DTM 2000 - Lausitzring - Highlights
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00:00Back to the future, this is the German Touring Car Masters 2000.
00:14This is the 6th race weekend of the German Touring Car Masters, today from the brand
00:18new Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany.
00:21It's 2.8 miles long, the fans certainly have their day cut out for them.
00:26It's raining heavily, but the new racetrack is ready to show what it can do and so are
00:32the drivers.
00:33One of them is Jochen Winkelhock.
00:47Jochen Winkelhock, 39 years old, a family man, a total race driver, a tough competitor
01:06and a fan favorite.
01:13To drive on the limit, to talk with fellow drivers and that overwhelming joy of victory,
01:19these are what motivate him.
01:24He started racing in 1979 in the Renault 5 Cup.
01:33His idol was his brother Manfred.
01:39Manfred died in 1985, Jochen's career almost ended there, he couldn't get over the grief
01:45of his brother's death.
01:55But his love of racing won out.
01:58He was the Formula 3 champion, but wasn't able to follow his brother's footsteps into
02:02Formula 1.
02:061990 was the beginning of his successful career with BMW.
02:12They stayed together for 10 years.
02:17He was the first German driver to win the British Championship.
02:25In Germany, he won the Super Touring Car Championship.
02:29He won in his debut at Le Mans in 1999.
02:45Jochen Winkelhock is called Smoking Joe, either for his driving style or his cigarette habit.
02:53His return to German touring cars meant three things.
02:57One, he could complete a season in Germany.
02:59Second, he was back in touring cars.
03:01And third, he could get a championship that he had not yet won.
03:15The championship will be difficult to accomplish.
03:17He did finish second at Ostersleben.
03:20He was in the hunt, but he still was far behind the points leader, Bernd Schneider.
03:49He did win one race, that at the Norris Ring, but it wouldn't be enough for a title chance.
03:54The rest of the season will mean he keeps his foot to the floor and tries to win as
03:58much as he can.
04:07The qualifying at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz was filled with tension.
04:12This was new terrain.
04:14Eric Ellery, the Frenchman, was the first on this brand new track to qualify.
04:25Norbert Hau, the Mercedes manager, watched the skies and the racing.
04:31Ellery's drift proved the course lacked grip, but we were just getting started.
04:38The course comes out onto a straightaway, which is a part of the tri-oval speedway here.
04:44The Grand Prix course is on the inside of the tri-oval.
04:52Ellery, doing well as the first car out, comes off the tri-oval sequence into a left-right
04:58combination, then goes into a bending left-hand turn, which takes him down a straightaway
05:04back toward the main grandstand.
05:11Then there is a long 180 right-hander, which takes him back out toward the tri-oval.
05:27Works his way now up to about fifth gear, and then will go into a second-gear left-hander.
05:37A very short straight then, and another chicane as he still gets a little squirrely in qualifying here.
05:46And now a right-hander, and then a left-hander onto the main speedway segment.
05:52Down to second gear, and now will start to work his way through the gears onto the speedway.
05:57This is the fourth turn, or actually the third turn on this speedway, it's a tri-oval.
06:02Coming out now in front of the main grandstand and the long straightaway.
06:06He'll get up to speeds of about 152 miles an hour before he has to shift down for about
06:11a 90-mile-an-hour left-hander back into the infield.
06:16Eric Ellery records the first time on the course, but as you can see, the course is
06:22slippery.
06:23Jochen Winkelhock, one of those, who feels it first.
06:28The gravel pits here are very deep.
06:31App driver Roel Aiello also has his problems on the course.
06:35The dirt on the course affects the grip.
06:37It had also rained the night before, and you see what happened to Aiello here.
06:50This is Bernd Schneider, the points leader.
06:52The man that's in charge this season, and what a great season this man has had.
07:00He has five victories to his credit.
07:05He is the points leader, with a big lead over his teammates.
07:09You couldn't ask for much more.
07:15Schneider has been on the pole in qualifying twice so far this season, looking for his
07:20third.
07:21You get a good look at the course here at the Euro Speedway in Lausitz, off the front
07:28straightaway of the Tri-Oval, onto the Grand Prix course.
07:32This segment here cuts off the first turn.
07:38Schneider, who lives in Monaco, has been a dominant force this season.
07:48Won the first two races of the season, won the last two races at the Nürburgring, previously
07:52won the second race at the Norris Ring.
07:55And at the Norris Ring, he had started fourth, and is the only driver this season so far
08:02that has won a race, not starting from the pole.
08:05He fought his way back from fourth, and with a good pit stop, and thanks to some rain problems,
08:10he was able to take the lead and the victory at the Norris Ring.
08:16Pedro Lamy at this point, the Portuguese driver, had set the best time, but Schneider is going
08:22after him, as he heads into the final stretch here, the long straightaway in front of the
08:27grandstand here.
08:29120,000 people can fit into this speedway so far.
08:34They may expand it, but they have a lot of standing seats on the outside portions of
08:40the course.
08:41The main seating section is on the front straightaway.
08:46Marcel Fesler, from Switzerland, he has had a very good season, as he heads out onto the
08:52straightaway.
08:59Coming right behind one of the aft Audis, Fesler comes across the line, cannot beat
09:07the time of Bernd Schneider.
09:10Here you get a look at some of the problems as Scheider and Jaeger collide.
09:19Timo Scheider, the youngest driver in the field on this new course, he's 21 years old,
09:24and as you can see, he's had some problems here on this one.
09:29And there's Uwe Ahlson, a man of the up-and-down seasons so far.
09:33It's hard to explain his problems, he just has not gotten used to this car, and in qualifying,
09:38he wants to see what he can do to get back up front.
09:41He's had some very good qualifying sessions, and then he's had some very bad ones.
09:46So far this season, his best was the second place, that was at the Nürburgring, but there
09:52were others that were not quite as good, he was farther back in the pack, he's had his
09:55share of did-not-finishes, he's also at the Nürburgring, had a very difficult day going
09:59off because of transmission problems.
10:03He's had one of those seasons every driver fears, when things just don't go right, then
10:08they do go right, surprise you and you don't know why it happened.
10:12And here he is, coming in very close, and is now fourth.
10:17Uwe Ahlson in the second row for Opel, so far the best one.
10:25On Saturdays, Bernd Schneider is out in front.
10:31More problems as cars go off the course, but you can see the main problem here is this
10:35apt out, he goes off and spins, all the dirt that is thrown back out onto the course.
10:40This slows down qualifying tremendously.
10:43As the driver said, you had to first find a clear lap when you were clear on the, no
10:47traffic ahead of you, and then you had to worry about making sure the track was clean.
10:51This is Manuel Reuter, he is currently third in the points, he had a bad race at the Nürburgring,
10:57and is now 51 points behind, he's back in third place in the points race.
11:01He has to do well here, if he wants to stay in contention.
11:08There are four race weekends to go, including this one, and Manuel Reuter is going to have
11:12to do well, which means he's got to start up near the front, somewhere near Bernd Schneider.
11:17These cars are so equal that the farther back you start, the harder it is to get back up
11:21to the leaders.
11:22And he's 11th, boy is that a disappointment for he and the Phoenix team.
11:30The crowd today is estimated at about 42,000 on this very first touring car weekend, it's
11:36the second race weekend of this brand new circuit, which is 2.8 miles long, they'll
11:40run 22 laps here, 20 cars are entered, promises to be some tough racing, Bernd Schneider is
11:45on the pole once again, and Schneider is the man to beat this year.
11:49Fesler had his best start at second place, Pedro Lamy starting third, it's his best start,
11:54and Uwe Jansson right up there in the second row.
11:57Then comes Eric Ellery and Peter Dombrek, two drivers still looking for victory.
12:02And Stefano Modena, always qualifying good, just can't seem to get the car to finish the
12:06way he wants to.
12:08Timo Scheider and Darren Turner in the next row.
12:12And then comes the difficult one, Klaus Ludwig and Manuel Reuter, all the way back in row
12:17six.
12:18These are the second and third in the points.
12:19And Manfred Winkelhock and Marcel Thiemann, two more top competitors in the seventh row.
12:24So some of the top drivers have got their work cut out for them.
12:27Christian Abt, the best of the Audis today, then comes Michel Bartels in an Opel, one
12:31of the worst starting positions he's had.
12:33And Christian Menzel in an Opel, an independent car, and Raul Aiello.
12:37The course has certainly pleased all drivers, including Klaus Ludwig.
12:40I think it's fantastic that we have a new track in Germany, like this standard is fantastic.
12:45It's an oval high-speed track.
12:47Unfortunately we are using only the infield track, so it's called the Grand Prix track.
12:53Using no banking, which is not so good.
12:55We should use one banking at least.
12:57But it's not allowed, so in the moment we do what we can.
13:02And as the race was ready to get started, the rains came down.
13:05In fact, they had been raining prior to that.
13:09And so the race will be run under the safety car for the first couple of laps.
13:13At least, that's the plan.
13:15The idea being is to let the track dry out and maybe come up with a dry groove.
13:21The track is so new, and the asphalt is so new, it has not had time to really get worn
13:26in.
13:27There's so much rubber laid onto it, it does not absorb the moisture very well.
13:31And as you can see, the track is very, very wet.
13:34There are puddles everywhere.
13:36The cars are going out very, very slowly at about 50 miles an hour behind the pace car.
13:41That was what was set.
13:42So it's a case now of whether they can decide that they're going to run here.
13:48It's very, very wet, very, very slippery.
13:51Two of the drivers, the leader right there, Bernd Schneider, and further back, Manuel
13:55Reuter, are in contact with the race director about the course.
14:00Earlier today, in some of the Formula races, there were some problems with this bad weather
14:06and the wet track.
14:08They had several crashes, and so they're being very, very careful here with these cars, which
14:12are far more powerful than what were running earlier today.
14:15You can see the water coming up into the air.
14:18Very difficult to see.
14:20Bernd Schneider trying to find out if he can get some grip.
14:24These are brand-new Dunlop tires, rain tires, that were brought for this course.
14:31There are a few more grooves on the outside to let the water off, and some very thin grooves
14:35on the inside of the tires to help expand and help them grip.
14:38The Dunlop officials feel it will take two or three laps to get the tires up to temperature
14:44to be able to have a good grip.
14:45The fans, meanwhile, have got their own temperatures to worry about.
14:50Still no sign that the cars will be taking off and getting underway on this speedway,
14:56which has cost about $160 million.
14:59It took less than two years to build.
15:04And the fans have been very supportive.
15:05The place was filled a few weeks ago when they had the official opening of the track.
15:09They had a motorcycle championship here.
15:10It drew well.
15:11But now the fans had come to see a German national touring car championship, one of
15:15the most popular series in Germany.
15:18And they had to bring their umbrellas and raincoats.
15:20It makes it very, very difficult.
15:23Not to say how difficult it is for the drivers.
15:27Jason Thompson in that last Audi, he is making his second appearance in the series.
15:32I wasn't sure how many he would be running.
15:35He made one earlier this season, and then now is finally in and will be with the app
15:38team who will have four cars out for this particular year.
15:45One lap down and no sign that the pace car will say it's going to pull off and let them
15:52start racing.
15:57This is something brand new that has not happened before in this series as a new German touring
16:02car masters, nor had it happened before in the old German touring car championship series.
16:08Most of the time they're able to start in the wet, but right now the downpour is huge.
16:13It's immense.
16:14It's thick.
16:15It's causing all kinds of problems.
16:17As you can tell, the drivers cannot see very well.
16:20The cars are not gripping.
16:22They're sliding all over the place.
16:25There have been a couple of races this season that were wet.
16:28In fact, one was a wet race.
16:30That was at Hockenheim.
16:32Both races, in fact, were there.
16:33The Norris ring had rain on and off, which did affect away in the pit stops in the second
16:37race because they had to come off the rain tires to slicks.
16:40And that was where Ben Schneider was able to pick up a victory.
16:43The Nürburgring also had some bad weather with some rain, so it's been a year plagued
16:50by rain, but it would be this bad and this difficult is something that no one could have
16:55really thought about.
16:57This is probably one of the worst rainstorms that has hit a racing series in Germany in
17:02a number of years.
17:04As they come off, you can see how slick the track is, and when they come down that hill,
17:08it's all mud on the left and right.
17:10If a car were to go off, they'd throw all kinds of mud and dirt on the track, which
17:13would make it even more slippery.
17:15There's Manuel Reuter in the Opel, that yellow and white Opel, one of the two drivers talking
17:20to race directors about when they think they could start the races.
17:24You're in the car with Ben Schneider on the pole.
17:27He's the other driver talking to the race directors, trying to decide whether they can
17:31get this race started or not.
17:36This is used normally to get the tires warmed up, which is what he's trying to do, but he's
17:39also finding out whether there's grip on the track, and that's the big thing here.
17:45With the top speeds down that front straightaway, and these cars on the track that they don't
17:50know, and the brand new rain tires, if something went wrong, there could be a terrible collision,
17:56and they don't want to have that.
17:57So it's a question now of, can they get a groove dry enough so that they can race?
18:04That's the job right now, to get the cars out there and see if they can do it.
18:09This area of Germany was one of those that was acquired after the wall came down.
18:15They used to have a lot of coal mining down here, brown coal mining, but that was closed,
18:19and so it's a very economically depressed area right now, and this racetrack is one
18:24of the things that the area politicians and the German politicians overall hope will be
18:29one of those that will draw people into this area, even if in the beginning, just to get
18:33them to come to the races and help the economy.
18:37Right now, the economy involves umbrellas and raincoats.
18:42You consider 42,000 showed up, knowing the weather was difficult, because this is their
18:48racetrack and they want to see the racing, and then to have this happen, it's a real
18:52shame.
18:53Hopefully, it will clear up.
18:56Right now, it doesn't look too good for the opening moments anyway.
19:00The cars are out on a safety lap, if you've just joined us.
19:03This is the Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany, and these are the German Touring Car Masters
19:10cars.
19:11It is the sixth race weekend, and we're into the second lap of what have been the first
19:16race of the two races that make up a regular race weekend for the German Touring Car Masters.
19:21The rain has not slowed down.
19:24Here with Stefano Modena in an Opel, the vision is very poor.
19:31They're hoping that they can, one, dry out the track, two, that the rain will let up
19:35a little bit so that the visibility gets better.
19:38A good look at Stefano Modena.
19:41Drives for one of the independent Opel teams.
19:43He's qualified very well, and actually, when you consider he's an independent, he hasn't
19:47done badly at all.
19:50He's had a 13th and a 10th.
19:52He was 12th at Ostersleben, then didn't finish.
19:54He had two 10ths at the Norris Ring, a 14th and a 19th and 15th.
19:58He's actually got some points for an independent team, which is really quite remarkable.
20:05The Audi team and the yellow cars here are the only cars yet that have not registered
20:09a point this season.
20:11In all the races run so far, 16 drivers have finished in the points in the 10 races.
20:16The only ones that have not are the four, or if you want to count Roland Aschew, who
20:19was in for one race, the five apt Audi drivers.
20:24They still have not picked up a point this season.
20:27This is Christian Abt, raced at Le Mans this year, but he certainly has had difficult time
20:32in the German Touring Car Masters, and these cars, he started off, in fact, with three
20:38races where he didn't finish, and it was a very difficult time for him.
20:42He finished his first races at the Nürburgring, which is the fifth race weekend into the season.
20:46He had two 18th place finishes.
20:49That's how difficult it's been.
20:50In fact, it's really been difficult for the Abt team.
20:52The best they've done so far is a 12th place finish.
20:54That was Laurent Aiello in the first race at the Sachsenring.
21:01Once again, heading down toward the grandstand once again.
21:05The track is not drying out.
21:07The asphalt is not draining well, and there's plenty of water and puddles still all over
21:13the track as you ride with Pedro Lamy.
21:15The Portuguese driver has his best start in any of the races so far this season, if they
21:21can get it started.
21:22Lamy has come out in the last two races, and he's hoping that he certainly can do better
21:27and better as he goes along.
21:30In fact, Lamy had one of his best finishes ever, and that was a fourth at the Nürburgring,
21:37and he did that twice.
21:38That was the last two races, so he started off very slowly, and then has come on quite
21:44strong.
21:45The question is, if they can get started, will he be able to use this fine starting
21:49position that he has here in the race at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany?
21:55He drives for the Rosberg team.
21:59Ahead of him is Marcel Fesler, the young Swiss driver who has done so well this season.
22:03It took a while for them to get a sponsor, then they got the sponsor, and then in the
22:07last race, Pedro Lamy really came along.
22:10Now, he's a former Formula One driver and does like to run in the wet, so this could
22:14be an advantage for them if they can get started.
22:17Right behind him there in that black and red is Uwe Ahlsen.
22:22It's not the best place he's started, he did start second one time this season, but he
22:25just has had his share of problems, more than his share of problems, he'd say, and he would
22:30certainly like to get through those.
22:32You can tell here how bad it is, you can look at the cars, you see the rain coming down,
22:36the water coming off the tires.
22:38The track is extremely wet, extremely slippery as they continue to try to wet it down.
22:44The question's going to be, are they going to be able to get this first race started?
22:47They had planned to only run a couple of laps behind the safety car, but now they've
22:52run three.
22:55And they're still trying to find out if the track will dry out, if they'll be able to
22:59get this car going, get this race going.
23:04It's a difficult decision, too, for the race directors when you consider you have all these
23:08fans and you have a brand new racetrack, and for the first time, German television is going
23:15live with both races.
23:18And so there's a lot on the line here for the series, for the television coverage, and
23:22of course for the fans who are hoping that this is one of their, a boost of, an economical
23:26boost for their area.
23:37Everybody continuing to work their way through, Ellery comes through in the rest of the pack,
23:44Klaus Ludwig way in the back in that black Mercedes with the red mirrors, Christian Abt
23:51in the Audi, the best qualifying Audi in the field today.
23:56In October, they have started a tradition a year or so ago of having an open house at
24:01the Abt Sports Complex where they build the cars, and they plan to have another open house
24:06this year.
24:07It's become quite a deal.
24:08They probably don't dare stop it anymore with the number of fans that show up for the open
24:11house at their, constructed at their facility where they build the race cars.
24:17He comes off a year where he was the Super Touring Car Champion last year, but this year
24:22he's been far from the front.
24:25The development of the car was late, they got the cars done late, it's been a hard year
24:29for him.
24:30Mercedes, on the other hand, has certainly been your dominant force.
24:34There isn't much you can say about them.
24:35There's part of the crew waiting to see if they can get things started.
24:39Mercedes has had seven poles this season, seven victories, and seven fast laps, which
24:45is really amazing when you consider Schneider had six of those fast laps.
24:49Marcel Fesler had the other one.
24:51So Schneider, who is your top winner, with five victories, also has six fast laps.
24:57He's just had an exceptional season.
25:00He has said he would love to be the first German Touring Car Masters Champion, and that's
25:07what he's aiming for.
25:08And so far, he's been able to push the car faster than anybody else.
25:13In fact, at the Nürburgring, it was Klaus Lidwig who finished second to him.
25:17He said he was in another world in the first race.
25:19He couldn't even find him.
25:20He was so far out in front.
25:24Rain continues to come down.
25:25In fact, it's getting harder.
25:27You can see how it stands on the track.
25:30It's just not letting up.
25:33Race Direction is certainly hoping it will let up so they can get this underway.
25:37The fans certainly hope so.
25:39They'd like to get out from under their raincoats and their umbrellas.
25:43But the pace car just keeps coming.
25:47You can hear the rain coming down.
25:53You can see the car splashing the water.
25:55It is just not stopping.
25:56This is one of those times you just kind of hope that the rain gods would turn things
26:02off.
26:03And then it's still going to take a little time to dry this one out.
26:07This is the back section of the course.
26:08You can see the standing area back here.
26:11This goes all the way around the trial.
26:13In the back section of the trial, people can stand or sit whatever they want to do.
26:18The grandstand is on the front straightaway.
26:23They figure about 45,000 people can stand on those banks to watch the races and about
26:2789,000 to 90,000 will have seats.
26:30And they'll get this kind of a view here.
26:32If you're sitting here, you really can see the entire course.
26:35It is so well built that the majority of the fans sitting here can look out over the course
26:41and see it.
26:42But you can also see how foggy it has gotten as the rain continues to get harder.
26:45You also see how the water is simply standing on this new asphalt.
26:51There have been races on this track.
26:52They did run a race last night, a GT race for four hours.
26:58But nothing has seemed to help it out today.
27:01The rain is just continuing at an unabated pace and you can see all the water splashing
27:07off the cars.
27:08This is a very, very difficult decision for the race directors.
27:12A brand new series that has taken off.
27:14The German fans love the series.
27:17The attendance has been good.
27:18The television ratings have been good.
27:21The cars are being accepted.
27:23Other manufacturers are already making indications they want to join next year.
27:28The future of the series is good, but right now it's simply a wet series if you want to
27:32get at it.
27:37Coming back onto the section of the tri-oval, which is the second straightaway, they then
27:40move into the road course Grand Prix segment.
27:43So they can make the left turn, left-right combination, and the sweeping left to go back
27:47into the infield segment.
27:51The organizers here had hoped this would be one of their top races for this year.
27:54Next year they've got a kart IndyCar race scheduled.
27:57In fact, their dream is to have the German Touring Car Championship, the Kart Series,
28:01a Formula One race, and their big dream is to get a NASCAR event here.
28:06On all of it, on this tri-oval.
28:07For them, that would be success to have those four major events.
28:10The course will have other national events from Germany that are held throughout the
28:15year, and since it's a multifaceted course, they'll be able to run different versions
28:20of the course, so it becomes interesting.
28:21Boy, you can see the cars get slideways still.
28:24Amazing.
28:25It is so wet.
28:29That was Marcel Thiemann that spun there just a little bit.
28:32In fact, it looks like they've slowed down even more.
28:36It's getting slipperier and slipperier.
28:38Bernd Schneider in the lead car and back in the pack Manuel Reuter continually in discussions
28:42with the race director as to get this race started.
28:46But at this point, it looks like the water has won so far.
28:50You don't get to see much at all.
28:54What they had hoped, too, is that these cars were going to run the tri-oval super speedway,
28:58the Mercedes crew, waiting patiently for the rain to stop, but then as things went along,
29:03they realized that things weren't quite ready, and these cars and tires weren't quite ready
29:06to handle a tri-oval super speedway event.
29:09It's a whole new world for the Europeans, and so the idea of running the tri-oval was
29:14scrapped for this year.
29:15They want to do it again next year and join when the cart cars come over here, the Indy
29:19cars, and run the tri-oval.
29:21It'll be quite an experience.
29:23A number of these drivers have run at Daytona in the 24 hours, so they're used to running
29:26the banking.
29:27You heard Klaus Ludwig earlier say he'd like to run the banking because it's really a thrill,
29:31but right now the banking is out of it.
29:33They come back on the course too close to the banking to really get its effect coming
29:37off onto the front straightaway.
29:40The only long segment of the course they are using is the front straightaway.
29:43They use a portion of that next straightaway, but then cut off into the Grand Prix course,
29:47and they don't rejoin the third straightaway until right before the third turn back onto
29:52the front straightaway.
29:54Well, you've got to say something for the fans so far.
29:57They're hanging in there.
29:59It's wet.
30:00This is their race course.
30:01They're hoping this is going to be one of many great race weekends for them ahead.
30:07Right now, patience is the word, as Christian App gives you a good view of the standing
30:11area to the right, and also how, if you can see the cars ahead of you, how well you can
30:15or can't see them, and how slippery it might be.
30:19There you see the water on the track.
30:20This is on the front straightaway at the start-finish line.
30:25This is very, very difficult.
30:28When you look back at Baron Schneider, the car right there on your left with the yellow
30:31mirrors, he's had such a great year, and this would be a great start for him when starting
30:35on the pole.
30:36He's a half second ahead of the next competitor.
30:38At Hockenheim, Schneider started on the pole and won the first two races.
30:42At Oschersleben, he didn't qualify quite as well, and Manuel Reuter in the Opel picked
30:46up the victory.
30:47In fact, he took the victories in both races.
30:50And that was the only race that Baron Schneider, your points leader, had a bad finish as he
30:54went off in the last couple of laps and finished out of the top ten.
30:58Then at the Norris Ring, Winkelhock took the pole in his Opel, won the first race, but
31:02then Schneider passed him in a battle of the pitstops, and Schneider won the second race.
31:09Then the past race two weeks ago at the Sachsenring, Klaus Ludwig sat the pole and then took the
31:15race.
31:16And Peter Dumbrek, the young English driver, one of the rookies, was a sensation as he
31:21finished second in both those races behind the 50-year-old Ludwig, who's the veteran
31:25of the series.
31:27At the Nürburgring, the last race weekend, Schneider dominated, as he started to do here
31:31until the rains came.
31:33Schneider took the pole, ran away with the first race.
31:35In fact, it was such a victory that he was so far out in front, it was almost a 26-second
31:39victory, which is one of the largest victories that has been recorded so far this season.
31:46The tightest race is about eight-tenths of a second between first and second, but at
31:50the Nürburgring in the last race weekend, that first race, Schneider was just untouchable.
31:55He came back and won the second race, Ludwig was much closer in that one, though, it wasn't
31:58quite as lopsided.
32:00So Schneider has five victories, Reuter has two, Ludwig has two, and Winkelhock has one.
32:05You're riding right now with Stefano Modena, the Italian driver in the Euro Team Opel.
32:11He's trying to see what's going on in the side window.
32:13This is very, very difficult conditions for the drivers.
32:17As we mentioned, Schneider not only has dominated the victory and the points column, he's also
32:22had fastest laps in six of the races so far.
32:25He had fast laps at Hockenheim, first race at Oschersleben, then he had a fast lap at
32:29the second race at the Sachsenring, and both races at the Nürburgring.
32:33Manuel Reuter had a fast lap, and then some of the young drivers, Christian Menzel and
32:38particularly Marcel Fessler had fast laps, Eric Allory, the Frenchman, a veteran of
32:43touring cars, also had a fast lap this season.
32:45But the big question is, can this man right here, Bernd Schneider, increase his point
32:50lead?
32:51He has 146 points, he's 42 points ahead of Klaus Ludwig, another Mercedes driver for
32:56a different team.
32:57Manuel Reuter, who had been right up there challenging, had the bad races at the Nürburgring
33:01and is 51 points behind.
33:03But you get 20 points for a victory, and with two races you can see you can pick up 40 points
33:08real quick, so it's not that far behind, but he's got to do well if he wants to stay
33:12in the championship.
33:14Marcel Fessler, the rookie, at 83 points, 63 points back, he has been probably one of
33:19the most, shall we say, consistent of the drivers.
33:24He's finished in the top ten nine times, and only two other drivers have done that.
33:29That's Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig, no driver, he's finished in the top ten in all
33:33ten races.
33:35So Fessler's made quite an impression on everybody.
33:39He has yet to pick up his victory, though, and that's what he would love to do.
33:44This is the second race weekend in a row that 20 cars will start the event.
33:50With the addition of Jason Thompson, the field went to 20, and so this is another of the
33:54fields.
33:55They're hoping next year to add at least six to eight more cars from factory teams.
33:59None have committed yet.
34:01It's all just talk, but everyone is hoping that it will come true.
34:08Once again, Stefano Modena, from Italy, in his Opel.
34:14They're trying to dry the track down, trying to hope that the cars gain grip, and the big
34:19thing is, hope that the rain stops.
34:24Right now, it just is not helping things out.
34:28They've run six laps now, behind the safety car.
34:31Sooner or later, they're going to have to make a decision here, whether they want to
34:35stop and see if the rain stops, or whether they're going to start the race, or what they're
34:40going to have to do.
34:41Look at the water.
34:43You can see it there, splashing off the cars as they come off the front straightaway, onto
34:47the chicane that sets them up and slows them down to go back onto the next part of the
34:53straightaway of this tri-oval course.
34:56So far, the fans have remained true, although some of them are starting to show their impatience
35:01by whistling.
35:06They're hoping to get this race started, just as much as we are.
35:09This brand new course promises to be challenging, and Bernd Schneider likes the course a lot.
35:15The only thing he said about it is, is that when they race again, he hopes that they fix
35:18the curbs, makes them a little bit higher, because when the drivers are cutting the curbs,
35:23they are throwing a lot of dirt onto the track and gravel, which makes it very, very slippery.
35:29So if they have to raise the curbs a little bit, that would mean that the drivers won't
35:33be as going off the curbs and using the curbs to cut the corners short, and should stop
35:40the fact that so much gravel is being thrown on the course.
35:46You can see that there's still a lot of work on the infield yet.
35:49The beautification process is just starting.
35:52There's areas that need grass, and there's other areas that are still being worked on,
35:56but the course itself is in excellent condition.
35:58The only thing is, it needs to get the asphalt more conditioned, so that it'll take care
36:02of the water.
36:04Bernd Schneider continues to try to see what happens here, if he can send some good words
36:11back to the race directors, but right now, they're still trying to see if the cars have
36:15grip, and as of this moment, they certainly don't.
36:18The one that's not weaving back and forth, Pedro Lamy, everybody else trying to see if
36:23there is some grip to be had, and now Lamy starts to do it, but as yet, the rain has
36:30not let up.
36:31If anything, it seems to be getting harder periodically.
36:35They don't want to start the race where the drivers could be in danger, simply because
36:40of weather conditions.
36:42On a brand new course like this, no one knows exactly how the course and the cars will react
36:49to it, under racing conditions.
36:54Christian Abt, from his position, back in the field a little bit, get a good look at
36:59the grandstand area, something that's unusual here, a covered section.
37:04In Europe, most of the courses have a lot of open section, like this one does, but this
37:08is the largest grandstand seating area of its kind.
37:11Christian Abt, very popular driver, having a little bit of fun with the traffic here.
37:21He'd like to get them to get going a little quicker, of course.
37:25All of them would like to go a little quicker, but right now, all they can do is wait.
37:31Christian Abt, in a way, had hoped that it might rain a little bit, because in the rain,
37:35you never know what happens, and in that case, with a little bit of luck, he can come
37:39out further up in the pack, and maybe that's how the Audi would be able to get at least
37:43some points this year, get their first points, but I don't think he meant to have this much
37:48rain.
37:49Actually, there are five courses built into this tri-oval, but it was built with the idea
37:58of bringing in North American series, like the kart series, and NASCAR.
38:03They really want to bring the stock cars over here.
38:05They're very, very popular.
38:07They're shown a lot on European television, and these are, right now, the closest things
38:11that the Germans can get to stock cars, and they love their touring cars.
38:16They have drawn well in years past.
38:17They had problems after they went international with the ITC.
38:21They stopped it.
38:22They went to less powerful cars called super touring cars.
38:25They were not quite as spectacular as these cars.
38:28That series went out last year, and this is a series that came up, thanks to Norbert
38:33Haug and Volker Stritzik.
38:35They brought the series back, and also brought the fans in.
38:39The fans brought their umbrellas, and everybody's hoping that sooner or later, everybody's going
38:42to be happy, but right now, it's a very, very difficult situation.
38:49No one is exactly sure what's going to happen now, because it's just too many variables
38:56on this track.
38:57It's not drying out.
38:59Sooner or later, they're going to have to make a decision, because they can't run a
39:02race under the safety car.
39:04That just isn't going to work.
39:10Interesting thing is that if the race does come to a conclusion, and using these laps
39:15as counters, because they all are going to be counted for the first race, Bernd Schneider
39:20will be easily adding to his laps led category.
39:24He's the driver that has led the most laps this season at 139, so this is all just gravy
39:30in that category.
39:31Manuel Reuter is second in that category, Ludwig is third, Winklehawk is fourth, and
39:35Marcel Thiemann.
39:37He led five laps at the Norris Ring.
39:40Winklehawk had taken the pole, Thiemann got by him, ran for about five laps, and then
39:44Winklehawk got back by him, and went on to victory.
39:48So actually, there have been five drivers to lead races so far this season.
39:56Mercedes fans saying hello to Norbert Haug, the man that keeps Mercedes racing out in
40:03front of the public.
40:04He's seen the highs and lows of touring car racing, as well as, of course, in Formula
40:11One, with the McLaren Mercedes.
40:17It does not seem to be a good prognosis for the rain letting up.
40:25The water on the track is just as thick as it was.
40:28The driver's still trying to find a dry line, if there is going to be one, but as of yet,
40:33the rain continues to come down.
40:37So far, a very disappointing day at the brand-new Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany, a track
40:45that the German public, the racing public in particular, has taken to.
40:49They're looking forward to the races here.
40:52The motorcycle races did very well, and it was hoped that the German touring cars would
40:57be the one that gives it a real good push in the year 2000, and some other smaller race
41:03series that are going to be here throughout the year.
41:06And then next year was the big year.
41:08At least they had the kart races, they had these cars, and they were hoping for some
41:12sort of a NASCAR race.
41:13So you can see that the plans are big, but Mother Nature right now has laid some dampening
41:19notes on these plans.
41:25Once again, Christian Abt back in the pack.
41:31I wonder how you figure this one out, if they're going to keep going with this, though, is
41:34that they only can go so long before a race is considered to be official.
41:38And if that happens, then that would happen under a safety car, and that would not be
41:43particularly good.
41:44So sooner or later, they've got to make a decision here that they're going to have to
41:46wait and see if they can run a race, or what they're going to have to do about it.
41:52What they may have to do is have these cars come to a stop and see if they can run the
41:58second race, or see if they can come to a stop and hope that the rain stops and they
42:03can run.
42:07The race fans are becoming rather impatient here at the Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany.
42:17They'd hope to see some of their favorite drivers, some of whom they'd never seen quite
42:21before up face live, have a chance to show their stuff here, and that they have a chance
42:26to meet them.
42:28The series popularity deals in part with the fact that they do like to open up the pits.
42:32They have a walkthrough for the pits for the fans, the drivers are out signing autographs,
42:36they have a chance to come up and meet all the drivers.
42:40What they want to do is make sure the series stays near its public and doesn't become too
42:43separated from it.
42:47That's one of the problems in Formula One as compared to this series.
42:50These organizers are going out of the way to make sure the fans can come up and see
42:53their favorite drivers.
42:54They can get their autographs, they can meet them, shake their hands, and see them without
42:58a helmet behind the wheel of a car, inside the car.
43:04Right now, the fans are just simply hoping to be able to see the drivers on the track
43:07do their thing.
43:09But as yet, the rain just keeps coming down, you can see it on our camera, as they head
43:14once again back into the infield segment.
43:21These first races have been pretty formatted.
43:25The second race is when everybody picks up, it isn't before it used to be, there were
43:28fewer points given for the first race, and it was a little bit shorter.
43:31That's back in the old German Touring Car Championship.
43:34But under this series, the races are equal in points, and so you have to run hard in
43:38this one, but how well you do in the first one sets your qualifying for the second race.
43:43So how hard do you push?
43:44If you're out in front, do you want to take the victory?
43:46Sure, it's 20 points.
43:47But how hard do you want to push?
43:49That's the question.
43:51And there's also a fact that the motors were actually sealed at the beginning of the season
43:55so that if you blow a motor or something like that, or you have to change motors, it
44:00means that you are sent to the end of the pack for the next race, which is sort of a
44:05penalty here.
44:06But it's also a case of trying to have the motors built, and to be built strong, so that
44:11the costs are kept down.
44:14That's why there's only one tire manufacturer this year, Dunlop.
44:18They want to keep the costs down.
44:20Sooner or later, if racing goes like it does, they will escalate a little bit, but right
44:23now they really are trying to get this series off the ground on a good basis, and try to
44:28make it so the fans realize that their favorite cars are back, their drivers are back, they
44:32can meet the drivers, and the competition is going to be good.
44:38The competition now is whether they're going to be able to stop the rain or not, and nobody's
44:44got the spigot.
44:47That's just something we're going to have to hope that somebody's able to fix.
44:49You can see here the water just is deep on the track.
44:52The cars are not grabbing well at all.
44:59It does not look good for the racing today.
45:02In fact, they're now even slowing down more.
45:07They're slowing down more.
45:08They're going to bring the cars to a stop to see what happens, to see if they can maybe
45:12hope that the rain comes to a stop.
45:16The fans certainly are not happy about this at all.
45:19They've been nine laps behind the pace car.
45:21You can hear the whistling of the fans, a sign of disapproval in Europe.
45:30They're going to stop it.
45:31They're going to stop it now to see if they can, one, hope the rain stops and get it started
45:36under regular racing conditions.
45:41The cars will go into park for May, which means they can't be worked on.
45:44They just park them and leave them and walk away, and hope that if the rain stops they
45:48can get back in and once again start to race.
45:59It's too bad for the fans.
46:01They're very loyal.
46:02They've come out.
46:03They've stayed out, 46,000 on this race Sunday, and they're bringing the cars to a stop.
46:12Now it's going to be up to the race officials to decide what they're going to do.
46:18The first race has been stopped, and now it's up to race officials.
46:22Will they try to start it again?
46:24What are they going to do?
46:25This is a difficult decision for them.
46:26When you consider it's a brand-new, multimillion-dollar circuit, the fans know what they're doing.
46:31They're heading home.
46:32That's too bad.
46:34But the races have been canceled.
46:37Race director Ronald Brinserneide explained the cancellation.
46:39As you have all seen, we started behind the safety car.
46:47I was in contact with two drivers, Manuel Reuter and the Bernd Schneider, who told me
46:55the track conditions as they drove around it.
46:59We started at 50 miles an hour around the course, and then we got even slower.
47:04It got worse and worse.
47:06That's why I stopped the race.
47:11We had hoped that it would get better, and we waited until 3.45 to cancel the event.
47:19Ten minutes before that, I had gone out in the safety car, but the conditions were worse.
47:28It's currently worse than it was an hour ago.
47:34Mercedes-Benz team manager Norbert Haug agreed with the decision.
47:40I have to take my hat off to all those responsible for the race, particularly Roland.
47:46It was a correct decision.
47:47It takes nerve to make such a decision, but it is better.
47:51If I had a choice between a sprained leg or a broken leg, I would take the sprain.
48:00For the fans, well, we're going to have to work with the organizer to find a way to
48:04compensate them or partially do so.
48:07If someone is against it, then they should really think it over.
48:11We love this sport, and I want to point that out from our point of view.
48:15I believe that Volker Strzick has the same opinion, even Bernd Schneider, who had a good
48:20chance to do well here.
48:24If we had wanted to, we could have tried to influence the decision to race.
48:28We could have pressured and said that we have to race.
48:31It really isn't that bad, and, and, and.
48:34But we didn't, because our team and those of the German Touring Car and International
48:39Touring Car Associations wanted to stick to our responsibilities.
48:43Now we want to have a lot of races, but we don't want to commit Harry Carey here.
48:48My feelings are quite clear.
48:49A compliment on the race director for this decision.
48:52We would have loved to race, but we want to race under normal conditions.
48:58We're not gamblers, none of us, and the water slick course was past its limit.
49:05Hans-Jürgen Opp said it very nicely.
49:07This has nothing to do with any kind of driving talent.
49:11It would be Russian roulette.
49:13There has to be a limit somewhere.
49:15It could affect one, but not the other.
49:17If something happened at 120 miles an hour on the front straight, one driver spins, another
49:21hits him, no one can say what would be the outcome.
49:25The sports authorities, the race managers and directors in particular, have to carry
49:30this responsibility.
49:31Therefore, there could only be one decision, and it was the correct one.
49:40The one that had the difficult time with this decision, of course, is Bernd Schneider.
49:43He had a chance to pick up a lot of points, wasn't able to do it, but that's the way it
49:48goes in racing.
49:51It was just now, when we started the race, that there was that much water on the circuit.
49:55Before, the warm-up was already bad, but it went worse to the race.
50:01Behind the safety car was okay, with 60 kilometers an hour, but I think with 250, we would have
50:06big problems.
50:07So, this will go down as the first in the history of the German Touring Car Masters
50:10and in German Touring Car Racing.
50:12A race weekend has been cancelled.
50:14One of those that's happy, though, is Manuel Reuter.
50:18Why?
50:19I mean, everybody who was here could see the amount of rain was so much, that it was, also
50:27behind the pace car, nearly impossible to go around the track.
50:32We get in second gear, aquaplaning, the car was spinning up to fourth gear, and then we
50:39decided to stop the first one and wait for better weather conditions, because there was
50:43so much water on the tracks that you could not control the car anymore.
50:51So that does it from the Euro Speedway in the Lausitz.
50:54Rain the next stop on the tour, Austrischleben.
50:56Hope you'll join us then.
50:57We also hope it doesn't rain.