Canadian Bruno Spengler started the DTM race at the Lausiztring in 5th place and drove a strong race to claim second position behind his teammate Gary Paffett.
The day started on an encouraging note for Spengler who set the 3rd fastest time during the warm-up session, just one tenth of a second down to Tom Kristensen (Audi) and Jamie Green of Mercedes-Benz. A big crowd - about 80,000 - came to see the second round of the season at the Lausitzring. At the green, polesitter Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) jumped into the lead. Behind the Swede, the positions remained unchanged. This is not an easy track to pass. Spengler was running in 5th place, blocked by Timo Scheider. This is when Spengler's and Gary Paffett's enginners masterminded a brilliant strategy. Instead of leaving them in traffic, they decided to delay their two mandatory pit stops as long as possible. The plan worked to perfection. While race leaders Ekstrom and Paul Di Resta did their stops early in the race, Paffett and Spengler pushed their cars to the limits. The strategy worked out beautifully. After their second stop, they returned in the fray in first and second position. With less than 10 laps to go, Spengler was three second down to Paffett. He closed the gap but unfortunately was never in a position to attack the Briton. Paffett and Spengler scored the one-two finish for Mercedes-Benz, beating Ekstron for Audi. "I was a little bit faster than Gary at the end, but I was never in a position to pass him," said Spengler. "It was a perfect strategy for the race. I ran all alone for most of the race and I was able to push really hard. After my second pit stop, I was surprised to hear the team tell me that I was in 2nd position. It worked out to perfection. The guys at Mercedes-Benz worked extremely hard, night and day to make the car more performant and especially fast on old tires. Well done." Photos: René Fagnan - Auto123.com
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