- 2 days ago
see more Racing on :
https://linktr.ee/SportsClassics.stream
https://linktr.ee/SportsClassics.stream
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:25Hello my name is Matthias Ekstrom, I'm Jamie Grieg, Timo Scheider, Bruno Spengler, Mike
00:29Rockenfeller and we are here at the Norris Ring. And I hope you enjoy watching the race here
00:33on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit and I hope you enjoy watching the race here in
00:37Sanford. Have fun and welcome to the Circuit de Catalonia in Barcelona. I hope you're gonna
00:41have fun watching the final race in Hockenheim.
00:51Hello welcome to our review of the 2009 DTM season. 20 drivers
00:59drawn from eight different nations, two great motor manufacturers going head to head, Audi and
01:07Mercedes-Benz. This is the ultimate in touring car racing, racetracks of course, all around Europe.
01:18And both Audi and Mercedes-Benz again had four car top squads with the 2009 machines.
01:29Well, as is tradition, the season would start and end at Hockenheim. On hand, the German-Irish
01:38band Ramon, who have written the DTM anthem, Faith. And Ramon's Regavi saying, Formula One's a fantastic
01:49sport, but the DTM has a certain character all of its own. And we particularly support Martin Tomczyk,
01:55he's a marvellous driver. We know each other well, and I'm wishing him all the best for this year,
02:01keeping my fingers crossed for this upcoming race. He's starting in third place, but I think
02:07he's definitely going to finish first. Well, let's see if that is right. Ramon, of course, playing live
02:14just before the start of the race. But it's Ekstrom in the red bull car for Audi, making the best
02:21start
02:21here. We can see it from another angle. Ekstrom, one of the top four Audi drivers.
02:31Here is Timo Scheider, the reigning champion. Unfortunately, I stalled my car right at the
02:39start. So, Ramon's favourite having a problem at the start. Gary Paffet involved in a first lap
02:48incident. An incident which would cost him dearly throughout the season.
02:53Basically, I must have braked a bit late because Alex turned in in front of me and I was on
02:57the
02:57inside of the track and basically I just couldn't stop the car enough and hit the back of Alex's car.
03:04And others were involved as well, including Ralph Schumacher.
03:10And Ralph promoted this season to the top squad, having had his first year in DTM in 2008,
03:18and that's what happened to him. Unfortunately, I had a little get-together with some teammates
03:24and other people on the track.
03:29More incident. Ralph Schumacher did recover. There he is in the Trilux car.
03:36Bruno Spengler crabbing badly. Suspension damage. That dented his hopes.
03:44And it was all left to Paul de Resta to salvage something for Mercedes Benz.
03:50Their season was starting in horrendous fashion. And this was the comment of Paul de Resta.
03:57It's been a pretty disappointing weekend. Your performance has not been nearly good enough.
04:02We have to analyse this why it was. The winter testing has been going great. I've been very
04:06comfortable in the car. But, you know, I'm sure we can get it together.
04:11Ektron was running away with the race. And then, with two laps a go, he suddenly slowed.
04:18Timo Scheider, therefore, took second place.
04:21In the end, it's P2. Eight points. That's something really, really important for the championship.
04:25But here was a man who had been denied of that ten points. He had dominated the race, but then
04:33the puncture.
04:35The race was two laps too long to get ten points and only to get two. It's for sure a
04:42difference.
04:42But I know the season is long. If the God in heaven is fair, maybe the others also will have
04:47some bad luck.
04:48But I'm sure I had mine for this year.
04:52Yeah, bad luck. He lost a lot of time.
04:54Hockenheim did actually finish in the end. And victory, therefore, handed to the veteran Tom Christensen in the 100 years
05:03of Audi.
05:03That's the white car there.
05:07But Audi absolutely dominating at Hockenheim.
05:13And a wonderful start of the season for Tom Christensen, the Great Dane.
05:19It was a great weekend for us, for Audi in general.
05:24Winning the race and having four Audis on the first four places is absolutely amazing.
05:32We missed one. Matthias Ekstrom was dominating through the whole weekend.
05:40And the Danish national anthem sung out loud there by Toby Wilson.
05:46An emotional moment for Tom Christensen.
05:50And what a start to his season.
05:54On then to round two at the impressive Eurospeedway Lauschitz.
06:00And it was here that Gary Paffitt scored his first victory of the season.
06:09Bruno Spengler came second.
06:11And Ekstrom was third.
06:13And there they are, up on the podium.
06:17You can say definitely the strategy was what won us the race.
06:19But also the pace we had in the car to be able to do the lap times was also key.
06:24So I think the team obviously did a fantastic job with both the car and the strategy.
06:29You know, to get in front after the first stop and then hold that to the end was fantastic.
06:35Yeah, that's what Gary Paffitt had done to take this victory.
06:39Stayed out for 24 laps.
06:41A long first stint.
06:42And that was a very worthwhile strategy.
06:46In the closing stages, Bruno Spengler was certainly charging hard after him.
06:51But the Mercedes-Benz won two.
06:54They were definitely back.
06:55Thanks to my team also for the strategy.
06:57It was very good.
06:58I could drive the second stint.
06:59I was always alone.
07:02Paul de Reste had spent the whole race pursuing Matthias Ekstrom.
07:07He's got put on a lot of pressure.
07:11But Ekstrom was always in control of the situation.
07:16There the Red Bull car in front of the white Mercedes-Benz.
07:22The car was feeling very good for a few laps.
07:25Then we pitted two times and I recognised that the two Mercedes guys run a different strategy
07:29and overtook me on strategy.
07:32Then to finish P3 was for sure not what I was dreaming about.
07:35I think all Audis were very focused on what my strategy was going to be.
07:39And, you know, it was disappointing because we by far had the quickest car out there today.
07:43And, you know, we would have easily won had it been all right.
07:47At the start of the race, Duresta lost out to Ekstrom who was starting from his second pole of the
07:53season.
07:54Two out of two.
07:56Behind them, Mike Rockenfella in the red Audi was responsible for holding up Timo Scheider in the black A4.
08:05Rockenfella initially in second place.
08:08It's a bit disappointing to see what Rockenfella did at the first corner.
08:12You know, he clearly gained an advantage doing what he did.
08:15I left him no room and he drove over the Ludwig kerb and got in front of me.
08:18And, you know, that was my race done for the day.
08:21An unhappy Paul Duresta. Let's just see what he was talking about there.
08:25Paul in the white car with the red mirrors.
08:30I went into my pit and that was the main situation I had in the race.
08:34And we lost the right, left rear wheel nut.
08:37So that was about four and a half seconds we lost.
08:41That was maybe the podium we lost in the end of the day.
08:45Yeah, there you see the pit stop rather than the 3.2, 3.3 seconds.
08:50Well, it actually took nine seconds.
08:53So Timo Scheider's defence of his title not really getting off to a very good start at all in 2009.
09:04And celebrations for Gary Paffet and he leaps onto the podium.
09:13Race three then, the Norris Ring.
09:16David Coulthard was there, so was Mika Hakkinen.
09:21This is always a massive meeting, racing around the streets of Nuremberg.
09:32It's a very tricky circuit indeed, very short but takes some very special techniques.
09:42A very big crowd here.
09:45This in the famous rallying grounds of Nuremberg.
09:50Certainly David Coulthard was impressed with everything that he saw.
09:54But what did the recently retired Formula One driver have to say about his future?
09:59I have an open mind for my future in terms of racing.
10:02I knew that this year I wouldn't race anything because I did 26 years from karting until Formula One.
10:09And I became a father, as you said, recently.
10:12And I wanted to spend a bit of different time with the family.
10:15But I still go to the Grand Prix's.
10:17I still have friends, obviously, within Mercedes-Benz.
10:19And we'll see what the future holds.
10:22And what did the future hold for the race?
10:25Timo Scheider starting from a pole position in the black and silver Audi.
10:31Ekstrom there alongside him.
10:34Pappet also well up, fresh from that victory in the previous round.
10:39Down to the first Grundig hairpin.
10:45And we've seen all sorts of incidents here in the past.
10:52And it's the two Audis, literally side by side, followed by the two Mercedes-Benz.
11:01Sweeping past the walls of the vast stadium.
11:10Bits of fiberglass red flying.
11:14And into the wall there, Mike, sorry, Oliver Jarvis,
11:18who's had a great start to the season in Hockenheim.
11:21But Jarvis into the wall after that.
11:26Some confusion after the restart.
11:31There's the order.
11:31Ekstrom, Scheider, Spengler and Pappet.
11:42First lap, the last corner, Timo brake too late and went right.
11:46So I passed him.
11:46Then the safety car board came.
11:48And for me, it was clear that I was in front.
11:49But the race director saw it differently.
11:51For sure, I will go and ask them and watch the videos and see who is right.
11:55And more problems for Ekstrom at his first stop.
12:02Again, losing time in the pit stop.
12:08And look how they came out and Pappet carrying a lot of speed.
12:12There's Ekstrom.
12:13Pappet goes straight past him.
12:21So, a troubled season thus far for Matthias Ekstrom, despite his speed.
12:28Scheider, his first stop, passed off without incident.
12:33And there he is, back in the lead.
12:39Bruno Spengler coming out of the pits.
12:44But drops behind at Timo Scheider.
12:49Spengler, of course, the French-Canadian.
12:52Very much part of the scene in the DTM for many years.
12:55Pappet's car, you can't miss that.
12:58The white car with the orange nose.
13:01Jamie Green, though, was starting to charge hard.
13:03There he is in the blue car.
13:05We go on board with him.
13:09Green this year in a year-old car.
13:12Watching on there, Timo Scheider's partner, Jasmine.
13:17And just look at Green here, getting plenty of grip down the inside.
13:21Trying to get past Scheider.
13:23And then switching sides, going down the inside.
13:26This was some of the best racing we saw all season.
13:29And look at Green, fantastic manoeuvre for him.
13:32Takes him into the lead, right in the closing stages here.
13:37Magnificent racing.
13:38Timo was going very wide in the first corner, which enabled me to get very close towards the chicane.
13:43And I had a look on the previous lap and Timo closed the door.
13:47And then the next lap, I tried to surprise him and make the same move.
13:50And I committed to the move.
13:52I knew if I made half a move, it would probably end in a crash.
13:55So I had to commit and get really down the inside of him.
13:58And it worked out really well.
14:00Well, let's see it again.
14:02And we certainly barged his way through, didn't we, Jamie Green?
14:05But he saw the opportunity, as he said, and he absolutely went for it.
14:10And Green, of course, dropped back to that year-old squad for this season.
14:15And Ralf Schumacher moving up to the top squad.
14:19Some discussion about that in various circles.
14:23But Jamie Green takes the chequered flag.
14:26Mercedes-Benz seventh successive win here at the Norris Ring.
14:30But what about Timo Scheider?
14:33The situation with Jamie was quite tough, but it was like touring car racing is.
14:38So, yeah, in the end, unlucky fourth place.
14:41But we are still leading the championship.
14:43That's important, and that's something nice.
14:46Yeah, Jamie bathed there in the bubbly.
14:51But Timo Scheider leading the driver's standings,
14:55followed by Spengler, Pafit Green and Ekstrom.
14:59Pafit Green and Ekstrom all on equal points.
15:03So, that was the Norris Ring.
15:05We moved on to round four.
15:08The first non-German race of the season by the seaside at Sandvoort in Holland.
15:13And it brought a major surprise in qualifying.
15:17This young man, Oliver Jarvis, in a year-old Audi, put his car on the pole position.
15:23There we see the virtual grid, the red car of Oliver Jarvis, and alongside him, Gary Pafit.
15:31Behind Bruno Spengler, and also in another 08 Audi, Mike Rockenfella.
15:37Paul Duresta and Alexandre Premat, another 08 Audi.
15:41They obviously had a good setup for those cars.
15:46But Sandvoort always a fast run down into the long, long right-hander.
15:52That is the Tarzan curve.
15:53Bit of bumping and boring going on early on with Rockenfella getting stuck in.
15:58But it was Jarvis who was into the first corner first.
16:04But Gary Pafit was certainly looking for a good result here.
16:09See the start again.
16:12And, well, Rockenfella right into the side of Paul Duresta, Mercedes-Benz.
16:17Norbert Haag wasn't impressed with that.
16:20But look at Pafit, all the way round the outside, trying to pass Jarvis.
16:26Jarvis in his second season of the DTM.
16:28Pit stops, as ever, would be crucial.
16:35There is Pafit in. Here comes Jarvis.
16:42And out they went.
16:44And had the order changed, no Jarvis just holding on in front of Pafit.
16:49Out on the track, it was Bruno Spengler, who was now leading from Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk.
17:02Jarvis, under a lot of pressure, made this small mistake.
17:06And in a trice, Pafit was passed.
17:10But Jarvis certainly had given good account of himself and showed that he had plenty of speed.
17:15He just ran slightly wide and Gary was able to dive up the inside.
17:20So my mistake, my fault, and unfortunately it cost me a potential victory.
17:25Yeah, so Jarvis holding his hand up there to the mistake.
17:30Ekstrom making his first pit stop.
17:32He'd stayed out long.
17:36Out of the track, then the lead, now with Gary Pafit.
17:41Ekstrom rejoining and racing wheel-to-wheel with Paul Diresta.
17:46Just saw that dive plane fly up.
17:48Here's Pafit's second pit stop.
17:52And it's a good one.
17:54What about Audi?
17:56Oh, I don't think they've got enough fuel in there.
17:59The man shaking his head.
18:02And added to that, Audi knew that their fuel consumption here at Zandvoort was a little bit on the edge.
18:11Ekstrom fighting back and getting past his teammates easily.
18:17Yeah, I'm quite happy with today, starting ninth, finishing second.
18:20It's nice for collecting points for the championship.
18:24What is to remember from the weekend is the good car from the race and also the qualifying speed.
18:30And next time we have to make sure to start a bit further up.
18:33But suggestions afterwards that Ekstrom's drive through the field was assisted by team orders.
18:40And that's what the stewards actually decided.
18:44But Gary Pafit took the victory here.
18:47Norbert Haug happy with that, but not happy with the Audi team tactics at all.
18:53The car was fantastic. The car was really fast.
18:56And I was able just to pace myself just to try and keep the tyres in good shape and get
19:00it home.
19:00And from there it was relatively easy once we got in front.
19:04The last five laps I was really cruising, trying to save the tyres.
19:07So I think we'd have won by a fairly big margin if we keep going at the pace we were,
19:11yeah.
19:12Win number two of the season for Gary Pafit. He went to the top of the standings.
19:19So four races down, two to Mercedes, two to Audi.
19:31On then to Osher Sleben, always a popular race.
19:36But for pole-setter Tom Christensen, something of a disaster.
19:39He'd rolled forward a couple of inches.
19:43It would have been perfect if Tom could have made it with a proper start
19:48and not being again penalised with a drive-through, which cost him more than 30 seconds.
19:55And indeed, yes, Tom Christensen had been told over the radio the problem,
20:00didn't get a good start. Still thinking about that.
20:03So a disaster for Tom Christensen, despite his fantastic qualifying.
20:09But let's find out what Timo Scheider thought.
20:12That was one of the key points today, to beat straight away Tom into the first corner.
20:17And I managed it, actually. It was a great feeling.
20:19And afterwards I knew that it's more or less a good race for us.
20:28And a car's out wide at the start there.
20:31And Bruno Spengler certainly in the middle of all that.
20:36And the French-Canadian, well, sandwiched in and bits flying from his car.
20:43The problem was at turn one, I was next to Oliver Jarvis and
20:47Mike Rockefeller had a very, very optimistic launch on the inside and pushed me onto
20:52Oliver Jarvis and I was a bit stuck in sandwich between both of them for turn two.
20:58Then Oliver Jarvis pushed me a bit wide and then Paul Di Resta overtook me on the inside.
21:04Tom Christensen had to make a stop-and-go penalty
21:08and Ekstrom had already passed Martin Tomczyk. And we can hear from Martin.
21:15The second chicane, I went too fast over that chicane. I got the understeer,
21:20came on the pick-up and came too wide so I couldn't go on throttle. And Matthias
21:25was on a perfect line and he, yeah, he take the chance and overtook me there. I had no chance.
21:33Meanwhile, Gary Pafik, there he is, the orange nose car. He was certainly making up a lot of places.
21:40Three laps right at the start.
21:45I had to do it pretty quickly, so I saw a gap. I went for the gap and we touched
21:49a bit, but it was quite fair.
21:53But after that, some aerodynamic damage to the salt skitter back car.
21:59Just knocking off some of the rear dive planes, as you can see there.
22:07Also here at this Osischleben racetrack, it's very hard on tyres, so all the drivers taking that into consideration.
22:17Generally, it's considered that the Audis are a bit harder on their rear tyres than the Mercedes-Benz.
22:25Meanwhile, Norbert Haug had this comment.
22:29If you're handicapped with four tenths of a second, if you carry 20 kilos with you after
22:37three race wins in a row, then it's just a handicap. And I think the guys did a great job,
22:42executed a fine strategy.
22:44Yeah, of course, success ballast used in the DTM. Here's a Mike Rockenfella incident.
22:51Well, he took Premat out, a teammate, and Rocky had this to say after that incident.
22:59This time I was so late on the brakes that when he closed basically the door and tried to take
23:05the corner,
23:06which I would have done the same probably, then I couldn't reduce the speed as much as I wanted.
23:13And I locked up the front wheels and I touched him. And yeah, unfortunately it happened with Alex.
23:19But still, I think we talked about it.
23:21Yeah, Alex Premat having a string of non-finishes the early part of the DTM season.
23:30Christensen just passing Jamie Green to get the last point available.
23:36But Scheider had kept out of everyone's way and took the victory here.
23:44I'm really happy that right now we did it quite well. We had proper pit stops, proper strategy.
23:49So thank you very much for this.
23:52Yes, the win for Audi, but four Mercedes-Benz managed to score points.
23:57It was still very even between Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
24:03There the Audi boys up on the podium. They'd had a one, two, three.
24:08And it left the championship looking like this.
24:11Pappet with 28 points and Ekstrom with 28 points halfway through the season.
24:17Timo Scheider, Bruno Spengler, Paul Direster were following in their wake.
24:25On then to the second half of the season and amongst the VIPs at the Nürburgring was Christina Sturmer,
24:34a well-known singer in Germany. There she poses with Martin Tomczyk and then climbed aboard an Audi A4.
24:43And she was certainly wrapped up in the excitement. She's actually from Austria and always very successful in the German
24:51charts.
24:52She was certainly enjoying her day.
24:56Well, we're touring at the moment. A lot of concerts we're doing.
24:59We normally play to our own fans. Here it's completely different, quite a change.
25:05We're basically just like visitors. We're surrounded by the noise of the engines. It's so totally different.
25:12But it's great to play to a different crowd. And some of them probably haven't heard of me,
25:17but we're trying to win some new fans as well. And I've certainly become a fan of the DTM.
25:2686,000 fans packed in the Nürburgring grandstands. Nürburgring recently had a major facelift with
25:35all the buildings. And the crowd are here to enjoy themselves.
25:44And off they go. Incidentally, Tom Christensen had announced that this would be his last DTM season.
25:55Into that first hairpin, which has claimed so many victims in the past.
26:00And apparently one of them, Gary Puffett, down there.
26:05I got hit by Catherine, you know, on my rear wheel, which was very frustrating.
26:11You know, it put us all the way to the back of the field and we had to fight back
26:14past,
26:14first of all, the collars cars and then through everybody else.
26:18Yeah, it was definitely a major blow to Gary Puffett's championship effort.
26:28She kind of said, sorry, yes, but it's not enough.
26:30You know, I think in such a long race to do something stupid like this in turn one is unacceptable.
26:38And there were more incidents to come as well.
26:46Ekstrom and Spengler getting together.
26:54There you see it in replay.
26:59In turn three, braking for turn three, I braked on the inside to defend my position.
27:04Matthias Ekstrom was a bit optimistic, I think, on the brakes.
27:07So it was just a mistake from himself.
27:10He just broke my car, just drove into me basically on the brakes at turn three,
27:14drove me wide and broke everything on the rear left of my car.
27:18My car was just very difficult to control for the next five corners.
27:21After turn two, I saw that Bruno were a bit slow exiting in turn two and I wanted to overtake
27:26him.
27:26Then I misjudged a bit on the braking and I touched him on the rear,
27:30which wasn't planned and I destroyed my car a bit, but I could overtake him still.
27:35Two turns further on and Audi lost another car.
27:41Tom Christensen hit from behind and spun into the barrier.
27:46Oliver Jarvis seemed to be involved with that.
27:52And Ralph Schumacher, who had started from the back, certainly got a good view of it.
27:58But whatever, Christensen was out.
28:04Tomczyk, Scheider and Ekstrom were now the fastest men on the circuit.
28:09And Winklehot was going well.
28:12Paffet was on a charge, up to position 11th after 17 laps.
28:20But he needed a brilliant race strategy from those men to help him.
28:27And look at that, Paul de Resta losing his rear spoiler gave the Scotsman a huge shock.
28:38You know, we need to keep our heads down, plough into the wind and, you know, there's still a lot
28:42of points up for grabs.
28:44And, you know, miracles can happen.
28:46And I'm just going to try and fight at least for some victories for the for the rest of the
28:50year and hopefully to gain some height in the championship.
28:53Yes, there's the wing collected and the championship swinging back out his way.
29:00Pit stops here for Scheider and Tomczyk.
29:07And a very quick one indeed for Tomczyk.
29:13Here they come out of the pits in front of Matthias Ekstrom.
29:23Scheider only just making it in front of the hard-charging Swede.
29:27The double DTM champion yet to score a win in 2009.
29:34There's Ralph Schumacher.
29:54Schumacher then having his best drive of the season, which has been somewhat disappointing, but it was all going out
30:01his way.
30:01It had the one, two, three at Ossischleben and now another tremendous result, another lockout on the podium here and
30:10the first victory of the season for Martin Tomczyk.
30:12At the end, we are really happy to finish one, two, three, like in Ossischleben already.
30:17So that was really a perfect weekend for Audi and for sure for myself.
30:22And let's not forget a very good fourth place for Markus Winkelhock in one of the 08 cars.
30:32And plenty of bubbly to wet our lens as the season headed to Brands Hatch.
30:44Lots of speculation here when Frank Williams arrived and they're speaking to his old driver, Ralph Schumacher.
30:54Ralph had most of his 4-1 success with Sir Frank, of course.
31:00I'm impressed how professional everything appears to be, but also impressed by the atmosphere,
31:08which is very friendly and relaxed and it's not too intense.
31:13Lewis Hamilton was on hand for a second year at the DTM. Of course he used to race alongside these
31:20cars
31:20when he was winning the Formula 3 Euro Series, so he knows all about the DTM. Lots of fans there
31:27to greet him.
31:30And Lewis also got to do some laps in a road-going Mercedes-Benz and was very impressive indeed in
31:37the AMG machine.
31:39Threw some lucky prize, give us around the Kentish 1.3 mile circuit.
31:46I think what's so special firstly about the event, I think they put on a great show,
31:50but the fact that the fans can get so close to the drivers and to the cars and to have
31:56a real feeling
31:56of a real race weekend, that's probably why it's so unique. And then the racing is great, you know,
32:02you've got these cars that we actually have on the road, similar cars to what we have on the road,
32:05and they put on the great show.
32:10Well, they are of course custom-built space frame chassis with carbon fiber and Kevlar bodies and
32:17the V8 racing engines, but they certainly look like Audi A4s and Mercedes C-Types. And this race
32:24starting very well for Paul de Resta. We're on board here with Martin Tomczyk.
32:31Bruno Spengler had a very good start as well. Now Schumacher seeing some of the flying carbon fiber.
32:44But it was another race that was looking very good indeed for Audi. There is Tomczyk,
32:51there's Christiansen, Pathet chasing them.
33:02Hextrom in fourth place.
33:10I got held up by Tom Christensen at the start for the first, most of the first stint,
33:15but managed to get past him, which is important.
33:19And look at this battle here, and Tom Christensen getting stuck in the boys in the pits, certainly enjoyed that.
33:28Jamie Green and Tom Christensen, and again Jamie Green showing he knows how to find a way through.
33:36Lewis Hamilton certainly enjoying the action there down in the Mercedes pits.
33:45Paul de Resta had put in a series of very fast mid-race laps.
33:52And look where the Scott rejoins in front of his teammates.
34:05Spengler and Tomczyk seem to be lacking a bit of pace here.
34:08The only problem I had is I had a puncture at turn one.
34:11I lost the rear of the car because of that puncture and went wide into the gravel.
34:16And then Martin Topczyk could overtake me because I just couldn't control the car anymore.
34:22And something of a turbulent end to the race.
34:25Matthias Lauder in one of the eight Mercedes had this very big incident, no injury fortunately.
34:31Then the pace car came out and that's not what Paul de Resta had really wanted.
34:37For sure it doesn't make things easy and you know there's all these things going through your head,
34:41can something break or whatever and it just gives you a moment where you try to think about what's going
34:46to happen.
34:47Then there was this big incident there.
34:50Tom Christensen helped into the barrier in the closing stages by Bruno Spengler.
34:56Tom climbed out shaken. The stewards did not take any action afterwards.
35:02But it was a great day for Paul de Resta. The man who finished second in the 08 championship took
35:08his
35:08first victory of 2009 and won the race in absolutely superb style and certainly made Norbert Howe happy.
35:18So still everything is possible. We won four out of seven races and this is the 150s and
35:24thanks to Paul, thanks to the team, it was a great achievement.
35:31Overall I'm really happy with P2. We managed to make a gap, made a gap right now with five points
35:36I think in the championship. That's positive. That was my main target for this weekend.
35:40And I hope we can continue this performance.
35:44Damon Hill presented the trophy, but as Scheider said, it was starting to look very good for him.
35:50He'd extended his advantage in the points table over Ekstrom and Pafit.
36:01On then to Spain, the most southerly of the DTM races. Barcelona on a shortened version of the Grand Prix
36:10track.
36:12And Timo Scheider had a very good getaway in the black car. There he is going around the outside.
36:21I had the rest covered. I had Tomczyk covered. And then on the left side I suddenly see in my
36:26mirror
36:26the black car. And I couldn't believe it. And I realised of course the black car, the rest was last
36:32year.
36:32So he used the black car. So then I realised it was Timo. I was obviously very careful with him
36:38through turn one.
36:40Well, let's look at it again in replay. Certainly Tom Christiansen fastest away at the beginning.
36:46There's Timo Scheider. We go on board with him. It was an awesome start, no question.
36:53I just tried to catch Gary straight away at the start, but actually I managed to catch all four
37:00down to turn one. That was an amazing start and a great feeling.
37:05Yeah, and Timo Scheider catapulting into the lead there. Absolutely fantastic start and so important for him.
37:11When he reflects back on his championship year, I know he'll consider that start was absolutely of paramount importance.
37:24Christensen going well here. There's Susie Stoddard, the other British lady driver.
37:31And she got involved in this incident with Catherine Legg and Catherine off backwards.
37:39So the two ladies in a controversial incident there. Here's Timo Scheider just passing one of the Collies
37:4707 cars in second place, Tom Christiansen.
37:53Gary Paffett was doing all he could, but the hopes were looking pretty slim now for Mercedes there.
37:58He passes team mate Paul de Resta.
38:01We struggled quite a lot towards the mid part to the end of the race and we're not really sure
38:05why.
38:05We just struggled with the balance. We get races like this, it works tremendously hard.
38:10But you know Brands Hatch we had it quite easy, so we need to analyse why.
38:16So again Paul de Resta needing to do some analysis after the race.
38:21So with him and Bruno Spengler dropping back.
38:26It was again looking great for Audi.
38:32The Ekstrom pit stop.
38:36Out he goes rejoining in fifth place behind Gary Paffett.
38:43As ever in DTM the strategies of the pit stops are very important.
38:49Balancing the weight of the car as the fuel burns off against having a fresh set of tyres.
38:55Battle for third place Tomchik versus Paffett.
39:06And then in the end he was extremely slow.
39:08And then I thought yeah with that speed I think I can nearly pass him on the outside.
39:12But this he already realised and let me go wide and then I lost one more place.
39:19Yeah Ekstrom dropping back.
39:21Timo Scheider though well in the lead here.
39:24And Timo Scheider took the victory.
39:27And increased his lead at the top of the table.
39:31It had been a great race for the man with Super Mario on his helmet.
39:38In the very end everything worked out and we won the race.
39:41It's a nice day for us.
39:43Yeah and afterwards he kissed his car.
39:46I think we have to just focus on trying to get more consistency out of the car speed.
39:50And we can again challenge for pole position and race wins at the next two races.
39:55That's what we have to do.
39:56Yeah pretty well that was the only way now that Gary Paffett could stop.
40:01Timo Scheider winning the championship.
40:03The penultimate race will be held in France.
40:07A new circuit.
40:09We're heading off to Dijon.
40:23Yes Dijon the capital of Burgundy in the east of France.
40:30Famous of course for its mustard and indeed its food.
40:36A track with a great Grand Prix history as well.
40:39And the race certainly captured the imagination of the local race fans who attended in their many thousands.
40:47Huge queues to get into the race.
40:50And Jean Alessi was also on hand.
40:57Jean of course contested some 52 DTM races between 2002 and 2006 after his Grand Prix career.
41:07So who would it be here?
41:09The Mercedes Benz hopes were now very slim.
41:13But nevertheless they were looking good in qualifying and then at the start of the race.
41:19Well certainly things were starting to go the way of the Stuttgart manufacturer.
41:33I had a very good start.
41:35First laps were quite okay and then I found out that I had some problems on the rear left.
41:40The whole race actually with older tyres and couldn't really push all the time because I really was struggling with
41:45the rear left.
41:47Let's see that start again and Bruno Spengler in the silver great car was supported here by his father and
41:56other members of his family.
41:58Almost sees this as his local racetrack.
42:01Although he had actually crashed here in a test some years before so he had painful memories of the swooping
42:08Burgundy circuit.
42:10And look at this. A rear puncture for the championship leader Timo Scheider. Timo with problems.
42:19Already my first stint I had a puncture rear left and the second last corner but unfortunately yeah it was
42:24in the second last corner.
42:25I was happy that it happened there because I had not so far to the pits.
42:31And now there were worries that the other Audi's would have a similar problem because this circuit very,
42:37very, very hard on that left rear tyre on board here with Gary Paffett.
42:44And how quickly can fortunes change?
42:50And another Audi puncture this time for Christiansen.
42:55And there was worried looks in the Audi garage.
43:02Tom Christiansen not a happy man.
43:04We were told a little bit to be careful with the tyres, which I did, but I didn't get any
43:09warning.
43:10Then suddenly the tyres popped a few laps before the end at the worst possible moment because it was after
43:16my second stop and it was at braking at turn one.
43:19So I had to complete a whole lap with a car screaming on the floor and damaging the car a
43:26lot.
43:26So I thought I would make a little shortcut, which I did, not to put other people in danger as
43:33well.
43:33So yeah, then they gave me the black flag.
43:36Tom not happy with that, Ekstrom on the limit though.
43:42And look at that, his tyre goes as well.
43:45And suddenly it's Paffett in the lead. Ekstrom into the pits.
43:53Dr Ulrich cannot believe it.
43:55Five, six laps from the end, it was last corner.
43:59I wasn't really planning to come in by my own because the vibrations were getting too big.
44:04And then halfway to the pit entrance, it just exploded.
44:08And that was the end of the championship dreams for this year.
44:12Matthias Ekstrom then with an unfortunate blowout, but behind this huge battle for the places.
44:20And Ralph Schumacher going well, Mauro Engel in an 08 Mercedes, having a particularly good race here.
44:26But for Paffett, it was another victory and he kept his championships alive with those 10 points.
44:34Great drive from Gary Paffett to rest to second, Spengler third, Green fourth and Schumacher in fifth.
44:42Mercedes had five cars in the top five positions, a fantastic result for everybody.
44:47You know, three HWA cars on the podium.
44:50You know, we have to say a massive thank you to the team because clearly they've built a very fast,
44:54very reliable car and they've been working very hard all year.
44:59So only Martin Tomczyk and Timo Scheide are actually making up points for Audi.
45:04So the championship would be going to the wire to the very last round.
45:08It came by surprise and we had five tyre failures, which is really tough.
45:15And all of our fast cars lost quite a lot of time with additional pit stops.
45:22And we have to find what the problem was.
45:26So Gary Paffett onto the podium jumps into the air again.
45:31And as we said, his championship hopes were still alive.
45:35It was a slim chance, but maybe there would be another major turn of events in Hockenheim.
45:47So the 10th in this DTM Odyssey of 2009, a nice Jim Bamber cartoon to remember it all by,
45:57including the 18 podiums, the nine poles, the four race wins and the 212 points.
46:06And leaving DTM, it's one eye you are, you are, you are crying a little bit because obviously
46:12over, over this season with Audi, I've gained a lot of friends, especially the very close working
46:17relationship with, uh, with the mechanics, the engineers. So in, and, and DTM is, is a lot,
46:23is all about fans. So in that sense, I will for sure miss, uh, miss some of that.
46:29155,000 of those fans packed themselves into Hockenheim for this final race.
46:36Ekstrom there on the pole. David Coulthard was back watching another DTM race. Gary Paffett
46:43had certainly qualified well. Look at Timo Scheider on the outside. Scheider wanted to keep out of
46:48trouble, of course. Paffett and Scheider, the two champion contenders side by side. Everyone going
46:54quite wide there. Let's see that start again. There is Scheider on the outside, but Ekstrom
47:05getting the best start. I had a proper start straight away, um, like I had in the last, uh,
47:11couple of races as well. Um, so it was quite difficult to, to see Gary and, uh, Matthias, um,
47:17banging door to a door and that was something crazy in the beginning, but I just, uh, had the feeling
47:22to,
47:23to keep my car in one piece. Yeah, some very boisterous stuff going on on the first lap between
47:28Paffett and Ekstrom. Just watch this.
47:37I know Gary. He is a really hard fighter. That is me. And I'm sure I would have done the
47:42same like
47:42he did. Was, uh, I was not expecting, uh, that he would, uh, give me a punch that ended on
47:48the grass,
47:48but everything else was like I know him. Yeah, maybe we can see that incident again. Look at Gary
47:54there. Whoop. Bounces into the side of Ekstrom. Certainly trying very hard. And this is Gary's view.
48:02I was very determined to win this race. Uh, I had to do it to be able to give myself
48:07any chance of
48:07winning the championship. So any opportunity I had to get past Matthias I took. And we had a pretty tense
48:12battle. Yeah, for a few laps. Yeah, that battle continued. Here they are. The pair of them at the
48:18front of the field as that Ralph Schumacher spins out at the back. Absolutely side by side. Banging wheels.
48:32Scheider just watching it. The man hoping to, uh, secure his second successive DTM victory here and
48:39out his third successive victory. And that would be a record. And then this happened.
48:50Ekstrom getting past.
48:53And then down at the next corner. It was still getting very serious indeed.
49:02But already there was a problem for Ekstrom. See that little incident there?
49:07That's the result of it. Something had punctured the radiator. Ekstrom was out. And the double champion
49:13going the whole season without a win. Timo Scheider though was playing it canny. He's learned so much
49:20over the years. One of the most experienced men in the DTM. He just wanted to keep out of trouble.
49:28Take a podium finish.
49:30Take a podium finish. And that would be good enough to beat Gary Paffitt to the championship.
49:40There Scheider on his way.
49:45A spin for Tom Christensen in his last race.
49:52And the car said goodbye Tom on it. But not a race that the Dane will want to remember. It
49:59all went
49:59wrong for him here.
50:02I never give up. I finished. I drove the car. Very damaged over the starting,
50:07the finish line. And there I made a doughnut. Parked it. That's it.
50:13The Audi flags waved. But the man who won the race was Gary Paffitt. But of course,
50:19the championship went to Timo Scheider as the fireworks went off.
50:28And so, Timo Scheider, the DTM champion. It's an amazing feeling. It's quite difficult to describe
50:35my feelings right now. I just know that we have done something amazing today. And we have done,
50:41especially after a tricky beginning of the season, we are fighting back for the end or for the middle
50:47of the season. And then we managed to be on the front in the championship again. And today we managed
50:54to win the championship. That's something crazy and something special. After last year,
51:00to defend the title is a great feeling, but it's quite difficult to describe it.
51:05And this is the way they celebrated that Gary Paffitt had won more races than anyone else.
51:11I'm pretty happy. I've now won four races this year. Twice as many as anybody else. So we did
51:18everything we could today. We came here not expecting to win the championship. There was a chance, but it was
51:22a slim chance. So we came here to try and win the race. And that's what we did. You know,
51:26we gained a few points on Timo, but not enough.
51:30There is the final point score. Timo Scheider winning the championship by five points. And
51:35interestingly, Gary Paffitt had four wins and Audi had four wins. Other six races, of course,
51:41went to Mercedes-Benz. So honours pretty equally shared between the two manufacturers.
51:47But again, it had been a great racing season for the DTM in 2009.
51:52This was a great plan.
51:53This is a great plan.
51:54I have a good plan.
51:55I have a book on the DTMTV.
51:59This is a great plan.
52:00If you've got one of the nests in the same way,
52:01it's got one of the new things to do.
52:01If you're not a good plan.
52:02You will have a good plan.
52:02It's got one of the best things to doing.
Comments