Matthias Ekström (Audi) won the second round of the DTM championship in Valencia. Canadian driver Bruno Spengler finished third and is the new championship leader.
Ekström clinched his first 2010 victory, and Audi takes his revenge after his bad week-end in Hockenheim, where Mercedes took a 1-2-3-4. But Mercedes’ week-end was still positive on a circuit where the brand from Stuttgart expected to be in trouble.
Bruno Spengler missed the pole position by only 16 thousands of a second, and takes 3rd place at the end of the race, after he lost one position on a pit stops. With this result, the Canadian moves up to first in the provisional championship standing, one point ahead of Ekström.
It was another difficult race for 2008 and 2009 champion Timo Scheider, who finished only 6th aboard his Audi. David Coulthard (Mercedes) took the 13th place.
"It was a difficult race," explained Spengler to auto123.com . "The grip conditions were very changing all day. I had a poor start, which was my mistake, but I was able to keep my position, being in the inside line.
"Then we choose a aggressive strategy, to stop earlier than the Audi. That was necessary to stay in front, but then it was difficult to finish the race with old tires, and my last run was 20 laps long, so it was difficult.
"I had to defend my position all along the race, the pressure was there but I stayed in third. I’m leading the championship, that’s great, but it’s also a best way to thank all the team that did a great job.”
Race Result:
1 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi A4 09 in 1:09'56"290
2 - Martin Tomczyk (Audi A4 09) + 0"435
3 - Bruno Spengler (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 3"547
4 - Alexandre Prémat (Audi A4 08) + 4"614
5 - Timo Scheider (Audi A4 09) + 5"274
6 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 8"639
7 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A4 08) + 12"812
8 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 16"445
etc.
Championship standings: 1. Spengler 14 points, 2. Ekström 13, 3. Paffett 11, 4. Tomczyck et Di Resta 8, 6. Green, Scheider et Rockenfeller 6, etc.
Ekström clinched his first 2010 victory, and Audi takes his revenge after his bad week-end in Hockenheim, where Mercedes took a 1-2-3-4. But Mercedes’ week-end was still positive on a circuit where the brand from Stuttgart expected to be in trouble.
Bruno Spengler missed the pole position by only 16 thousands of a second, and takes 3rd place at the end of the race, after he lost one position on a pit stops. With this result, the Canadian moves up to first in the provisional championship standing, one point ahead of Ekström.
It was another difficult race for 2008 and 2009 champion Timo Scheider, who finished only 6th aboard his Audi. David Coulthard (Mercedes) took the 13th place.
"It was a difficult race," explained Spengler to auto123.com . "The grip conditions were very changing all day. I had a poor start, which was my mistake, but I was able to keep my position, being in the inside line.
"Then we choose a aggressive strategy, to stop earlier than the Audi. That was necessary to stay in front, but then it was difficult to finish the race with old tires, and my last run was 20 laps long, so it was difficult.
"I had to defend my position all along the race, the pressure was there but I stayed in third. I’m leading the championship, that’s great, but it’s also a best way to thank all the team that did a great job.”
Race Result:
1 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi A4 09 in 1:09'56"290
2 - Martin Tomczyk (Audi A4 09) + 0"435
3 - Bruno Spengler (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 3"547
4 - Alexandre Prémat (Audi A4 08) + 4"614
5 - Timo Scheider (Audi A4 09) + 5"274
6 - Paul Di Resta (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 8"639
7 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A4 08) + 12"812
8 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C Klasse 09) + 16"445
etc.
Championship standings: 1. Spengler 14 points, 2. Ekström 13, 3. Paffett 11, 4. Tomczyck et Di Resta 8, 6. Green, Scheider et Rockenfeller 6, etc.