DTM 2000 - Oschersleben II - Highlights
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00:00We're going back to the future.
00:06This is the German Touring Car Masters 2000.
00:12A full house crowd ready for the racing today here in Oschusleben, Germany.
00:16The sixth race weekend in the German Touring Car Masters.
00:23Before we get to the racing, we'd like to show you one of the top drivers in the field
00:27today.
00:48Pedro Lamy is not a man of many words.
00:50At first, he's quiet and introverted.
00:57Those who know him better know about his laid-back sense of humor.
01:06Those who work with him know that he's a team player and that he'll fight for touring car
01:11success.
01:15He's unquestionably fast, but the amount of top competition in the series makes life
01:20difficult for him.
01:29His first success this season came at the Nürburgring with two fourth-place finishes.
01:39His career now spans 18 years.
01:45He started with minibikes at the age of 11.
01:51Then it was Formula Ford and Formula Opel.
01:57He was one of the top drivers in the German Formula 3 championship.
02:11He qualified for Formula 1 after finishing second in the Formula 3000 championship.
02:18He had a bad accident and a weak car, and he knew the situation wasn't good.
02:30In 1998, he was a factory driver for Chrysler and started winning again.
02:34He won the GT2 World Championship and with it, his self-confidence was back.
02:39In 1999, he was the Mercedes test driver and developer for the CLR prototype.
02:51His contract as a touring car factory driver for Mercedes is the key to his career, which
02:57has seen its highs and lows.
02:59His performance continues to get better, and he certainly hopes it will do so here in Auschwitz-Leben
03:05this weekend.
03:08Two races set for this round of the German Touring Car Masters here at Auschwitz-Leben
03:12on this 2.28 mile circuit, 28 laps per race, 20 cars ready to go for the second time this
03:19season on this new circuit in Germany.
03:22Here's your starting field.
03:24Bernd Schneider for the third time this season on the pole.
03:26For the second time, Uwe Ahlsen's on the outside pole.
03:29Manuel Reuter, the third man in the points race.
03:32Then Joachim Winkelhock followed by Timo Scheider, the youngest driver in the field, and another
03:36rookie, Peter Dombrak.
03:38Then comes Christian Menzel and Pedro Lamy, who you met a little bit earlier.
03:43And then Eric Ellery and Thomas Jaeger-Ellery, a very popular Frenchman looking for some
03:48success this season.
03:49He's had a difficult start.
03:51So we're ready to go here in Auschwitz-Leben, race one in the German Touring Car Masters
03:57season.
03:58Bernd Schneider, the gray Mercedes on the right.
04:02Next to him, the Opel, the black with the red trim on the hood, is Uwe Ahlsen.
04:10The course here can be very treacherous simply because of all the dirt and sand that will
04:14come up on the course.
04:15The drivers will go off and throw it up.
04:17Now let's see what happens.
04:18They've got a long straightaway, and then there's a left-right combination.
04:23Here we go.
04:24That's Schneider on the right, Ahlsen on the left, Winkelhock and Reuter behind them.
04:30It's green.
04:31We're underway.
04:33Bernd Schneider gets a great jump.
04:34Bernd Schneider has the lead going into the first corner, although Ahlsen is trying to
04:38get outside.
04:39He won't make the spot, and it's Schneider who takes the lead.
04:44Winkelhock is going off the course.
04:45It goes right through the field, and cars are spinning everywhere.
04:51Meanwhile, the main field takes off around the course.
04:57Some cars here having problems.
04:58There goes the hood of Pedro Lamy.
05:00The truck is blocked, so they're most likely going to have to bring this race to a stop
05:04and do a restart.
05:10Another of the cars has gone off.
05:12This is just one of those times a day that you just want to say, well, let's see if we
05:16can get this going again.
05:18We have to wait and see what happened.
05:20It looked like Winkelhock may have gotten into the corner a little bit late.
05:26Meanwhile, the leading group still coming around at full tilt, but they'll get the sign
05:31here shortly.
05:33There's Marcel Thiemann, naturally a very happy man.
05:40As we look at it now, there goes Winkelhock.
05:43He heads off in the gravel, which means he has no more control.
05:46He cuts right back in behind Reuter and hits Timo Scheider, and then everybody else backs
05:51up.
05:52Then it becomes a matter of seeing if they can get by with a minimum of trouble.
05:56The question is going to be how many cars were damaged and how many can keep going here
06:01out of this 20-car field.
06:02The yellow Audis at the back of the pack able to work their way through.
06:07Take another look at it from Pedro Lamy.
06:11Here you see the cars coming together.
06:12About this time, there goes Winkelhock.
06:15The cars spin.
06:16Lamy is involved, and there goes the camera.
06:19Not only is his car seemingly out, so is the camera in that one.
06:23They're stopping the race.
06:26They're going to have to restart it.
06:27Meanwhile, they're going to have to clear the track.
06:34So the field backs up, and they're going to have to do a restart here.
06:38The question is how many are going to be left to run.
06:40Take another look at this.
06:43Winkelhock probably left his braking a little bit too late and came right across in the
06:48chicane, hits Timo Scheider, and then everybody else gets into him.
06:55Menzel seems to get by okay.
06:59Ellery seems to get by, but then everybody else is bumping from behind, and there goes
07:03the hood of Pedro Lamy.
07:07This was not the most auspicious way to start the day here.
07:16The drivers who are left get out and take a look at their car.
07:23There's Bartels trying to see what he can do with his.
07:32There is the Thomas Jaeger car.
07:36Car is now into the pits.
07:38This is the Turner car.
07:40There's Klaus Ludwig, who is second in the points.
07:44His car is running, but they're going to have to do some work on the hood to get it
07:46back and ready for the race, which will have to be restarted.
07:58Bartels seems to be happy that the car seems to be all right.
08:01They're going to have to push it to see if they can get it back into the pit area so
08:05that the crews can go to work on it.
08:08There's the Marcel Fesler car.
08:12Pit doesn't look like it's going to make it.
08:17In all, there seem to be eight cars that were involved in the wreck.
08:22The question is going to be how many can come back.
08:24Marcel Thiemann headed for the pits, hoping that they can do some repair work on his car.
08:30Timo Scheider stands by his Opel, which is also in very bad shape.
08:36There's another view of it as Winkelhock came back onto the track.
08:42This accident involved Scheider, Winkelhock, Dumbreck, Fesler, Thiemann, also Jaeger, Lamy
08:50and Turner.
08:51The question is going to be how many of them can get their cars back on.
08:54This is the first major collision of this type that has happened this season.
08:59Another look at Lamy's car as it loses its hood, which is a dangerous moment here.
09:05Klaus Ludwig has brought his Mercedes in.
09:08The crew is going to work to see if they can get it repaired to get it out.
09:12There's Timo Scheider.
09:15And Jochen Winkelhock in the red driving suit there, lighting up.
09:18He's the man that had the problem and came sailing across the gravel and set off the
09:21chain reaction accident.
09:27He's had his share of problems this season, hasn't really, he has had a couple of victories,
09:31but he's also had more than his share of difficulties.
09:38Parts of the car being brought back to see if they can get things fixed and brought up.
09:41There is the Winkelhock Opel being driven back to the pit area.
09:53Now the crews have to go to work.
09:55This is one of those difficult times, you have to see all that dirt and dust that's
09:58coming up there while it's all along the outside of the track.
10:02And now we go to the restart.
10:06Twelve cars are out there after the accident.
10:08Several cars starting on pit lane, three in fact are starting on pit lane.
10:12And Uwe Ahlsen gets the jump this time, not Scheider.
10:15They go through the difficult chicane area into the bending turn and out they come.
10:20And Uwe Ahlsen this time is your leader.
10:22Bernd Scheider has dropped back.
10:25And it's Reuter running third.
10:28And let's see who is running fourth.
10:30Is Klaus Ludwig running fourth?
10:31Christian Menzel is running fifth.
10:33And one of the Audis is right up there in front.
10:39One of the Audis, it looks like the Christian Opt Audi is right up there.
10:42For the first time, the Audis are up in the top ten.
10:49Stefano Modena is right behind the yellow Audi.
10:53Modena, who has done well in qualifying, but just hasn't done that well in the races in
11:00his independent Opel.
11:03There's your leader, Uwe Ahlsen, the man of many faces this season.
11:09Last race weekend at the Nürburgring, after not counting the Lausitzring, which was cancelled
11:14due to some very, very bad weather, Ahlsen went off the track 11 times.
11:20He did not come well with his car.
11:22And look at this, Modena and Menzel, Stefano Modena and Christian Menzel are off.
11:30The question is, why?
11:32Who did what to whom?
11:35What a difficult day.
11:36What an expensive day.
11:42There's the Menzel car.
11:44They're going to try to hope that he can get back to the pit area to get it repaired.
11:50Menzel goes into the corner, nobody touched him.
11:53Nobody touched him.
11:54And he came around, and that's when he hit Modena.
11:57So Stefano Modena couldn't do anything about it.
12:01The problems that have happened here during the practice sessions and the rest of the
12:05practice and test times are that the track gets all kinds of particles, and if you get
12:09outside of the racing groove at all, the car has a tendency to take off and leave the track.
12:17Right now, your one and two are battling for the lead.
12:20Uwe Ahlsen and Bernd Schneider, Opel against Mercedes.
12:26Schneider, by far, the most successful driver this season.
12:31He has had an unbelievable season so far, and he just continues to roll.
12:38Schneider has five victories, and Michel Bartels' car has lost its rear window.
12:45It's still hooked on, but it's hanging off the back, and that will upset the aerodynamics.
12:53Ahlsen, on the other hand, has just had a miserable season.
12:55We'll talk about that in a moment.
12:57Here is Jochen Winkelhock.
13:00He's having problems with the car.
13:01They took it into the pits to fix it, but it is not functioning the way he would like it.
13:06He's kind of wobbling all over the place.
13:12Back up front, Uwe Ahlsen and Bernd Schneider running nose to tail here in Ossersleben.
13:20It's actually the sixth race weekend in the series.
13:25The Lausitzring, a couple of weeks ago, was cancelled because of some terrible rains.
13:31There was no chance to race.
13:35And Winkelhock has spun.
13:40After the collision in the first corner, they've not been able to repair the car.
13:51But Uwe Ahlsen is running very, very smoothly.
13:54And this is a man on a mission.
13:57Ahlsen has had more did-not-finishes this season than he's had in most any time in his career.
14:02He just could not find a way to become one with this car.
14:08One of the problems he has had is a problem that Bernd Schneider, who is right there on
14:11your screen, hasn't had.
14:12And that's the tires.
14:13We'll get to that in a minute.
14:14There's the Opel of Winkelhock.
14:18They're working on it, trying to see if they can get it ready.
14:22Ahlsen has been going all over the courses.
14:24He's been on and off most every course.
14:27And they say the secret to the fact that Bernd Schneider, who's right behind him, why he's
14:30so fast, why he's so dominant with five victories this season, and he has six fastest laps this
14:36season, is the fact that he has figured out the tires.
14:39You see, these are tires that everybody has to use the same one.
14:43And Dunlap has come up with the tires that everyone has to use.
14:45One set of tires.
14:48And it seems that Bernd Schneider is the man that's figured out how to get the most out
14:51of the tires and his car, the Mercedes.
14:54Here he comes up.
14:55Can he get by Ahlsen?
14:57Not quite.
14:58These are two veterans of touring car racing.
15:01They came from different backgrounds.
15:02Schneider, the Formula route.
15:04Uwe Ahlsen came the touring car and manufacturing type championship series route.
15:10He really didn't do the Formula racing.
15:13He's been in hard tops all his career.
15:16He knows how to make the car as wide as he possibly can, meaning that it makes it very
15:22hard for someone to get by him.
15:24Now, the passing is very difficult here at Auschwitz-Leben, particularly as we said about
15:27the sand on the in and outside of the fast track.
15:31But it's also, there is a chance to do some slip streaming down the long straightaway
15:35where they get to about 174 miles an hour, which comes right in front of pit lane.
15:39They can slip stream there and make a pass.
15:41The question's going to be, is the course dirty?
15:43Is it clean?
15:44Do they want to take the chance?
15:45Because if they go into the first corner and they hit the gravel, then things aren't
15:49going to go well.
15:51There you see Klaus Ludwig, the oldest driver in the field at 50 years of age, moving up
15:56on the youngest driver in the field, Timo Schneider.
16:01Schneider has certainly proved to be very competitive this season.
16:04He has everyone talking about his great success.
16:07He's been very, very consistent.
16:08He's ninth in the points.
16:11But he's got probably one of the greatest touring car drivers in German history right
16:16behind him.
16:18And Klaus, who came out of retirement to go into touring cars once again this season,
16:22has already picked up two victories this season.
16:25He qualified poorly here at Auschwitz-Leben, back in 14th.
16:28But when eight cars crash in front of you, you all of a sudden move up, and that's where
16:32he is now.
16:34He's back in the top ten.
16:38He's running eighth, trying to move up on seventh.
16:40That's Michel Bartels ahead of him in sixth position.
16:45Here comes Ludwig on the inside, keeping the pressure on the young driver, 21 years old,
16:53first time in touring cars, coming out of formula racing.
16:56A great crowd of over 50,000 for the weekend on hand watching the racing here in Auschwitz-Leben.
17:02Second time these cars have appeared here this season.
17:08Ludwig is not giving Timo Schneider any room.
17:14Schneider has Ludwig's car full in his rearview mirror.
17:18He doesn't see anything else but that black Mercedes.
17:22And he wants to get by Michel Bartels.
17:26Bartels is also driving now with no rear window.
17:31It flew out earlier.
17:34The battle for sixth, seventh, and eighth position.
17:38And in fifth place, look at this, Aiello, Laurent Aiello in the Audi is running fifth.
17:48They have not finished in the points all season, this Audi crew.
17:51They are totally an independent team.
17:52They are not factory-supported.
17:53They have had to battle all year long in order to get up into the points and gain some respectability.
17:59And look at this, Aiello is running fifth.
18:04He had surprised everyone in the second practice session as he had the second fastest time.
18:10And now look at this.
18:11He's running up in fifth position.
18:13Naturally, you can thank the crash in the beginning.
18:16It took a lot of competition out of the way.
18:17But on the other hand, to run fifth and be this far up, that's a great performance for
18:21Aiello and for Audi.
18:28Michel Bartels, looking for his first success in this new version of the German Touring
18:33Car Masters.
18:34Formerly, it was called the German Touring Car Championship, number of years, very, very
18:39successful series.
18:40It went international for a year, and then it finally shut down.
18:45They went to Super Touring Cars in Germany, lasted for a couple of years, but didn't enjoy
18:49the same success.
18:50And this year, the German Touring Cars, in this version, are back again.
18:56You can see Aiello in that yellow Audi.
19:00He knows he's got to be happy.
19:02Bernd Schneider has a little bit of breathing room now.
19:07As you're riding with Bernd Schneider behind Uwe Ahlsen.
19:13Schneider pulls up on him.
19:14Now, this is that long straightaway we talked about.
19:16You could do slipstreaming here, but the question is, do you want to take the chance?
19:20Ahlsen really is no competition for Schneider in the points race, who's way out in front.
19:25He has a 42-point margin over Ludwig, 51 over Reuter.
19:30Ahlsen is way down the list.
19:32In fact, he's in 13th.
19:35So Schneider, if he stays in second place and keeps the rest of the competition behind
19:39him, or they fall out, will gain no matter what happens.
19:42But those who know Bernd Schneider know that he's going to try to win.
19:46Twenty points for a victory is five more than 15 per second, and a little bit more
19:50cushion in the driver's championship.
19:53He has said many times his goal this season is to become the first German touring car
19:58master's champion.
20:00Right now, nothing is going to stop him.
20:05Into a very tight chicane, as you can see, they use the curbs abundantly there.
20:09It's almost as if it were straight.
20:12Back straightaway now.
20:13They'll come up a hill.
20:14They'll go into a longer chicane, which starts to set them up to return to the front straightaway.
20:21Here's the long chicane.
20:22There's a short chute, then a right-hander, a short chute, a right-hander, then they're
20:28on the long straightaway.
20:30And Schneider is not letting off.
20:32But Ahlsen is also a veteran of touring car racing, and it most likely shouldn't phase
20:38him.
20:39Good look at the long front straightaway.
20:44Here in Ossersleben, up to about 174 miles an hour, and it's down for the left-hand,
20:52right-hand combination, and then a sweeping 180, which brings them back into the infield
20:58section of the course.
20:59If you're sitting in certain areas of this track, you can see almost 70 percent of the
21:02racing surface, which is great for a road circuit.
21:09The question is going to be, how long is Schneider really going to push, or will he settle in
21:15and take second place, and the 15 points that go with it?
21:21Ahlsen with even more breathing room in front of Schneider.
21:26Meanwhile, the battle continues.
21:28Back for sixth, seventh, and eighth position, Ludwig has not been able to get by Timo Schneider.
21:34But he has stayed right on his back bumper.
21:37And Schneider, to his credit, is staying right on the back bumper of Michel Bartels.
21:44And whatever is streaming out of the back is what's left of the rear wind window that
21:48he lost earlier in the race.
21:55So these three have been battling after about the third or fourth lap, and has not stopped.
22:03And there's the man who has to be nervous, has to be smiling.
22:07LeRoy Yellow in that yellow Audi, running in fifth position.
22:11Remarkable.
22:12In fact, the Audis are up there in ninth and tenth position also.
22:16This will be by far their best day in this whole season.
22:21Their best finish was an 11th place finish earlier this season.
22:26And here comes Ludwig, he gets by Timo Schneider.
22:29Either Schneider let him by or got a little bit too wide, but you don't give Klaus Ludwig
22:34any room.
22:35If you do, he takes advantage, and he has here.
22:39So Ludwig, who is running second in the points, needs to pull up on his Mercedes colleague.
22:46They're not running for the same teams.
22:49If he wants to stay in the hunt for the championship.
22:56And LeRoy Yellow, the former German super touring car champion, continues to hold on
23:03to his fifth place in that bright yellow Audi.
23:11Most of the time, the Audis have had to settle for 15th, 16th, 17th positions.
23:15They've started back in the grid.
23:19They've had one mountain to climb to get that car competitive, and it looks like they've
23:23started to come that direction.
23:26LeRoy Yellow certainly is an experienced driver, having competed in touring cars, Formula cars.
23:32He's also at Le Mans.
23:35In fact, that was why he didn't run here the first time this season.
23:39He and Christian Abt, who else is the owner of the Abt Racing, were at Le Mans racing
23:44this year.
23:47Uwe Ahlsen with breathing room and just a couple of laps to go.
23:53The race had been scheduled for 28 laps, but due to that crash and the time it took to
23:57clear the track in the opening moments, they've cut it back down to 25.
24:02And it looks like that Baron Schneider is going to settle in for second place, conserve
24:06the car for the second race.
24:09Ahlsen will be making up for what's been a terrible season for him.
24:13He just has had miserable luck this season.
24:19He qualified fifth in the first race of the season and came up with two did-not-finishes.
24:24He qualified 12th here at Ostersleben in the first race of the season, didn't finish the
24:28first race, came in ninth in the second race.
24:32Ahlsen at the Norris Ring qualified 12th, finished 8th and 6th, and then the bad luck
24:36hit again as he continues to lead here in his black with red trim Opel.
24:42At the Sachsen Ring, Ahlsen qualified 5th but had two did-not-finishes.
24:47He qualified second at the Nürburgring and finished 10th and 13th after all those trips
24:52into the grass.
24:53But here at Ostersleben, he qualified second and now has a chance to win with just a short
25:00distance to go.
25:06He puts his foot down the long straightaway.
25:07Obviously, Bernd Schneider is settling in for second place.
25:12He can hope that something may happen to Ahlsen's car, but it doesn't look like Ahlsen's going
25:16to make any mistakes here.
25:20And here comes Klaus Ludwig, and Ludwig is pushing Michel Bartels for sixth position.
25:28Can he get by him?
25:30Ludwig is not fooling around.
25:32He wants space here.
25:33He wants to get by.
25:35But nobody's going to touch Laurent Aiello as he goes by.
25:39Can Ludwig get by Michel Bartels and pick up some more needed points to stay within
25:44at least some sort of striking distance of Bernd Schneider in the Drivers' Championship?
25:54Here he comes inside.
25:56Can't do it.
25:57Look at that.
25:58Eric Allory running in fourth position.
26:01Good drive for the Frenchman.
26:02Reuter, who is third in the points race, running up right behind Bernd Schneider, so he will
26:07only lose a few points if he can't get by him.
26:10It's Ludwig that needs to move up another position to gain some more points.
26:14The question is, is Bartels going to let him by?
26:20This is not an easy pace to pass.
26:22Here comes Ludwig on the inside.
26:24Bartels on the outside.
26:27And finally, it looks like Ludwig got by him.
26:35Uwe Ahlson continues to rule, headed for his first victory of the season in the German
26:41Touring Car Masters.
26:42It will be a great day for the Holzer team.
26:51They've known that Uwe Ahlson can drive.
26:53He's won in all types of racing, but this season, he just was having a terrible time
26:58trying to get that car.
26:59And here he comes.
27:01He takes the checkered flag, and Uwe Ahlson wins his first race of the season, the first
27:05race of the day, here in Ostersleben in the German Touring Car Masters.
27:11Manuel Reuter comes in third, so he's only going to lose a couple of points here in the
27:17championship.
27:18And of course, a very happy team from Opel.
27:26First and third.
27:27There it is.
27:28Eric Ellery, fourth in an Opel.
27:29Laurent Aiello brought the Audi in fifth.
27:32What a great day for him.
27:33Ludwig did take over sixth.
27:34Then comes Bartels and Scheider.
27:38James Thompson, the new man in the Audi team, taking a respectable ninth.
27:41Look at this.
27:42Christian Abt in tenth.
27:44They both picked up their first points of the season.
27:47And the celebrations for the Opel crew.
27:51Grindar Holzer, the man in the middle, has to be a very happy man.
27:56The second race of the day here in Ostersleben.
27:58Let's take a look at Michel Bartels, one of the top Opel drivers.
28:11He doesn't compromise, and he doesn't take things half-heartedly.
28:15Michel Bartels dedicates his life to his job.
28:18His professional approach and desire to work for the team marks this 32-year-old's career.
28:31Sometimes it's his enthusiasm that holds him back.
28:34He has a strong will to win, and this is what drives him.
28:40Michel Bartels has learned to fight for success, and he doesn't let setbacks get him down.
28:45Formula One was always his goal.
28:55It started with Formula Ford, and then go-karts.
29:04Formula 3000 was Bartels' stepping stone into Formula One.
29:12But success in Formula One didn't materialize.
29:14Four times he tried with an uncompetitive Lotus Judge.
29:18Formula One seemed to be out of the picture.
29:22Touring cars gave him a new chance.
29:24There was Nissan in the two for Touring Cars, and there was Alfa in the German Touring Car
29:29Championship.
29:32Victory came in Die Pulse in 1995, then there was a year for Opel, and then in 1998 for
29:40Zakspeed in the GT World Championship.
29:51He's now working with the Phoenix team.
29:56His win in the 24 hours of Nürburgring on the long course in a promising position in
30:00the German Touring Car Masters shows that he has a great future ahead.
30:14So we're ready to go.
30:15Second race of the day here in Oschersleben in the German Touring Car Masters.
30:19After the first race with the points, and as you get another look at this 2.28 circuit,
30:2428 laps scheduled to go.
30:26Bernd Schneider now has 161 points, Klaus Ludwig has 110, still in second place, but
30:33has dropped back 51 points.
30:36Manuel Reuter has fallen further back to 107 points.
30:40He is 54 points behind.
30:42Cars still being worked on, hoping that they can get them out for the start of this second
30:46race of the day here in Oschersleben.
30:51That's the Thomas Jaeger car that you were looking at here.
30:53Here's how they line up.
30:54Uwe Ahlsen is on the pole, Bernd Schneider is next to them.
30:57They drove nose to tail in the first race.
31:00Let's see what happens here in the second event.
31:03Manuel Reuter needs to see what he can do to get ahead of Schneider if he wants to catch
31:07up in points.
31:08Starts third.
31:09Erich Ellery is fourth.
31:10And Laurent Aiello with the best finish yet for Audi in fifth.
31:13Then Klaus Ludwig, who battled all the way back from 14th, is next to him.
31:18The Ermscher crew working on Christian Menzel's car as the field rolls around, getting ready
31:25for the start of the second event of the day.
31:30Schneider is on the left, Uwe Ahlsen is on the right.
31:34Reuters gets a great start, but Ahlsen gets even a better one.
31:38Look at the jump that he got on Schneider.
31:39And Manuel Reuter is also going to get by Bernd Schneider.
31:44Into the corner that caused so much trouble in the first race.
31:48Ahlsen seems to be getting through just fine.
31:50Erich Ellery still sitting back there in fourth position.
31:55That's where he finished the first race, but the first two cars are Opels, then a Mercedes,
32:00an Opel.
32:01Haven't had that in quite a while.
32:03Christian Menzel gets back out onto the course without losing a lap, he hopes.
32:10Schneider in front of Schneider, there is Erich Ellery running fourth.
32:19But Ahlsen is putting some distance between himself and the rest of the field.
32:26Ludwig, the black Mercedes with the red mirrors, running back in sixth position.
32:35So Ludwig also another of those who has to move up.
32:37Bernd Schneider, you get a look at the start.
32:40As Manuel Reuter got a great jump, pulls in front, leaves his braking until the last
32:45moment, gets through the corner, and settles into second place.
32:50This course is not easy to pass on.
32:53These cars, the top cars in particular, all running very, very equal.
32:58And there goes Klaus Ludwig once again behind Michel Bartels.
33:04He got by him at the last moment, but then Bartels got a better start here.
33:09So Bartels is running in fifth, Ludwig is running in sixth, and Timo Schneider is running
33:13in seventh.
33:15Schneider had been right in front of Ludwig in the last race, and now it's Schneider who's
33:19got to try to get by Ludwig.
33:22That's a job for the 21-year-old rookie.
33:27The Audis have fallen back here at the start.
33:29In fact, Laurent Aiello has fallen way back.
33:37He is not in the top five where he finished.
33:47You're getting a look at Klaus Ludwig, 50 years old, he'll turn 51 before the next race
33:54weekend.
33:59Through that tight chicane that everybody just basically straightens out.
34:05And Uwe Ahlson in the Opel, again in front.
34:08Manuel Reuter in second, ahead of the man that's in front of the points race.
34:12And Laurent Aiello has fallen way back.
34:16He's at the end of the field.
34:18Something's wrong with that Audi.
34:21The rest of the Audis seem to be doing extremely well.
34:26And here comes Jochen Winkelhock on the inside.
34:29Oh!
34:30And he bumped Nissen, and Christian Abt, the man that owns Nissen's car, got the best view
34:37of it.
34:38He was right behind it.
34:41So one of the Audis off the course.
34:44Nissen had finished 11th in the first race.
34:50You're riding with Christian Abt now.
34:53Here's another look at it.
34:55Winkelhock on the inside.
34:57Well, Winkelhock certainly was one of the guilty parties on that one.
35:06Christian Abt gets a good look at it from behind here, as you can see it.
35:11Nissen had the line, and Winkelhock didn't give him the room.
35:16You get a good look at it from the car of Christian Abt.
35:22There's the battle for second and third position.
35:24Manuel Reuter and Bernd Schneider.
35:29And the Ermscher crew is pushing the Christian Menzel car back into the garage.
35:35He had the spin and collision with Stefano Modena in the first race, and the car just
35:40isn't up to the second race at all here.
35:44You get a good look at how Ludwig got by Bartels.
35:49Bartels came back and bumped him and said hello, but Ludwig got by him.
35:56So the touring car champion of years past stays in the competition.
36:02He's in the hunt.
36:03And he's only two cars behind the man that leads the points.
36:09He needs to get by him to gain some ground.
36:12Reuter got by Bernd Schneider, who you're riding with right now here at Oschersleben.
36:16This is the infield course.
36:20You go into a very tight 180.
36:24Then you come out of this one, it's a straightaway, and you get bent ready set up for the two
36:28left-hand bends.
36:29It's a little tricky going into this next section.
36:32Here's the left-hander.
36:33Then there's another left-hand bend.
36:37And then there's the setup here for the 180.
36:43You get a great view of it as they straighten out then and head toward that very tight chicane
36:47right there.
36:48They straighten that chicane out.
36:53And Christian Abt has gone off.
36:56Christian Abt, who was running up in the top ten, has gone off.
37:00So two of the Audis have gone off.
37:03Well, we've got to look at inside the car.
37:05It doesn't look like he had any help from anybody, at least it can be seen from these
37:09shots.
37:11There it is.
37:12No view yet as to what happened.
37:15But Bernd Schneider is not giving up on Manuel Reuter.
37:23Reuter is also a very experienced driver who now makes his home in Austria.
37:32The German driver is a touring car champion.
37:34He's driven all types of cars, Le Mans, he's had all types of competition.
37:42Bernd Schneider just wants to make sure Reuter knows he's right there.
37:46Meanwhile, look at Uwe Ahlson pick up a great lead here.
37:50He really has some breathing room.
37:55Schneider's car is tough, but right now he can't get by.
37:59This is the difficult work of cleaning out the gravel from the cars that go into it.
38:05You can mess a car up very quickly.
38:11Bernd Schneider behind Manuel Reuter is going to go inside.
38:15This is for second place.
38:17He took it.
38:20It's the best place to pass on the circuit if you can't do a slipstream here.
38:24And so Bernd Schneider has now moved in to second place.
38:29He has put the third man in the points race behind him.
38:34Uwe Ahlson is no contender for the championship this season after his miserable showings in
38:39the beginning of the year.
38:40He just had a difficult time.
38:42For him, it's now a matter of pride and also to gain points for Opel.
38:49Klaus Ludwig.
38:50Whoa, is he pressuring Ellery?
38:54Bernd Schneider, we take another look at it, goes inside.
38:58No question.
38:59He had the room.
39:00He had the space.
39:02Reuter had to let him by.
39:06And now Reuter has to deal with one of his own teammates, Eric Ellery.
39:11But Ellery has to keep Ludwig back.
39:13There comes a little bit of team play here because Reuter needs to stay as close to Bernd
39:21Schneider as he possibly can because Reuter does not want to lose much more ground in
39:25the championship.
39:29Ellery has also had his share of problems this year.
39:31He's 10th in the points, at least coming into the weekend.
39:37And he's pretty much out of the championship picture.
39:39Three drivers are really in it 100%.
39:42That's Schneider, Ludwig and Reuter.
39:45Fessler went out of the first race today.
39:47That pretty much takes him out of the championship.
39:48He was fourth in the points coming into this race weekend.
39:51And look at Bernd Schneider gain on Uwe Ahlson.
39:56Schneider just continues to roll here.
39:59Oh, Winkelhock.
40:03And that's going to cost him, I would think.
40:05It was Fessler going off and Winkelhock probably was the man that helped him do it.
40:12And that's the second time this race.
40:14That will probably cost him a stop and go.
40:17Or it could anyway.
40:20And Bernd Schneider has made up the distance in a very short period of time.
40:25He was three seconds and more behind.
40:27And now he's just on the back bumper.
40:30In a way that has to be sort of depressing for Uwe Ahlson.
40:32On the other hand, Ahlson knows he held him off in the first race and he has to see what
40:36he can do here.
40:40Schneider also knows if he sits here and keeps Reuter behind him, and Reuter is way behind
40:44him, he picks up more points in the championship.
40:48So now it's a question of how hard does Bernd Schneider want to push.
40:54And there's Günter Holzer, the man that takes care of the Ahlson car.
41:01It's nerves time for everybody.
41:05Bartels running sixth.
41:06There is Jochen Winkelhock.
41:09He'd come in for a stop and go penalty, but now they're going to have to see what's wrong
41:12with the car.
41:13They've got to see what they can do with it.
41:14He had come in for the ten second penalty, but that's gone.
41:19Now it's a matter of what can they do to the car.
41:24And he's basically getting across to somewhere the car is not handling properly throughout
41:29the entire course.
41:32We can't quite make it all out here.
41:35But he's not a happy camper, that's for sure.
41:39The fans have got a battle to watch for first and second.
41:44We haven't seen this kind of battle all season long.
41:48And here comes Bernd Schneider, can't get inside of Uwe Ahlson.
41:54They just have to remember to stay in the lane, the racing lane.
41:57Once you get outside, you get into that gravel, dirt, which is thrown up on the course.
42:01See that dirt fly?
42:02It comes out on the course.
42:03You can see the dirt all over.
42:04It becomes the so-called marbles and the cars have a tendency to spin.
42:08And there goes Uwe Ahlson.
42:12That seems to have been a driver error.
42:17The car is running smoothly.
42:18Uwe made a mistake and he probably got out into that loose stuff and has dropped all
42:24the way back to fifth position.
42:26Oh, what a disappointment for him.
42:30And oh, what a break for Bernd Schneider.
42:34Uwe Ahlson into the corner.
42:37Schneider had actually backed off.
42:39Uwe evidently got out of the line just a little bit.
42:41He lost concentration and he also lost the car.
42:46Bernd Schneider gets by on a driving error and now can kind of coast home.
42:57What an unbelievable point for Bernd Schneider.
43:01When you're driving well, you're driving fast.
43:03The luck also seems to come your way.
43:06Wow.
43:07Klaus Ludwig running in third position now.
43:11It looks like he is.
43:12Manuel Reuter is second.
43:14There's your third place car.
43:15Klaus Ludwig.
43:16Uwe Ahlson is running in fourth.
43:19And Bernd Schneider has a big lead.
43:22And we're at the halfway point of the race.
43:26Timo Schneider continues to stay up in the sixth position.
43:30And another Audi has gone out.
43:32Oh, what a terrible time for the Audi crew after the great first race.
43:37Thomsen.
43:38He goes off, comes back on the course, seems to have gotten a hold of the car.
43:43He doesn't have it.
43:44He goes straight off the course into the concrete wall.
43:47Well, after all the great success in the first race, it seems like the second race is a disaster
43:56for the apt Audi team.
43:59These folks have had an uphill battle all season long, but at least they saw some light
44:04at the end of the tunnel in that first race today.
44:06Laurent Aiello coming in fifth.
44:15The battle you're watching right now is Michel Bartels and Peter Dumbrek.
44:20And Bernd Schneider has gone off the course.
44:22Bernd Schneider got off the course but came on just in front of the second place car,
44:27Manuel Reuter.
44:30Well, that certainly made things tight.
44:34Schneider had picked up a nice lead after Uwe Ahlsen spun.
44:39Now he's evidently going off the course and Reuter is right up on his back bumper.
44:45It looked like Schneider, all he had to do was to bring this one home.
44:49But now it's turned into a tight race here.
44:53Manuel Reuter, the man running second and Schneider went off, lost it, got in the dirt,
45:00got off, crossed the track, got on the grass, stayed out of the gravel, lucky for him,
45:05comes back on the course without slowing down, stays in front of Manuel Reuter and holds
45:11on to his lead.
45:12And look at this, he's already started to stretch it again.
45:17Bernd Schneider, the man that everybody wonders how he's going to lose.
45:21He has become so strong, it's unbelievable.
45:23He took the last two races at the Nürburgring, finished second in the first race of the day
45:31here at Ostersleben in the German Touring Car Masters and now is looking for his sixth
45:37victory this season.
45:41Of those six, three have come in the second race.
45:46Duncan Vinkelhock had won the first race at the Norris Ring and then Schneider came back
45:51when Vinkelhock made his pit stop error and Schneider went on.
45:56And Timo Scheider spins into the dirt and boy is that going to mess up the track.
46:01There'll be dust and dirt everywhere on that one.
46:06Michel Bartels followed by Peter Dumbrek.
46:11Dumbrek involved in the accident in the first race of the day.
46:14It was his first did not finish, actually did not start because they restarted the race
46:18and so he didn't pick up any points.
46:20He's a very consistent Scottish driver who's done well this season.
46:24Went off the course there.
46:25That throws up more dirt for everybody behind him.
46:28You see it throws up a huge dust cloud which impairs the vision but it also throws all
46:32more dirt on the track which makes the grip that much less.
46:38Dumbrek is not letting Michel Bartels breathe here at all.
46:45Peter Dumbrek, Michel Bartels running in fifth and sixth position and we're in the last lap.
46:53The field pretty much settled down except for these two right here.
46:57Schneider is out in front.
46:59Reuter is second.
47:00Ludwig is third.
47:01Olsen is fourth but here comes Bartels and Peter Dumbrek.
47:08Dumbrek staying right in the back of Michel Bartels who should be used to this after today.
47:12He's had everybody pushing him on the bumpers.
47:14Dumbrek went way off with one last chance to try to make up ground and instead of that
47:18he's lost some.
47:20Meanwhile Bernd Schneider continues to roll.
47:26When Uwe Olsen spun, the race belonged to Bernd Schneider.
47:32And Schneider now looking for his sixth victory this season.
47:37He had the fastest lap in the first race.
47:39He has the fastest lap here in the second race.
47:42So he now has in the 12 races running, he has eight of the fastest laps.
47:48What an amazing performance.
47:51Twelve races he has six victories and only once was he out of the top five.
47:58It's a tremendous performance and nobody's able to match him so far.
48:04He seems to be in a class for himself this season and here he comes headed for the checkered
48:09flag.
48:10Bernd Schneider wins the second race of the day here in Ostersleben.
48:16A happy Mercedes crew also greet Klaus Ludwig who finishes third, Uwe Olsen is fourth, Bartels
48:23and then comes Peter Dumbrek.
48:29So the competition in the points race finished right up there with him but he finished ahead
48:33of them and has picked up more in the points race.
48:36And the fans here at Ostersleben certainly got a great race weekend for themselves.
48:43Unofficially if you look at the points, Bernd Schneider should have now about 181 points,
48:48Ludwig and Manuel Reuter at 122.
48:52So you can see that he has a 59 point lead, 20 points per win.
49:01There are 80 points remaining this season.
49:05Here's your top eight.
49:08The best Audi, Laurent Aiello coming in 11th.
49:14Crowd starts to head home as Bernd Schneider comes up to the podium.
49:23Bernd Schneider now well on his way to the German Touring Car Masters Championship.
49:29Klaus Ludwig and Manuel Reuter.
49:36And there you see what we say, Schneider 181, Ludwig and Reuter 122, everybody else is pretty
49:42much out of it with 59 points remaining, with actually, excuse me, 80 points remaining in
49:47the season.
49:49That's the racing today here in Ostersleben, the next stop on the tour will be the historic
49:52Nürburgring.
49:53Hope to see you then.
49:59Thanks for watching.
50:00See you next time.
50:01Bye-bye.