On Track » Nurburgring

Schneider Wins a Wet Nurburgring on Slicks

racer-web — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:25:13 +0000

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:

2008 DTM at Nurburgring Results

Torrential Rainfall Stops DTM Qualifying

racer-web — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:02:22 +0000

Today’s qualifying sessions for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters were cut short because of a torrential downpour. It was following the cleanup for Mike Rockenfeller’s accident that officials decided not to continue with the qualifying sessions for safety reasons. The call was made during the second of the three scheduled qualifying sessions.

By DTM rules, the starting grid for Sunday’s race will use the results from the first qualifying heat. This means that Tom Kristensen will be starting from the pole position at Nurburgring.

“Indeed, it is a little bit strange to be on pole after such a qualifying,” Kristensen said once the qualifying sessions were officially announced as over. “But that is what the rules are like.”

The top qualifiers included:

1. Tom Kristensen
2. Mike Rockenfeller
3. Martin Tomczyk
4. Gary Paffett
5. Mattias Ekstrom

DTM at Nurburgring

racer-web — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:08:37 +0000

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters are currently at Nurburgring for this Sunday’s race. The race itself will be held at 17:35 local time, on Sunday, July 27. DTM qualifying will happen from 18:48 – 19:35 the Saturday before.

“The Ring” as it is known by enthusiasts, was originally built around the village and medieval castle of Nurburg, and has a current lap record of 1.24,442 minutes held by Gary Paffett, who completed the fastest lap in his Mercedes. This time has remained the fastest since 2005.

Also scheduled to compete during the events at Nurburgring this weekend are the Formula 3 Euro Series, the Porsche Carrera Cup, the Seat Leon Supercopa, and the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup.