Le Mans witnesses exciting DTM début

Tom Kristensen on podium despite slow start Martin Tomczyk makes fourth position his own Timo Scheider scores point in year-old car 34,000 spectators witnessed the successful début of the DTM around the Circuit Bugatti at Le Mans and yet another thrilling race, in which Tom Kristensen was the best Audi driver. The Dane had put himself in an excellent position, to possibly take the championship fight all the way to the Hockenheim finale on 29 October, after securing a front row slot in qualifying. However, at the start the Dane lost three positions and the title chances as a result. Kristensen fought his way back up to third. Kristensen nevertheless dropped to third overall in the championship standings and is now three points behind Bruno Spengler. Fifth position for Bernd Schneider was enough to win the title with a race to spare.Barcelona winner Martin Tomczyk secured fourth place in the 2006 DTM championship standings with one race still to run after finishing a fighting fourth in Le Mans. The youngest Audi factory driver cannot be caught by two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen, who sits immediately behind Tomczyk in the standings, at the last race at Hockenheim.Tomczyk worked his way from eighth on the grid to fourth position during the race at Le Mans and successfully repelled the advances of new DTM Champion Bernd Schneider in the closing stages of the race. Timo Scheider as highest placed finisher in a year-old A4 claimed one more point for Audi in eighth position. Christian Abt and Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed the top ten. Frentzen lost a possible points scoring opportunity after an attack from Mercedes driver Jamie Green, who received a "drive through” penalty as a result.The race for Mattias Ekström and Frank Stippler was already over on the first lap: The two Audi drivers were involved in a spectacular collision in the chicane, which necessitated a safety car period. Quotes after the race Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Unfortunately Tom (Kristensen) didn’t make a perfect start. We had to bring him into the pits early for strategic reasons. The two Mercedes’ were able to drive unimpeded at the front for many laps and were able to build an advantage as a result. However, we also didn’t have the basic speed today, which we’d hoped to have. We fought tooth and nail to the end and saw an exciting race. I congratulate Mercedes on winning the championship. We look forward to next year and obviously to the finale at Hockenheim, in which we’ll once again do our utmost.”Tom KristensenAudi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Siemens Audi A4 DTM #73rd place, + 12.770s "It goes without saying that I’m disappointed that the championship is lost. Congratulations, however, to Bernd (Schneider) who had a fantastic season. My car was very good today. Unfortunately, I didn’t get away well at the start, I had too much wheelspin. So we had to change the strategy and make the first pit stop earlier. However, because of the shorter opening stint I got caught up in traffic, which gave Spengler and Häkkinen the chance to control the race. I had a fantastic fight with Jamie Green and I eventually got the better of him. After such a start third was the best I could do.”

The result1 Bruno Spengler (Mercedes), 39 laps in 1h 03m 09.292s 2 Mika Häkkinen (Mercedes), + 0.398 sec. 3 Tom Kristensen (Siemens Audi A4 DTM), + 12.770 sec. 4 Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), + 23.709 sec. 5 Bernd Schneider (Mercedes), + 24.044 sec. 6 Jamie Green (Mercedes), + 24.510 sec. 7 Alexandros Margaritis (Mercedes), + 28.702 sec. 8 Timo Scheider (Gebrauchtwagen:plus Audi A4 DTM), + 29.203 sec. 9 Christian Abt (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), + 40.180 sec. 10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Audi A4 DTM), + 42.277 sec. 11 Jean Alesi (Mercedes), + 42.649 sec. 12 Pierre Kaffer (Castrol Audi A4 DTM), + 50.128 sec. 13 Susie Stoddart (Mercedes), + 54.876 sec. 14 Thed Björk (Futurecom Audi A4 DTM), + 59.708 sec. 15 Stefan Mücke (Mercedes), - 1 lap 16 Vanina Ickx (Original Zubehör Audi A4 DTM), - 2 Rd. Not classified: Daniel la Rosa (Mercedes), - 32 laps. Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), - 39 laps (accident)Frank Stippler (S line Audi A4 DTM), - 39 laps (accident)Mathias Lauda (Mercedes), - 39 laps.