The Canadian driver shares with Auto123.com readers his experiences in the DTM European Championship. A works driver for Mercedes-Benz, he has won two consecutive events!
Hello to all,
Happy to reconnect with you for this new column following a very positive month of July for me, in spite of the weather in Europe which has been more of the October variety!
We’ve had our share of rain on the Norisring for the fifth round of the DTM Championship. The Norisring, which runs through the streets of Nuremburg, is one of my favourite circuits: it’s there that I clinched my first DTM victory in 2006, repeating in 2007 and gaining the podium on five consecutive occasions prior to 2011.
It is typically sunny and very hot in Nuremburg in early July. This time, we endured decidedly mixed conditions over the whole weekend, with temperatures below normal, particularly on Sunday.
For me, this had little effect on my habitual performance here: I clinched the pole position on Saturday.
It was raining at the beginning of the race, hard enough that we started behind the Safety Car. Gradually the water levels stabilized and the rain came virtually to an end, before coming back in force near the end of the race: at that stage we faced a torrential downpour!
Behind the wheel, control was proving difficult; we started aquaplaning even on the straightaways. The Safety Car rightfully returned to the track. In such a heavy downpour, even at reduced speed the car was difficult to control.
The race directors made the decision to stop the race before completion - the right choice in the circumstances, even more so because the Norisring, with its high speeds and concrete barriers, gives drivers little room to manoeuvre. In any event, I earned my third victory on this circuit, and my second win of the season: it was a great satisfaction to me.
I want to pay tribute to the team, which provided me with an excellent refuelling strategy. I was expertly guided and aided by very quick refuelling, not an easy thing for mechanics working in the cold and under a driving rain...
It’s always important to grab opportunities that present themselves, and this victory allowed me to retake the lead in the Championship, by three points over Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. Three points is nothing really, and in fact you could say we’re tied.
Our task gets even more daunting from here on in, since the circuits coming up tend to advantage Tomczyk and his “old generation” Audi A4, a car which is lighter by 25kg. A not insignificant advantage. Meanwhile, other drivers are in a position to enter the mix, with Timo Scheider most notable among them. The home stretch of the season promises to be a tightly contested battle.
Hello to all,
Happy to reconnect with you for this new column following a very positive month of July for me, in spite of the weather in Europe which has been more of the October variety!
We’ve had our share of rain on the Norisring for the fifth round of the DTM Championship. The Norisring, which runs through the streets of Nuremburg, is one of my favourite circuits: it’s there that I clinched my first DTM victory in 2006, repeating in 2007 and gaining the podium on five consecutive occasions prior to 2011.
It is typically sunny and very hot in Nuremburg in early July. This time, we endured decidedly mixed conditions over the whole weekend, with temperatures below normal, particularly on Sunday.
For me, this had little effect on my habitual performance here: I clinched the pole position on Saturday.
 |
| This is my office! The cockpit of the Class-C Mercedes DTM. (Photo: dtm.com) |
It was raining at the beginning of the race, hard enough that we started behind the Safety Car. Gradually the water levels stabilized and the rain came virtually to an end, before coming back in force near the end of the race: at that stage we faced a torrential downpour!
Behind the wheel, control was proving difficult; we started aquaplaning even on the straightaways. The Safety Car rightfully returned to the track. In such a heavy downpour, even at reduced speed the car was difficult to control.
The race directors made the decision to stop the race before completion - the right choice in the circumstances, even more so because the Norisring, with its high speeds and concrete barriers, gives drivers little room to manoeuvre. In any event, I earned my third victory on this circuit, and my second win of the season: it was a great satisfaction to me.
 |
| Bruno Spengler with his teammates Jamie Green and Gary Paffett during the German GP at the Nürburgring. (Photo: dtm.com) |
I want to pay tribute to the team, which provided me with an excellent refuelling strategy. I was expertly guided and aided by very quick refuelling, not an easy thing for mechanics working in the cold and under a driving rain...
It’s always important to grab opportunities that present themselves, and this victory allowed me to retake the lead in the Championship, by three points over Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. Three points is nothing really, and in fact you could say we’re tied.
Our task gets even more daunting from here on in, since the circuits coming up tend to advantage Tomczyk and his “old generation” Audi A4, a car which is lighter by 25kg. A not insignificant advantage. Meanwhile, other drivers are in a position to enter the mix, with Timo Scheider most notable among them. The home stretch of the season promises to be a tightly contested battle.