Thanks to a special partnership with Auto123.com, Canadian race car driver Bruno Spengler gives our readers his insights and comments about the 2009 DTM championship. The Mercedes-Benz works driver competed in the opening round of the season held Sunday in Hockenheim, Germany.
“The off-season was exceptionally long this year. We haven’t raced since last October, in Hockenheim, which represents a 6-month layoff. We resumed testing in February, followed by various training sessions, promotional operations and all sorts of stuff. The first race of the 2009 season seemingly came all of a sudden.
Hockenheim is a venue that I like because it’s close to my European home in Strasbourg, France. Seldom do car drivers only have to travel 120 kilometers to participate in a racing event.
On Thursday morning, I went to an airport strip near Hockenheim to conduct various operating tests and final check-ups. It was also an opportunity to practice pit stops, race starts and straight-line accelerations.
In the afternoon, I headed to Hockenheim to drive a few balls on the links and chill out. Then, come dinner time, my teammates Paul (di Resta), Ralf (Schumacher), Gary (Paffett) and I got together at the restaurant. Our team manager was there, too. The atmosphere was very relaxed and we made a point of not talking about the race -- this was all about cooling our brains.
Friday was a little weird. In previous years, we had three hours of free practice. This year, there was a tiny warm-up period from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and that’s it. However, we couldn’t even leave the paddocks since the rain had left too much water on the track! The day still went by pretty fast, with tons of interviews, appointments and team meetings.
On Saturday, the open testing sessions were limited to the morning and the break before qualifications was extremely short. I took a bite and met with the crew for the last time, barely having time for a little breather!
I personally had a poor qualification as the race officials canceled my Q1 time. That’s a shame because the car performed well. For nearly two hours, we studied the video tapes and went back to see the officials who had no other choice but to admit their mistake. It was too late, though. This incident forced me back to 19th place on the starting grid.
Yet, my motivation entering the race was sky high; I firmly intended to make up the lost ground, even though there might be some bumping and shoving along the way. I enjoyed a good start and managed to overtake about 10 cars in just three laps. However, I was hit from behind at the hairpin corner, which affected the handling of my C-Class. I was able to post decent laps afterwards but, unfortunately, the rear right wishbone eventually failed with 15 laps remaining. At that point, I was running in 5th place.
That’s a real shame… The car had great potential and things were running fairly smoothly up until then. Plus, the team had devised an excellent strategy that allowed me to drive with no one around me for a good deal of the race. On a positive note, I’m glad I was able to overcome early obstacles and deliver a decent performance overall.
Audi maintains a little edge over us, but we’re going to work as hard as we can until the next race, including a lot of physical training… as well as a bit of golf and tennis. Lausitz, here we come!
See you, folks!
Bruno Spengler
www.brunospengler.com
www.parc-omega.com
photo:René Fagnan - Auto123.com
“The off-season was exceptionally long this year. We haven’t raced since last October, in Hockenheim, which represents a 6-month layoff. We resumed testing in February, followed by various training sessions, promotional operations and all sorts of stuff. The first race of the 2009 season seemingly came all of a sudden.
Hockenheim is a venue that I like because it’s close to my European home in Strasbourg, France. Seldom do car drivers only have to travel 120 kilometers to participate in a racing event.
On Thursday morning, I went to an airport strip near Hockenheim to conduct various operating tests and final check-ups. It was also an opportunity to practice pit stops, race starts and straight-line accelerations.
In the afternoon, I headed to Hockenheim to drive a few balls on the links and chill out. Then, come dinner time, my teammates Paul (di Resta), Ralf (Schumacher), Gary (Paffett) and I got together at the restaurant. Our team manager was there, too. The atmosphere was very relaxed and we made a point of not talking about the race -- this was all about cooling our brains.
Friday was a little weird. In previous years, we had three hours of free practice. This year, there was a tiny warm-up period from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and that’s it. However, we couldn’t even leave the paddocks since the rain had left too much water on the track! The day still went by pretty fast, with tons of interviews, appointments and team meetings.
On Saturday, the open testing sessions were limited to the morning and the break before qualifications was extremely short. I took a bite and met with the crew for the last time, barely having time for a little breather!
I personally had a poor qualification as the race officials canceled my Q1 time. That’s a shame because the car performed well. For nearly two hours, we studied the video tapes and went back to see the officials who had no other choice but to admit their mistake. It was too late, though. This incident forced me back to 19th place on the starting grid.
Yet, my motivation entering the race was sky high; I firmly intended to make up the lost ground, even though there might be some bumping and shoving along the way. I enjoyed a good start and managed to overtake about 10 cars in just three laps. However, I was hit from behind at the hairpin corner, which affected the handling of my C-Class. I was able to post decent laps afterwards but, unfortunately, the rear right wishbone eventually failed with 15 laps remaining. At that point, I was running in 5th place.
That’s a real shame… The car had great potential and things were running fairly smoothly up until then. Plus, the team had devised an excellent strategy that allowed me to drive with no one around me for a good deal of the race. On a positive note, I’m glad I was able to overcome early obstacles and deliver a decent performance overall.
Audi maintains a little edge over us, but we’re going to work as hard as we can until the next race, including a lot of physical training… as well as a bit of golf and tennis. Lausitz, here we come!
See you, folks!
Bruno Spengler
www.brunospengler.com
www.parc-omega.com
photo:René Fagnan - Auto123.com