Schneider Wins a Wet Nurburgring on Slicks
A late race call to stay on slick tires must have been the right decision for Bernd Schneider, because after the race was finished at a rather soaked Nurburgring, he was the one standing at the top of the podium. Schneider wasn’t the only driver to gamble with the dry tires however, as the third and fourth placed drivers, Jamie Green and Gary Paffett, also stayed out on their slicks.
“I thank my team for their great efforts and for the right tire choice,” Schneider said following the race. “This was the key to success.”
The second place finisher, Schneider’s teammate Paul di Resta, opted for a set of wet weather tires. These were the obvious faster choice, as di Resta was gaining around five seconds a lap on his teammate – not enough however to fully make up for the extra pit stop. Had the race been a couple laps longer, things probably would have ended differently for the two Mercedes drivers.
Di Resta had this to say about the decision, “It was tricky to keep the car on the track in the rain. In the end we decided to change to wet tires because we didn’t want to take chances with respect to the championship.”
The Top-5 finishers were:
1 Bernd Schneider
2 Paul di Resta
3 Jamie Green
4 Gary Paffett
5 Timo Scheider
For the full results of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race at Nurburgring, please see the following link: