Eighth round out of ten to take place at OscherslebenSeveral drivers still have good chances in the battle for the DTM crownHigh kerbstones demanding for the construction of the Hankook competition tyresThe DTM is entering its decisive stage. The eighth season round out of ten will get underway in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on Sunday, the battle for the title in the most popular international touring car series is heating up. Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett is still in with the best chances, leading the driversstandings with 109 points. However, for the Brit, things have not yet been going perfectly in the second half of the season. Both at the Nrburgring and at Zandvoort, he failed to make it onto the podium. As a result, Jamie Green has closed up to his compatriot and fellow Mercedes-Benz driver and, with 93 points, he is within striking distance to Paffett, who has already won at Oschersleben twice.Only two points further down, BMW driver Bruno Spengler also has good chances to become DTM champion for the first time in his career. His maiden race win in the Motorsport Arena would be an important step into this direction. However, the man to beat at the moment is Audi driver Edoardo Mortara, who has moved up to fourth place in the driversstanding with a victory and a second place in the two most recent rounds. In spite of being 35 points down on leader Paffett, the ambitious Italian is a force to be reckoned with in the battle for the title.
The fact that the car manufacturer from Ingolstadt has found its old strength back and scored a lock-out of the top three at Zandvoort in The Netherlands a little less than three weeks ago speaks in favour of Mortara. Audi achieved a similar feat at Oschersleben in 2011, where Mattias Ekstrm won an action-packed rain race with the record margin of 42.167 seconds, followed by Martin Tomczyk, who was still racing with Audi at the time, and Edoardo Mortara.At the twisty circuit with its short straights, qualifying on Saturday could already bring something of a preliminary decision as overtaking during the race at the 3.969 kilometres long track is extremely difficult because of the many changes of direction. Here, the trend is also speaking for Audi: at Zandvoort, the brand from Ingolstadt locked out the first five places on the grid.Like last year, the new generation of Hankook competition tyres provides maximum excitement in the DTM. In the seven rounds held so far, the Ventus Race supported the drivers with excellent performance and high levels of consistency and safety. The teams were always able to execute their strategies in a perfect way, the Hankook tyre has been and still is a reliable partner all the time. At Oschersleben, there is particular load on the construction of the tyres, because drivers are running hard over the high kerbstones in order to set fast lap times. The modern track surface hardly affects the tread of the Ventus Race. Very long and consistently fast stints are possible during the race on Sunday.
Competition tyres know-howThe competition tyres look very much similar to their road-legal counterparts, but their construction and compound is significantly different. Which are the particularly important components and characteristics with respect to the particular requirements of the tracks during the 2012 DTM season?Oschersleben: aquaplaningIf the tyre tread is not able to evacuate enough water on a wet track at high speed, this is referred to as aquaplaning. A keel of water is getting underneath the tyres and reduces the contact surface. As a result, the wheel can transfer fewer braking and cornering forces.The Hankook Ventus rain tyre has a flow-optimised V-shaped tread design for the best possible absorption and an effective deflection of water. The special compound made for wet conditions provides a high level of mechanical grip during heavy rain.
