the race there was a misunderstanding with my team-mate. Then I received a drive-through penalty and lost another lap. Added to this was a poor pit stop. I do hope that I’ve finally put my misfortune behind me now.”

Olivier Tielemans, Futurecom Audi A4 DTM (17th place): „I’m disappointed because I had a bad start. Then Vanina and I had a collision, which was too bad of course. I apologised to her. When my team sent me a radio message later, I understood it to mean that I was supposed to pit, which I did of course. What they’d really meant, though, was for me to turn on the pit stop lamp in the side window - a misunderstanding.”

Mattias Ekström, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM (18th place): „My race was going well for a long time. At some stage I wasn’t quite as fast as Mika Häkkinen and Bernd Schneider, but we had opted for another strategy. It was very close. We were able to overtake Häkkinen in the pits but to Schneider we later lost a place. I could have finished as the runner-up but, unfortunately, retired due to lack of fuel. Scoring no points in two races now makes it very difficult for me in the Championship.”

Daniel la Rosa, TrekStor AMG-Mercedes C-Class (retired): „My car ran well and I made a good start. Unfortunately I had to come into the pits after 32 laps due to a steering problem. I was not able to resume.”

Christian Abt, Playboy Audi A4 DTM (retired): „I had a very good start and was already behind Tom Kristensen when Alex Margaritis hit me. After that I wasn’t able to drive any more good times. Unfortunately, the right front wheel wasn’t tightened properly during my pit stop. Nevertheless, I’m optimistic because we took a great step forwards during the qualifying. In the race you also need a bit of luck, and that was simply lacking in my case today.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: „Congratulations to Bernd Schneider and the HWA team on this victory. It was close, but Bernd was a cool fighter and had it under control. His team had the right strategy and executed it well Mika could open a gap at the beginning. Unfortunately the jammed nut at the left rear wheel during his second pit stop cost him time. Both brands had a chance to win today, but with several cars on the same level of performance we were a bit better. Jamie Green had a good speed from pole position, however he was a little bit too impetuous when he passed Mika and this justified that both drivers changed positions again on the last lap as a compensation. Alexandros Margaritis’s performance with the 2005 C-Class is remarkable and it proves that last year’s cars are able to keep up with the front runners and care for variety. To win such a tough competition against the strong Audis is something really special - well done guys and thank you to all team members of HWA, Persson and Mücke.”

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport: „As at Hockenheim we put ourselves in a position where we were able to battle for the lead despite having started from two grid positions that weren’t exactly ideal. Unfortunately Mattias (Ekström) ran out of fuel. The final refill didn’t quite work as it should have. Tom (Kristensen) also had the right pace. In the end the deciding factor was whether the one or other driver could take new or used tyres at the final pit-stop. We are obviously not happy that only one of our A4s was right at the front at the chequer, but we saw an exciting race.”