Canadian driver Bruno Spengler proves the readers of Auto123.com with his exclusive comments. Spengler is one of the four works drivers of Mercedes-Benz in the DTM series.
Hi everyone,
As you know, I just had a difficult weekend in Valencia. Seventh place wasn’t good enough to prevent Martin Tomczyk, my main rival for the title, from clinching the championship before the finale in Hockenheim thanks to his third place finish last Sunday in Spain.
I’m obviously disappointed, but to be honest I didn’t lose the title in Valencia. Fact is, we just haven’t had enough wins. At Round 7 at Brands Hatch we’d already received a pretty hefty penalty for having used unmarked tires during the practice heats. It was a mistake, granted, but the price we had to pay was steep, and it put us back two spots on the starting grid.
Then it started to rain during the race, and we weren’t up to the task. I didn’t manage anything better than a 7th place finish there. Which knocked me down from 1st place in the series by one measly point, to Tomczyk’s advantage.
But Oschersleben is where it really went wrong. Again, it was raining, but the car was competitive. Schneider tried to take me out on the start, and while he didn’t succeed, he slammed pretty into me hard.
Then I was about to score some serious points with a likely second place finish and thus reclaim my lead in the series when a busted damper forced me to throw in the towel. A painful blow, but that’s auto racing for you. So I was trailing 9 points behind, two races from the end of the season. Things had just gotten complicated.
In Valencia we had trouble finding the right settings on the C-Class, both during qualifying and the race. The Audis were doing better, and it proved a tough weekend for Mercedes overall. I was starting in 12th place and didn’t have much to lose, but the problem was the Audis occupying all the top spots, except for Gary Paffett’s Mercedes. Once Tomczyk passed Gary on the start, it was smooth sailing and his teammates helped him make his way to the front.
Hi everyone,
As you know, I just had a difficult weekend in Valencia. Seventh place wasn’t good enough to prevent Martin Tomczyk, my main rival for the title, from clinching the championship before the finale in Hockenheim thanks to his third place finish last Sunday in Spain.
 |
| Bruno Spengler with Norbert Haug. (Photo: DTM) |
I’m obviously disappointed, but to be honest I didn’t lose the title in Valencia. Fact is, we just haven’t had enough wins. At Round 7 at Brands Hatch we’d already received a pretty hefty penalty for having used unmarked tires during the practice heats. It was a mistake, granted, but the price we had to pay was steep, and it put us back two spots on the starting grid.
Then it started to rain during the race, and we weren’t up to the task. I didn’t manage anything better than a 7th place finish there. Which knocked me down from 1st place in the series by one measly point, to Tomczyk’s advantage.
But Oschersleben is where it really went wrong. Again, it was raining, but the car was competitive. Schneider tried to take me out on the start, and while he didn’t succeed, he slammed pretty into me hard.
Then I was about to score some serious points with a likely second place finish and thus reclaim my lead in the series when a busted damper forced me to throw in the towel. A painful blow, but that’s auto racing for you. So I was trailing 9 points behind, two races from the end of the season. Things had just gotten complicated.
 |
| Spengler retires with a broken damper. (Photo: DTM) |
In Valencia we had trouble finding the right settings on the C-Class, both during qualifying and the race. The Audis were doing better, and it proved a tough weekend for Mercedes overall. I was starting in 12th place and didn’t have much to lose, but the problem was the Audis occupying all the top spots, except for Gary Paffett’s Mercedes. Once Tomczyk passed Gary on the start, it was smooth sailing and his teammates helped him make his way to the front.