[DTM] Round 2, Zandvoort

[helgi]

First training became an Audifest with Timo Scheider leading. Best Merc - 08spec - David Coulthard. But I'm sure HWA team will strike back as they usually do on Saturday and Sunday.

[DS"]

Ekström's already out after Q1. So are Stoddart, Vietoris and Frey.

[helgi]

Hefty hit by Mercedes. Now they only need to avoid crash in the first corner to get another win.

[helgi]

So, Eki waited too long in Q1, made a small mistake and has no time to drive a second lap.

Green was faster at first sector in Q4 but lost the advantage in the middle sector.

I wonder, if Spengler really quits for BMW will Haug support him in his title battle.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by helgi

I wonder, if Spengler really quits for BMW will Haug support him in his title battle.

That's an interesting question. Somehow Mercedes drivers who are young and hopeful tended to leave the series at some point. Albers left after 2004, Paffett after 2005 (But he returned), di Resta after 2010 and Spengler might leave after 2011. But while the former left for Formula One, Spengler might leave for a direct competitor. Norbert Haug definitely won't like that. On the other hand, winning the championship in a Mercedes might convince Spengler to stay with them.

By the way, the last DTM champion who switched marques was Klaus Ludwig, who won the championship for Mercedes in 1994, but went to Opel for 1995.

[helgi]

I was always interested if Mercedes drivers are short of racing practice. Look at Rockenfeller. He jumps from R14 into R8 LMS and then sits in R18. Almost every week-end he drives. And Green and Spengler have to visit numerous advertising events. From driver's point of view it should look so boring. BMW has lots of to do in ILMC, VLN. And if Bruno goes to that US-based champ he'll be able to compete in ALMS, Grand-Am. It should be interesting too.

[Valenok]

Originally Posted by helgi

And if Bruno goes to that US-based champ he'll be able to compete in ALMS, Grand-Am. It should be interesting too.

Every week transatlantic flights cannot be interesting.

[helgi]

I mean, he goes there for the whole season. But he lives somewhere in France, and, yes, in that case there would be lots of flights.

[helgi]

You can says it was boring, but I liked it. It's a normal prototype race. Yes, two pit-stops are too much for 1 hour, but different strategy bring succes for Rocky and Eki. And Mr.Haug was wrong when he sais that quallifying was most important. Besides, Mr.Tomczyk jr. proved that there should be some overtaking even at Zandvoort. All in all Audi worked better and got the bonus. But Spengler now has a good gap in overall rankings, as Scheider and Ekstrom finished far behing. It's too difficult to name the winner.

[DS"]

Even though there weren't many overtaking manouvers on the track, the race wasn't so bad in my opinion. There were some decent fights in the field, but only between Audi and Merc drivers. For some reason, the Mercedes drivers didn't attack each other (And Paffett was even *****ing and moaning that Ralf Schumacher, who was faster by that point, was trying to pass him!*). While on the other hand, Tomczyk (In a 08 car) was allowed to pass Scheider (In a 09 car). I'm pretty sure that he could have won the race, had he passed Spengler earlier.

*And this is like the forth or fifth time I caught Paffett *****ing about things in the DTM. I've been watching the series since 2009 again, but in every I encountered at least one example of him *****ing about something. Let's take a look:

Zandvoort 2009: He complained about a 2007-spec Audi blocking him after a pitstop. Granted, blocking isn't something a race driver desires. But do you really have to yell expletives into the team radio?

Valencia 2010: He complained about Alexandre Premat because he passed him...after (*gasp*) he touched him!

Oschersleben 2010: He complained about his punishment after he overtook Martin Tomczyk by touching him. Granted again, the punishment was outright stupid (He had to let Tomczyk pass again).

It's one thing to complain about injustices that occur to you in racing, to the ***** on a regular basic? Come on!

Wow, I didn't know that "son of a dog" is bleeped here!

[helgi]

Once at Lausitz Gary was very nervous about Bruno Spengler : "Why is he attacking me?!". After that Ungar (?) told Bruno to save tyres.
Besides, it's more interesting to watch DTM over ARD. More intervies, more live-radio. And Reuter.

[Valenok]

Opposite impressions of girls race.
Good fight for Susie and poor perfomance for Rahel.
I'll wonder if she ends this season in DTM.
And I'll wonder is Susie can't score some points till the end season.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Valenok

Opposite impressions of girls race.
Good fight for Susie and poor perfomance for Rahel.
I'll wonder if she ends this season in DTM.
And I'll wonder is Susie can't score some points till the end season.

What did you expect? This was the 2nd race for Rahel Frey in DTM, while Susie Stoddart has been in DTM since 2006 and hence has done more than 50 races. Stoddart only managed to score points in 2010, which was her 5th year in DTM.

Finally, Rahel apparently damaged her car:

Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM #15), position 17: "I paid dearly in the race; it was my first time at Zandvoort. Once I got off the line and unfortunately hit even more sand when I started braking and then slid into the wall. That way I destroyed my own race early on. I tried to finish the race but the car was very hard to drive. Because I damaged my splitter, my A4 behaved very nervously. As I said - I paid dearly."

[Andy77]

The thing I like most about DTM is its "Fan-Radio" live streaming from all sessions. The ARD comentary is bulls**** really. Stefan Heinrich over Claus Lufen any day

[DS"]

Originally Posted by Andy77

The thing I like most about DTM is its "Fan-Radio" live streaming from all sessions. The ARD comentary is bulls**** really. Stefan Heinrich over Claus Lufen any day

Lufen wasn't (thankfully!) even at Zandvoort. And while Stefan Heinrich is a good commentator (He came from Eurosport after all), there ain't no engine sounds and so on on the fanradio. (At least this was the case when I listened to it at Brands Hatch last year)

And there are worse commentaries than the ARD DTM commentators. Formula One commentators at RTL for example...#

Originally Posted by helgi

Once at Lausitz Gary was very nervous about Bruno Spengler : "Why is he attacking me?!". After that Ungar (?) told Bruno to save tyres.
Besides, it's more interesting to watch DTM over ARD. More intervies, more live-radio. And Reuter.

I remember that scene, but wasn't that at Hockenheim last year? Bruno finished second behind Paffett, and he was told to save tires. For some reason, this didn't draw suspicion by anyone except Christian Abt (And it could only be read on Motorsport-Total.com). But Audi is bashed for every little teamorder thing. Hopefully the series goes away from being a "Mercedes Tourenwagen Masters feat. Audi" when BMW and some other manufacturers enter.

[helgi]

I really hope that new regulations become a strong basis for three championships (DTM, Super Gt, US-based). New cars should carry few aerodynamic stuff that will be better for overtaking. And the presence of third manufacturer will be even better for it.

As for commentators, tastes differ. I really like to hear Reuter. DTM-radio is always on, but I'm too busy to listen to it properly. And my German is still far away from average level.

[helgi]

Originally Posted by Valenok

Opposite impressions of girls race.
Good fight for Susie and poor perfomance for Rahel.
I'll wonder if she ends this season in DTM.
And I'll wonder is Susie can't score some points till the end season.

Well, Rahel is a very pretty, but she still needs to find a second to become closer to the field. There's a potential. She was not bad at Matech all-femini equipage I think.

And Susie was very fast in Holland. Maybe, a better strategy could bring her into top-10. She outpaced all Merc debutants clearly. And Ralf was so close to onother defeat, but race appeared to be too short.

[vjimages]

Some images of the Practice and Qualification session can be seen here:
http://www.rpmvision.nl/features/196...ndvoort-part-1

[vjimages]

and also the startgrid and race got a coverage on RPMVision!
Link: Startgrid & Race (click the UK flag for english version)