Tom Kristensen's Audi A4 grab victory in Hockenheim, first round of the 2009 DTM championship. Mathias Ekström lost his leadership after a puncture in the last laps. Even a great catch-up was not enough for Bruno Spengler who was forced to retire because of a broken suspension.
The Audi confirmed their superiority in the race, after they clinched positions 1 to 4 in qualification. At the end of the race, the best Mercedes driver was Paul di Resta who only came in 5th.
Timo Scheider and 2008-spec Audi A4 driver Oliver Jarvis finished 2nd and 3rd to complete this first race's podium.
Even though he dominated almost from start to finish, Mathias Ekström was forced to slow down after a puncture in the last part of the race. He finishes 7th.
Bruno Spengler was quite unlucky in Hockenheim. On Saturday, his time was cancelled in qualifying and he had to start from last row of the grid. In race, he had an incredible start, and concluded first lap in 8th position!
Then, he took some more positions in race and was considering a 4th position finish when his suspension broke, 15 laps to the end.
"The right rear suspension broke, said Spengler to auto123.com. It probably was a consequence of a contact I was victim of in the first lap of the race. After this incident, the behaviour of the car was a bit stange, especially on the brakes. Meanwhile, I managed to set good lap times. I was on a good rhythm, and I was about to take position 4 at the end.
"My strategy was really optimum so it's a shame that we had to forfait. We must now concentrate on the next round, and keep on working on the car and find solutions to our problems."
The Audi confirmed their superiority in the race, after they clinched positions 1 to 4 in qualification. At the end of the race, the best Mercedes driver was Paul di Resta who only came in 5th.
Timo Scheider and 2008-spec Audi A4 driver Oliver Jarvis finished 2nd and 3rd to complete this first race's podium.
Even though he dominated almost from start to finish, Mathias Ekström was forced to slow down after a puncture in the last part of the race. He finishes 7th.
Bruno Spengler was quite unlucky in Hockenheim. On Saturday, his time was cancelled in qualifying and he had to start from last row of the grid. In race, he had an incredible start, and concluded first lap in 8th position!
Then, he took some more positions in race and was considering a 4th position finish when his suspension broke, 15 laps to the end.
"The right rear suspension broke, said Spengler to auto123.com. It probably was a consequence of a contact I was victim of in the first lap of the race. After this incident, the behaviour of the car was a bit stange, especially on the brakes. Meanwhile, I managed to set good lap times. I was on a good rhythm, and I was about to take position 4 at the end.
"My strategy was really optimum so it's a shame that we had to forfait. We must now concentrate on the next round, and keep on working on the car and find solutions to our problems."