The entire team got together for dinner on Saturday night, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz. Local favorite Susie Stoddard (actually, she’s Scottish) served as host and introduced every driver. Deep down in all of us, we were thinking ahead to Sunday and hoping to put an end to Audi’s winning run. With Paul (Di Resta) starting from the pole and myself not far behind, our chances were pretty good…
Come race day, the weather was just as chilly and the warm-up allowed us to validate our settings. Once again, we performed takeoff and pit stop simulations. In fact, the start is another critical point at Brands Hatch. In front of the stands, the track goes downhill and makes a gentle right turn. It’s tough not to slide and you have to precisely point the car to avoid losing places once the red lights shift to green.
I enjoyed a fairly nice start and was able to pass Audi’s Tom Kristensen in the first lap. Things looked good at that point but obviously, there were 93 laps remaining! My chief engineer had devised an excellent strategy, which allowed me to resume the race in second place following my initial pit stop.
I then had to defend my position against two Audis (Martin Tomczyk and Timo Scheider). Unfortunately, a flat tire ruined all my efforts. I went wide in corner No. 1 and Tomczyk seized the opportunity to overtake me. Gary (Paffett) was already in the pit lane for refueling and I had to complete one more lap at limited speed. Consequently, after stopping to get my tires changed, I fell all the way to ninth place. Hopes to climb on the podium were lost, but I could still find a way to earn points.
I successfully passed Kristensen after the first race interruption and we even made contact in the last corner with just a few laps remaining. His Audi slid off the track and hit a tire wall, which lead to another interruption. After the race, Kristensen came to me and voiced his frustration. As far as I’m concerned, I did nothing wrong. Race stewards interviewed both of us and I was exonerated. It was just an ordinary incident, period.
I ultimately finished sixth. Sure I’m disappointed, but it’s not so bad given all that’s happened to me during the race. On the other hand, the championship now looks out of reach, even though I still have a mathematical chance. I trail the current leader (Scheider) by 14 points with three races left on the schedule. I have my work cut out for me, starting with the Barcelona event in two weeks.
Thank you all and have a nice month of September!
Talk to you soon.
Bruno Spengler
www.brunospengler.com
www.parcomega.com
photo:René Fagnan - Auto123.com & DTM.com
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Come race day, the weather was just as chilly and the warm-up allowed us to validate our settings. Once again, we performed takeoff and pit stop simulations. In fact, the start is another critical point at Brands Hatch. In front of the stands, the track goes downhill and makes a gentle right turn. It’s tough not to slide and you have to precisely point the car to avoid losing places once the red lights shift to green.
I enjoyed a fairly nice start and was able to pass Audi’s Tom Kristensen in the first lap. Things looked good at that point but obviously, there were 93 laps remaining! My chief engineer had devised an excellent strategy, which allowed me to resume the race in second place following my initial pit stop.
I then had to defend my position against two Audis (Martin Tomczyk and Timo Scheider). Unfortunately, a flat tire ruined all my efforts. I went wide in corner No. 1 and Tomczyk seized the opportunity to overtake me. Gary (Paffett) was already in the pit lane for refueling and I had to complete one more lap at limited speed. Consequently, after stopping to get my tires changed, I fell all the way to ninth place. Hopes to climb on the podium were lost, but I could still find a way to earn points.
I successfully passed Kristensen after the first race interruption and we even made contact in the last corner with just a few laps remaining. His Audi slid off the track and hit a tire wall, which lead to another interruption. After the race, Kristensen came to me and voiced his frustration. As far as I’m concerned, I did nothing wrong. Race stewards interviewed both of us and I was exonerated. It was just an ordinary incident, period.
I ultimately finished sixth. Sure I’m disappointed, but it’s not so bad given all that’s happened to me during the race. On the other hand, the championship now looks out of reach, even though I still have a mathematical chance. I trail the current leader (Scheider) by 14 points with three races left on the schedule. I have my work cut out for me, starting with the Barcelona event in two weeks.
Thank you all and have a nice month of September!
Talk to you soon.
Bruno Spengler
www.brunospengler.com
www.parcomega.com
photo:René Fagnan - Auto123.com & DTM.com