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00:00This is the German Touring Car Masters, today coming to you from the Eurospeedway in Lausitz,
00:12Germany.
00:13It's the sixth race weekend of the season.
00:31In 1998, work started on the Eurospeedway in Lausitz.
00:37The organizers wanted to have the most modern and most usable facility in Germany.
00:48The main part of the course is the 1.9 mile oval, actually a tri-oval, looking to bring
00:56in some American series to race here.
01:02One of the main aspects of this is the Grand Prix course, 2.67 miles, there's also another
01:08course at 2.7 miles.
01:10A hundred and twenty thousand fans can get in to watch all the action.
01:19Naturally part of that action is on the tri-oval.
01:23Four football fields long, a main grandstand with 25,000 seats.
01:28There the fans can see just about everything that's happening in the pit lane and way over
01:33in the garage area.
01:42This is the sixth event in the German Touring Car Masters.
01:47Some 62,000 fans have made it here over the weekend to watch all the action.
01:55This is the course they'll be tackling and the man that will be leading all of this is
01:59a first time pool sitter, Uwe Ahlsen, in his Mercedes.
02:02My ambition is for sure that I win the race, but we will see.
02:09It's really not so easy.
02:11Marcel Vesla is in the same row as I am and he will push very hard, I think so.
02:16We will see.
02:17What we need is a little bit of luck and then the main race is more important for sure.
02:24The cars are out on the warm-up lap.
02:26There you see it, Uwe Ahlsen on the pole, Marcel Vesla on the outside pole.
02:30Then a surprise, Alain Meunier is third in the Opel and Bernd Schneider, the points leader,
02:35is fourth.
02:36Thomas Jaeger fifth, Michel Barthel is sixth.
02:38This qualifying took place in the rain, sort of messed everything up and the Opels and
02:43the Audis didn't have much of a chance.
02:44Here we go, qualifying race, eight laps ahead and Uwe Ahlsen gets the jump in that black
02:50Mercedes with the red rearview mirrors.
02:54Vesla hangs on inside and Meunier spins.
02:59And more cars go off the course here, getting into the infield section off that straight
03:04away.
03:05Uwe Ahlsen is out in front.
03:07It looks like Bernd Schneider has moved into third place.
03:10Parts are flying all over the place as we work our way toward the tri-oval again.
03:14More cars are spinning.
03:17Barthel's over there on the right, he spun.
03:22But now it looks like everybody's sort of got things worked out here and we're just
03:26in the first lap here at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany.
03:30I'm Milt Fitzwater.
03:31Hope you enjoy the action today in the German Touring Car Masters.
03:35And one of the Audis has gone off the course.
03:39That is Tom Cech.
03:42Well, Tom Cech, one of the young drivers, 19 years old, and a growing star, goes off
03:50the course.
03:51This is quite a challenging infield circuit.
03:55There's Meunier incidentally, working his way back after that disappointing start.
04:00Uwe Ahlsen meanwhile out in front.
04:03And the Audi just doesn't want to seem to get going.
04:06Martin Tom Cech, 19 year old.
04:10He's done very well this season, but he's also paying that money to learn.
04:15The rest of the field works its way around.
04:17Let's take another look at this.
04:19Meunier tries to get inside, can't hold the line, and goes off the course.
04:23I had a good start and I was in third place breaking into the first corner and somebody
04:28behind didn't brake hard enough, I guess, and tapped me into a spin.
04:34And I rejoined last, so after that, nothing much I could do, but I mean I had a good race
04:39and the car was pretty good, so I felt I could see the first four in front and they
04:44were not really pulling away that much, it felt.
04:46So maybe I could have kept up with them a bit and never fight, so it's a shame.
04:52There's the top group, four Mercedes.
04:54Ahlsen, Fesler, Schneider, and Dumbrecht.
04:59These are your leaders right now.
05:01Taking another look going into the bumping incidents all the way through here, trying
05:05to get this race started.
05:06There goes Tom Cech off the course.
05:09He's driving rather unceremoniously and you can see he's got some problems.
05:12That's his Audi over there on the right of your screen.
05:15Meanwhile the Mercedes drivers certainly don't have any problems whatsoever.
05:19They're holding on to a big lead.
05:23One Audi right there in fifth place is Matthias Ekström, 23-year-old Swede.
05:28He's done very well this season.
05:31He's also new to this type of racing this year and here you get a chance to ride with
05:34him as we head up on the tri-oval section here at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz.
05:41Into the left-hander and then down the straightaway and then they have to brake for that left-hander
05:46which takes them just past the pit lane.
05:48There you get the top five.
05:50It's a Mercedes parade so far.
05:55But Ekström is hanging right on there.
05:58Dumbrecht has got his hands full, sitting in fourth position.
06:04Another look at action back in the pack.
06:06Well this is the man that's had his problems this year, Jochen Winkelhock.
06:10He just hasn't quite come to terms in driving the Opel and he's had his share of problems.
06:17Meanwhile up front, Uwe Ahlson looking for his first victory in a qualifying race.
06:26Leads the field here at the Eurospeedway.
06:30This is the sixth race of the season.
06:32In the previous five, there's only been one double winner and that's Bernd Schneider,
06:35your points leader, who's currently running third.
06:38Aiello, who had been qualifying very well in the practice sessions.
06:44Take a look at what happened to Winkelhock.
06:46He just lost it.
06:47That's it.
06:48He lost it.
06:49And this is another one.
06:50This is not the original one we saw.
06:54Here's Tomczyk.
06:55I'm not sure what happened there.
07:00But something happened to that back side of the car to throw it way out of line.
07:06Meanwhile the rest of the Audis continue to challenge.
07:08That's Christian Abt running there in sixth position.
07:13Ahead of him is Jaeger in one of the Mercedes.
07:16Abt, one of the two bosses of the Abt sports line team.
07:22Meanwhile the four Mercedes just continue to pull away.
07:26In comes the Mercedes of Jaeger, followed by Abt.
07:28And then comes Aiello.
07:29Aiello had been the fastest in all the practice sessions and then the rain came during qualifying
07:34and they didn't take advantage of the right moment when it got a little bit drier.
07:39And they fell back in qualifying.
07:40The Tomczyk car is in the garage.
07:42I was catching up the four Mercedeses and then when I got too close I lost a bit of
07:47downforce and made a stupid mistake.
07:50So I touched the wall a little bit when we went back to the oval.
07:54And then something in the rear right broke so I had to stop the race.
07:59That answers the big question.
08:00He said he touched the wall just a little bit.
08:03That's something new for the German drivers, the Europeans, to run in an oval where that
08:07wall is up close and all it takes is one little mistake and it throws your car off.
08:12Eventually they'd like to run these cars on the oval.
08:16Right now they're staying on the Grand Prix course.
08:18Whoa, that's one way to get by.
08:20Christian Abt and Jaeger come into terms in the corner.
08:27The question is, who had the most terms?
08:32Abt got by, but the question is going to be, did he do it quite as nicely as might be expected?
08:38Thomas Jaeger will probably tell you a different story.
08:40And now Jaeger's being attacked by Aiello.
08:43Aiello with the ideal line going inside and Jaeger tried to cut him off and they bumped.
08:49Oh, it's been a tough couple of laps here for Thomas Jaeger.
08:53The two Audis gave him a hard time coming around.
08:59So he drops all the way back two positions here.
09:05There's Timo Scheider, one of your top Opels in the field.
09:09Haven't seen too much of the Opels here.
09:12Somehow things didn't go quite as well as they'd like to in the qualifying, even though
09:16Menuhin did qualify up front, but then he had problems the very first lap and the Opels
09:21have dropped back.
09:23This man has not.
09:24Uwe Ahlson out in front and take a look at this going through the chicane.
09:30The Mercedes parade.
09:36Bernd Schneider, your point leader, leading these two cars, running third right there.
09:41He has the yellow mirrors behind him, his teammate Peter Dombrek and behind them Christian
09:46Abt and then the next yellow Audi is Laurent Aiello.
09:50And I'm sure the Abt team had had better hopes for today than running fifth and sixth behind
09:57the Armada from Mercedes.
10:02Now the question is going to be, will Marcel Fesler put the pressure on Uwe Ahlson or will
10:08they settle in for first, second and third?
10:10Bernd Schneider couldn't be happy, couldn't be more happier actually, because he is in
10:15the points lead and the two cars ahead of him really don't have any effect on him as
10:18far as the points are concerned.
10:20He's right there and there's only three points to win, two points for second and one point
10:24for third, so not a big chance here for anyone to get much catch-up time on Bernd Schneider.
10:30Here we come, Uwe Ahlson picks up the victory here at the Eurospeedway in the Lausitz.
10:37Uwe Ahlson picks up his first qualifying race victory, Mercedes goes one, two, three
10:42and four, with the Audis fifth and sixth and look at that, Mercedes seventh and eighth.
10:49Domination all the way here at the Eurospeedway, the best Opel team was Schneider finishing
10:54ninth, Darren Turner in a Mercedes was tenth.
11:00So now the cars will go into the pits and get themselves ready for the second race,
11:04the main race of the day here at the Eurospeedway.
11:07First race, the tightest of the qualifying races this season, Ahlson winning by 0.7 tenths
11:14of a second.
11:15Great race.
11:16The question is going to be can Mercedes continue to dominate here, right now the Opel crew
11:21is going to work, Jochen Winkelhock getting strapped in, he certainly hopes that the good
11:24luck person will join him in the car.
11:27Good luck has not been his forte this year, although he did have a fourth place finish
11:31at the Norris Ring, so things did look better until he got to the track today and went off
11:35a couple of times.
11:38Okay here's how they're going to start, Uwe Ahlson your winner, starts from the pole,
11:42Fessler second, just the way they started the qualifying race, Schneider is third, Peter
11:46Dumbrek fourth, so you got those two teammates together, then Christian Opp and Laurent Aiello
11:52in the Audis, then Thomas Jäger and Bernd Meilander coming back after missing three
11:58races due to an injury when he was working out, Timo Scheider, the young Opel driver
12:03who seems to be very consistent and picks up the points.
12:06Okay here we go, let's see what happens, Ahlson gets a jump, Fessler gets inside, they're
12:10going down inside to protect the lane into the corner, Dumbrek way out to the left, so
12:16your leader cuts in, Dumbrek cuts way inside and forces Fessler out as he gets the line
12:22into the corner, moves into second place, what a great move by the Scotsman, he's taken
12:29over second position, the rest of the field seems to be getting through a little bit cleaner
12:34this time than in the qualifying race, Fessler was sort of outfoxed on that maneuver and
12:44now it's up to Dumbrek to see if he can get by, Uwe Ahlson, you're riding with Ekstrom
12:51who started way back in the pack, around 19th position, he's got to work his way through
12:56the field and you can see how tight it gets coming through here, although look at the
13:00moves he's making, he's coming up beautifully and working his way through, but it does get
13:07tight back in the pack, Bernd Schneider sitting in fourth position, the points leader, long
13:15as he can keep his opponents right there with him, he's not in bad shape, the field now
13:23sorting itself out very quickly actually, once again you're with Ekstrom back in the
13:29pack, no room to get by here, whoops, a little bit of bumping going on ahead of him, Tomchek
13:45and Ekstrom way in the back of the pack, you can tell the difference in that Ekstrom has
13:50the yellow mirrors, Tomchek has the green ones, and boy are they trying to get by Manuel
13:56Reuter, Mercedes in the top three, but an Audi has moved into fourth to break up that
14:06group, that's sort of a surprise, oh, Winklehawk got by Reuter, that's an unusual move, Winklehawk
14:17in that orange Opel, as the cars get ready to head back out onto this infield circuit,
14:28in the beginning it only uses part of that first corner, coming off the first corner,
14:32it gets into the infield circuit with an S-turn, then there is a left-hander, that brings him
14:41right up toward the audience, what a great seat that is, because they're driving right
14:45at you, just like that, except you're sitting up way high to watch it, and the Mercedes
14:51parade continues, so if you're an Opel fan, I guess you wouldn't want to sit up there,
14:55but otherwise, it's a great seat, there's a right-hander, which is a crucial turn here,
15:01if they get through this one good, they're set up now for the straightaway, and then
15:04another chicane with a very tight left-right combination, that leads them back out onto
15:11the tri-oval, so it's a demanding infield course, which isn't always the case, when
15:18they put them inside a super speedway layout, let's take another look at this, all the cars
15:22had moved over to what you're saying on the screen here, to your right, to their left,
15:27the idea being, is to hold line going into the left-hand corner, Dumbrak on the outside,
15:32decided he was going to get the good line, where the good grip is, he sails into the
15:37corner, gets position for the next corner, this is the key, he took position, was able
15:44to move, oh and Bernd Schneider's coming in, if this is a planned move, then he's coming
15:49in way early, in hopes of beating the rest of the field, who normally would come in a
15:54little bit later, nothing wrong with the car, they're just changing tires, this is a planned
15:59pit stop, and Ekstrom has also come in, so Bernd Schneider will drop to the end of the
16:09pack, but you have to remember, in this race, all the drivers have to pit at least once
16:14and change all four tires, so Schneider now has that behind him, he also has some clear
16:20racing room, he was sitting in the middle of the pack, back in fourth position, not
16:24much racing room, now he can take advantage of an open track, make up the distance, and
16:30then wait till everybody else pits, and then be able to move up, if that all works that
16:35way of course, Uwe Ahlson, Dumbrak, Fessler, Abt, those are your top four, and a loose
16:45hood there on the Menou's car, boy he's had a tough break, starts third, drops back, now
16:50it looks like he's got something wrong with the car, Uwe Ahlson holding on here, the big
16:55difference will be that pit stop, will they be able to make up the time, did Bernd Schneider,
17:03did Ekstrom make the right move to pull up and see if they can take advantage of everybody
17:08else's pit stop, another car coming into the pits, more coming into the pits, Aiello is
17:13coming into the pits, Menou continues to roll but that hood is a little bit loose,
17:21here is Dumbrak, Dumbrak comes into the pits, let's see if this is a regular pit stop, if
17:27they just change tires, this is part of the strategy, get in early, which means they must
17:33have great faith in the tires, here comes Aiello, they're changing all four, he's out,
17:45question is going to be, here comes Dumbrak, is he going to get out before Schneider, he
17:51comes out, there's Schneider, look at that, Peter Dumbrak got in and out quicker than
17:56Bernd Schneider and now leads his teammate and Alain Menou certainly has problems seeing
18:05where he's going, this is new aerodynamics at its best, let's just hope the parts don't
18:10go all over the track, this will slow things down, he's going to have to try to get to
18:13the pits and it had to come after he left the area, the pit area, there it goes, right
18:18down the front straight away, it breaks off, oh look at the parts all over the course,
18:25that's very dangerous, car could pick those up in the tires and it's all over, going to
18:31have to clean those off the track, Olsen way out in front, Fessler has dropped back, Abt
18:37is running third, Jaeger is running fourth, Schneider is running fifth, Huisman is running
18:43sixth, more pitstops coming up, this is the first time that pitstops have really, everyone
18:56is using an early pitstop, it's worked before with the pitstop strategy coming a little
19:02bit early, but now they're going to bring out the pace car, look at the parts all over
19:08the track, Uwe Alsen is coming right into it, he got around him, Uwe Alsen just missed
19:14the parts, everyone else now sees the problem and is out of the way, Christian Abt is in
19:21the pits, he's going through a four tire change, everyone else most likely will come in now
19:27with the pace car out on the track, but that plays to the advantage of Schneider and of
19:33Dumbrak because they will just automatically stay out and move up in the field, very smart
19:38move, Alsen has not pitted, there you're looking at the Opel of Manu, as it changes aerodynamic
19:51position, going to have to get that part off the track too, it's going to take a couple
19:57of laps to get all this cleaned up, there's the Manu Opel in the pits, they've done the
20:04tire change, they've got to put the new hood on before he can get back out again, it started
20:11to be such a promising day for him, has turned into disaster, Uwe Alsen is out there, then
20:17comes Fessler, after all these pitstops and we'll be able to figure out who is out in
20:24front, for the fans, it's hard to see here on the TV screen, but there is a sticker on
20:30the back outside of the car, and that's so that the fans in the stands can see who's
20:36pitted and who hasn't, when the cars come in, watch the back tire man yank that sticker
20:41off, the idea was just to make it more interesting for the fans, the leaders are going to have
20:46to come into the pits, this is about the best time they can do it, but they're certainly
20:50at a disadvantage to the earlier cars that pitted, this is Marcel Fessler who had been
20:54running second, and he's the teammate of Uwe Alsen, and he's coming in before Alsen,
21:01so his team got him in early, and this is to the disadvantage of Uwe Alsen, unless his
21:07team can pull off a spectacular pitstop, this is actually a matter of fate, because when
21:18Alsen comes in, depending on where he drops back, he's going to have to get behind Fessler
21:23and Fessler comes out and runs into Abt, what was that, Fessler came out of the pits
21:31and ran right in to Christian Abt, there's supposed to be plenty of room there, and the
21:40driver coming in from the pit lane has to be aware of the cars on the track, and the
21:46racing line, track workers getting all the parts cleaned off the front straightaway here
21:53at the Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany, there he comes, and he just goes into the
21:58side of Christian Abt, can't explain that one, either he didn't see him, or he thought
22:07he might be able to get by him, not a very friendly move, no matter what happened, and
22:17there it is, look at that, oh well, now it's up to the race officials, here comes Uwe Alsen
22:25and boy is he late, Timo Scheider is behind him, he's going to come out way behind the
22:30rest of the pack, he's going to have a long haul to get back up to the top group of cars,
22:38it was a matter of some tactics that didn't work and a matter of some luck, it just wasn't
22:45there, the crew does a good job, the car is out, and he should be headed out, Scheider
22:57is going out, but what's Alsen stopping for, wait a minute, there's a red light on, the
23:03red light is on, something isn't right here, usually that would happen if the pace car
23:07were coming by, but it's already gone, so now Uwe Alsen is truly out of the picture,
23:13he's going to be way at the back of the pack, he's got a major catch up job ahead of him
23:20and it's going to be almost impossible to do it, the lights are off on the pace car,
23:25we should be ready to go now, here at the Euro Speedway, the second race of the day
23:29in the German Touring Car Masters, sixth race weekend of the year, and now we'll get an
23:36idea to see who's come out ahead in all the pit stops and taking advantage of the pace
23:43car, there's Bernd Meilander coming back, boy there's a pressure on him, his replacement
23:48Marcel Thiemann sat in the same car and did some great finishing in the top five and Bernd
23:53Meilander's had some battles to try to get it into the top ten, let alone the top five,
23:58lot of pressure on that man, Dumbrek gets the jump, did he do enough, looks like it,
24:09Schneider tucks in behind him, Fessler is running third, so Dumbrek holds on, Abt is
24:19in fourth, Jaeger fifth, then comes Schneider, Ekstrom, Aiello and Husemann, so the Audis
24:24are doing quite well, but we have a new leader, Peter Dumbrek, 27 years old from Scotland,
24:37Dumbrek did win a qualifying race, that was back at the Sachsenring, but he has not won
24:42a main race, now he's sitting out in front of the driver who's the dominator as they
24:52call him here, Bernd Schneider has not finished worse than second place in any of the main
24:58races, he's had a phenomenal season, it's one of those you just sit back and say okay
25:03who's going to beat him, right now I don't know who, but right now it looks like it could
25:06be his teammate, Peter Dumbrek, Schneider has picked up a victory at Hockenheim, he
25:12was second in the Nürburgring, second in Ostersleben, he won at Sachsenring, he was second at the
25:17Norrisring, right now he's running second here in Ostersleben, whoa, he wanted to get
25:25by and Dumbrek held him off, Dumbrek held him off, Schneider wanted to try and make
25:32a move, Dumbrek held right on to the line, there was nowhere for Schneider to go, amazing,
25:43it's something you don't get to see very often here, at the Norrisring it was Olsen that
25:49was out in front of Schneider, Schneider obviously the top driver with Mercedes right now, but
25:56everybody else is out to get him, and right behind him is Marcel Fesler, Fesler wouldn't
26:01like anything better than moving to second place, and of course the Audi, well, they're
26:05looking for everything they can get, that's one of the comeback stories, period, after
26:11the miserable year last year, there's Christian Albers in a Mercedes, off the course, you're
26:21back with Mattia Ekström, Ekström has done a great job actually here, after all that
26:28early pits he's moved up into what looks to be about seventh place, what a great drive,
26:37there comes Tomczyk, Tomczyk trying to move his way up, Olsen is way in the back, boys
26:44he's got a lot of catching up to do, Barton Tomczyk is making some good moves here, Tomczyk
26:53had dropped way back, or started way back in the field, and is now working his way forward,
26:59he's up in about twelfth position, Uli Olsen meanwhile is way back in the pack, boy is
27:04that disappointing, very disappointing for him, he's back in about fourteenth position,
27:15there he is, he wants to pull up a bye, Olivier, and whether he's going to get by or not that's
27:24another question, oh Michel Bartels, runs right into Christian Albers, and that was
27:34why he went off the course, Dumbrek now with a little bit of breathing room, between himself
27:43and Schneider, here comes the battle back in the pack, Fessler has dropped back just
27:47a little bit, Ekström continues to push, the Swedish star really pushing to move back
27:56up into the pack, he's not giving room anyway, he's got Timo Scheider right ahead of him,
28:07the leaders right here at the bottom of your screen, Dumbrek, Schneider, then comes, look
28:11at this, Christian Aft has moved up into third place, Jaeger is fourth, Fessler is fifth,
28:16Scheider is sixth, and then comes Ekström and Aiello, wow what a great drive for Ekström,
28:23starting back in around nineteenth position, he's moved all the way up into sixth, great
28:29drive for the young Swede, Aiello, the Frenchman, also had great hopes for the day, but he's
28:36had his share of problems, hasn't quite been able to move up, but what's really surprising
28:40is the performance of Ekström, doing a great job, and once again a chance to ride with
28:47him here, actually and his team mate Martin Tomczek is also moving up, Tomczek is back
28:55in eighth and ninth position, so the two young Audi stars are putting on quite a show here
29:00for the fans at the Euro Speedway, in Lausitz, Germany, later this year the US Kart Series
29:09will be making their stop on the Tri-Oval, it will be the first time for a US Series
29:14to come to Europe and run on a super speedway.
29:23Now you can see the Mercedes one and two, also four and five, but the top Opel Timo
29:30Scheider in sixth position, Ekström is now seventh, Tomczek is in twelfth position, there
29:36he is, but he has started even further back, this is a battle of two very young stars in
29:45the series, Timo Scheider is only twenty-two, team mate of Jochen Winkelhock, and Scheider
29:54actually for much of the season has been the man who's held up the points for the Audi
29:59team, Aiello did pick up some big points with the victories and a couple top finishes,
30:04but the most consistent all the way seems to be Scheider, Michel Bartels, Opel, being
30:10worked on and try to get it back out, whether they can or not, that's another story.
30:19There goes Kristian Apt, Jaeger, Fessler, oh and here comes Ekström inside of Timo
30:24Scheider, is he going to make this one, he got by him, Ekström gets by Timo Scheider,
30:31this young man is on the move, Scheider pulls out but is not going anywhere, so Ekström
30:38now is going to have to go after Marcel Fessler, Fessler the twenty-five year old Swiss driver,
30:44another of the relatively young drivers in this field, actually Peter Dumbrek is new
30:53to the series, second year, he's running up in first place, he's twenty-seven years
30:57old, Scheider, one of the true veterans of touring car racing, is thirty-seven years
31:04old, you can see there's a big disparaging age here, but Ekström still has a little
31:14bit of racing room to go before he can catch up to Fessler, there's some breathing room
31:19there separating them, Fessler meanwhile has got his hands full, trying to get by Jaeger,
31:27a twenty-four year old German driver, there's your top six, you can see it's a good mixture
31:39of the older and younger coming in to the German touring car scene, Tom Cech still in
31:45twelfth position, and Reuter the veteran back in thirteenth, Altson has moved up into
31:54fourteenth position, Winkelhock is still way back after all his problems, Aiello is right
32:01behind Timo Scheider, Aiello you can tell by that red mirror on the yellow Audi, actually
32:13the field has kind of settled down here, after all the hectic that was going on prior
32:18to the pace car coming out, and during the pace car phase when everybody was trying to
32:23make time in the pits, and Bernd Scheider and Peter Dombrek crews look awfully smart
32:31right now, Fessler coming in to the pits, so he'll be dropping back, he's coming in
32:43for a stop and go, Olivier, Yves Olivier the twenty-six year old Belgian driver, the teammate
32:49of Manuel Reuter is off the course in the sand, oh it was a stop and go also for Christian
32:59Abt, here comes Fessler in, he got a stop and go, that probably came out of that little
33:07altercation earlier, but as yet we don't have a word on that one, wow is this really tough,
33:21and Manuel Reuter simply lost it on his own here, excuse me Olivier lost it on his own,
33:29didn't look like he got touched at all, and there he is, he got back on the course, they're
33:38allowed to push them back onto the course and keep going, Olivier has not had the season
33:43that he probably hoped he would, meanwhile Ekstrom continues to roll, he's having a great
33:55drive, after all these stop and go penalties he's up in the top five, he is running extremely
34:10well, Ekstrom has had a pretty good year actually when you think about it, the young Swedish driver
34:16has made a very good showing for himself, he had problems in the first race where he did not start
34:23because of mechanical problems, then at the Nürburgring he was ninth, he was seventh at
34:27Oschersleben, fifth at Sachsenring, he was ninth at the Norrisring, and now he's running in the top
34:34five, here comes Laurent Aiello in, Aiello has had an up and go, he had that one race where he didn't
34:45come in, he got a stop and go penalty too, a whole bunch of stop and go penalties, the most we've had
34:54all season long, meanwhile Dumbrecht and Baron Schneider are running by themselves, sitting
35:10there now in third position, or is he being left, right now there's Ekstrom, let's catch up and see
35:20where we are here, this is a battle here between Ekstrom and Jaeger, Ekstrom with an extremely
35:40strong show here at the Euro Speedway, what a great performance, but now he's having more
35:45trouble getting by, but he has proven you can pass here, some of the drivers were worried a
35:49little bit that you couldn't except on the very sharp corners at the end, but it seems that Ekstrom
35:54with his great drive so far and he took advantage of some of the pit work, has really moved up in
36:00the field after starting way back in the pack, nowhere to go here, or it is there, he got inside
36:06and he got by him, he got by him, Ekstrom I believe is now running in third position, yep third position
36:19for the young Swedish star, so when the veteran Audi drivers ran into all kinds of problems, it
36:31was the junior team that's been holding up the Audi flag, with a great performance and some fine
36:37driving, putting on a great show here, and there's Tomczek, he's also moving up, Tomczek who had
36:46started way back in the pack, is now running in sixth position, Uwe Alsen continues to have to
36:56work his way up in the field, but he has certainly had his share of problems, he's way back in the
37:01pack, around 16th position, things have not gone well since he had to pit, he's not been able to
37:08make up the time or the difference, this is how he got by, this is Ekstrom, boy he couldn't had much
37:15more room to the left, but he got position going into the left-hander, meanwhile the leaders just
37:21continue to roll, what an amazing performance they put on, as of yet Bernd Schneider only made one
37:28serious attempt to get by Dumbrek, in essence with the great lead that Schneider had coming in here,
37:34some 43 points or so, Dumbrek was behind him, so if Dumbrek finishes ahead of him in first, it'd be
37:41only about a five-point pickup for Dumbrek, so all the other drivers who were threatening would just
37:46mean that Dumbrek would move in there, but there's only going to be four races left, including the
37:50Nurburgring, which is the next stop, so it's going to be one of these cases where Schneider can, who is
38:00not easily satisfied with a second place, but can be happy with it because of the points picked up,
38:05and this man can't be happy at all, he just can't get by anybody back in the pack here, he's not
38:12running strong enough to get by, and he spins! Uwe Ahlsen has spun! All right, what happened?
38:22Well, we'll find out, I hope, anyway, looked like Christian App was behind him, but I can't be sure.
38:30So Uwe Ahlsen, who had been out in front looking for a double victory possibility here, was beaten
38:42his crew was beaten in the pits, and now he spins here late in the race, even though he's way back
38:48in the pack, he was trying to move up, and it looks like Jochen Winkelhock now is going to get by him.
38:54Aiello is going to get by, something's happened to the Ahlsen car.
39:01Well, Uwe Ahlsen can chalk this up as another one of those tough ones, he's proven that he belongs,
39:12he's gotten into the winner's circle, he's in control, what happened here? Well, that takes
39:17care of that. It was Christian App who took him out, and for the fans of this series, you'll
39:27realize these two had a bit of differences at the last race, with some harsh words, so maybe that's
39:34where that one came from, who knows. Uwe Ahlsen now, he's going to have to be content to try to finish the race,
39:44if he can, as we come down toward the end of the event here. But boy, what control these two cars
39:52have had. Peter Dumbrek out in front. Dumbrek has been in the shadow of Bernd Schneider, who right now has
40:02the fastest lap here. Incidentally, Christian App had the fastest lap in the first race, so it shows that the
40:08Audis are into this thing. But Dumbrek had a third at Hockenheim, he had an eighth at the Nürburgring,
40:16a fourth at Oschersleben, a sixth at Sachsenring, he was fifth in the main race at the Norrisring, and here he is
40:23out in front. But once again, you're looking at Uwe Ahlsen. Ahlsen simply now trying to bring the car home, it
40:37looks like. The rest of the field trying to sort itself out to see what they can do to move up, if they can
40:46move up. And Tomczak, in that yellow Audi with the green mirrors, is doing his best to move up in the field.
40:57But he's got some difficulties ahead of him here. He's going to have to get by Patrick Hoosman from the Netherlands,
41:08and that's not going to be easy. Hoosman's been very, well, quite consistent, I guess you'd say here. He's done
41:15very well for himself. And he right now is running up in fifth position. Hoosman did not finish, he was seventh,
41:26ninth, third, seventh, not bad. Especially when you're not running one of the new cars, you're running last year's
41:34car that's been upgraded. So Patrick's doing quite well for himself. But boy, is he being pressured by Tomczak. This is the
41:48battle for fifth place. And Tomczak is not letting off. The 19-year-old, who started way back in the pack, has gone
41:58outside. He has not got the line, he's going to have to back off. He's trying, but he's trying to do it the hard way.
42:12And Hoosman's got the line, and he's not going to give it up. Tomczak just is trying everything he can possibly do to get by,
42:24and it's just not working. Hoosman has just a little bit enough to keep him off.
42:34The 19-year-old Tomczak has been one of the surprise drivers this season,
42:38particularly after his performance at the Nurburgring on the Grand Prix course there.
42:48He finished second in the qualifying race, fourth in the main race.
42:54Uwe Ahlsen coming in. Looks like he's finished for the day. This has not been one of his better
43:01race days. He certainly has done well overall, qualified well, picked up the victory in the
43:07qualifying race. But after that, things just went downhill. And then a small altercation with
43:13Abt near the end, that kind of ended things for him.
43:18The battle now you're looking at is way back in the pack.
43:25And look at this one here. They continue to go, the battle for fifth. This is Hoosman,
43:30right behind him. Tomczak in the Audi, there's no room. Hoosman's got the line, he's not going
43:38to give it up. Hoosman, 32 years old, a lot of experience behind him, pulling off the 19-year-old
43:46challenger. This is another one of those races for Tomczak to stick away what worked and what
43:54didn't. He's picking up experience every single race, becoming better and better,
44:01which is great for touring car racing in Germany. For a while it looked like all the veterans were
44:05going to be taking over. Right now there's a good crew of young drivers, early 20s, who are
44:13starting to make a mark. Only a couple drivers are in their 40s. Before there were a few more,
44:21but right now there's just Momorow and Winkelhock who are in that 40 bracket.
44:28And here are your leaders. Dumbrek out in front, Schneider running second, Schneider not pushing
44:35him, not pushing him at all. Matthias Ekstrom is running third,
44:45Jaeger is running fourth, Hoosman is running fifth, Tomczak is running sixth,
44:51and this right now is the battle for seventh, way back in the pack.
44:56People are just bumping everywhere to get around. Can they make it? Well, we're gonna have to find
45:02out in this one. Well, looks like Tomczak is backed off just a little bit.
45:19There you see your top six. We've been following those quite regularly. There's Christian Opp
45:23leading this group. He had been hit with a stop and go.
45:33Ryder is listed as second, right behind him. Then comes Fessler, Salins, and Schneider.
45:44But the real battle the fans are watching is right here, but it looks like
45:48it's sort of settled down and Hoosman's taken over control of the position.
45:52Hoosman is running fifth right now, Tomczak running sixth, and looks like he's going to
45:57hold control for that position. They have got plenty of space between themselves and the
46:03seventh place car, so this situation here seems to be resolved unless something goes wrong.
46:13Heading back up onto the tri-oval. Another look going through the chicane.
46:20He's like a freight train.
46:28You can't say that Tomczak is giving up. He certainly isn't. Whoops, but he got a little
46:32squirrely there. He better not make a mistake. He's had such a great race, he better make sure
46:38he stays into this. Jochen Minkahawk way back in the pack and spins again. Boy, Jochen has just
46:46had one tough day. Jochen is not going to be a happy driver. A very competitive driver,
46:52a very successful touring car driver, and this is not the kind of racing that he likes.
47:00Peter Dunbrecht, meanwhile, he's headed what looks to be his first victory in the
47:06race category of the weekend. One qualifying race victory earlier this season to his credit.
47:12Now he gets a chance to pick up a main race win. Bernd Schneider is just keeping himself in his
47:17rearview mirror. He has not pushed Dunbrecht since those first couple of laps they came out of the
47:24pits and Dunbrecht beat him out of the pits. The cars are equal. It's going to be difficult for
47:30Bernd to get by, and if he does, it'll probably be only because Dunbrecht made a mistake and
47:36Schneider's been around. He'd like to force him into it, but it doesn't look like he's going to
47:40Schneider's been around. He'd like to force him into it, but it doesn't look like it's going to
47:43happen. In fact, Schneider is backed way off. He's way behind. Here comes Peter Dunbrecht. Boy,
47:52is he in control. They're going into their final lap. Schneider has decided he's taking over second
47:58place. Third place, Matthias Ekstrom. What a great race for him. It doesn't look like anybody's going
48:06to be challenging him. So now Peter Dunbrecht has to drive it home. Aiello. Timo Schneider with
48:16some problems. Aiello getting inside, and we'll get by him. Aiello slips in, but Aiello's certainly
48:24not going to be happy with his performance today. It was not one of the kind of days he wants to
48:28remember. He's sitting in, uh, that was the battle right there for 11th and 12th.
48:37Peter Dunbrecht, you can see for yourself. The victory is his. As long as that car holds
48:42together now, he picks up his victory here at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany.
48:48The next stop on the tour, the Nürburgring.
48:51There'll also be a race in Zandvoort this year, winding up two in Hockenheim.
49:01Here they come. The Mercedes crew waits for their drivers.
49:07Peter Dunbrecht, Bernd Schneider, teammates.
49:13All they got to do now is get up onto the tri-oval and bring it home.
49:16What a great drive for Peter Dunbrecht. What a great job his crew did in the pits to get him
49:21out ahead of Schneider. It looked like Schneider had pulled the smartest move of the day, but
49:26Dunbrecht beat him by a tad, and beat him here by a little more than a tad at the Eurospeedway.
49:31Your winner, Peter Dunbrecht, Bernd Schneider second. I made a very good start. I was able to
49:40get right in behind Uwe at the start, and from there it was down to pit stops. I really wanted
49:48to get an early stop so that I could, if I got stuck in some traffic, then I would be able to
49:56make my stop and get a clear track, and that's what happened. The safety car came out then,
50:01and I was a little bit worried then because I thought maybe the front cars could stop in the
50:07safety car zone and get back out in front of me, but for some reason they couldn't do it,
50:11and when I found myself in the lead of the race behind the safety car, immediately I thought of
50:16my mirror and I saw Bernd there, and I felt a little bit of pressure then. But that pressure
50:22is off. Dunbrecht has moved into second place in the points race, just 43 points behind. It's a
50:28long ways, actually. The best Opel today, look down there in seventh position, Manuel Reuter.
50:34And there are your top 16 here at the Euro Speedway in Lausitz, Germany. A great race
50:40weekend before a great crowd, and the day belonged to Mercedes. A day that looked like they were
50:48going to dominate right from the beginning. The man with a difficult time, Uwe Ahlsund, 20th.
50:54The man who's out in front of the points, Bernd Schneider. Actually, the start was not so good.
50:59I lost one position, and finally I made a good pit stop, but after the pit stop,
51:07Peter was in front of me. He made no mistake during the race. I pushed really hard to get him,
51:12but finally he made no mistake and he won the race. We're very good in testing. We've been
51:18good in qualifying, but we had a bit of an unluck there, so if you have the speed and you're fast,
51:22then it's not so difficult to overtake, but if you're slow, then it's... or if you have the same
51:27speed, as long as you do good lap times, then the guy in front of you, then you can overtake them.
51:34There you have it. Bernd Schneider continues to lead in the points. Dunbrek second. Fesler drops
51:38to third. Uwe Ahlsund is in fourth. Aiello, who had been a contender earlier this season,
51:43is in fifth position. The next stop on the tour will be at the Grand Prix course at the Nürburgring.
51:51The drivers celebrate here at the Euro Speedway. As we take a look back at the action,
51:56we'll see you next time at the Nürburgring.