Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) has a three points margin prior to the Hockenheim finaleRival Bruno Spengler (BMW) fighting for his maiden DTM title in final season roundAudi intends to defend manufacturers lead at tradition-steeped trackA thrilling duel for the Best Pit Stop AwardHankook again with an impeccable season track record in its second year in the DTMThis weekend, the DTM is heading into its final round. The grand finale at the tradition-steeped Hockenheimring will answer the question who will be the new champion in the most popular international touring car series, following in the footsteps of the current title-holder Martin Tomczyk (BMW/back then still with Audi). According to the statistics, Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) is the big favourite as the leader in the driversstandings, because whoever arrived at Hockenheim for the season finale as the pointsleader in the past has always managed to defend his position.However, BMW driver Bruno Spengler is trailing the Brit by only three points and will do everything to become DTM champion for the first time in his career. A title that Paffett had already won back in 2005. The latters fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green is also still in with a mathematical chance, but with a gap of 18 and 15 points respectively, he has to hope for poorer results by his two opponents. The best-placed Audi driver in fourth place, Mike Rockenfeller no longer has chances of winning the title. In the manufacturersstandings, however, the car brand from Ingolstadt is in first place and intends to defend this position at Hockenheim.Equally thrilling as the battle on the track is the competition in the pits for the Best Pit Stop Award, Hankooks accolade to reward the quickest pit stop crew at the end of the season. After the success in Valencia, Mattias Ekstrms Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline has moved up into the lead of the inofficial team challenge with 115 points, eight points clear of Dirk Werners BMW Schnitzer team. These two will decide the battle for victory between the two of them, third-placed Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) who won Best Pit Stop Award in 2011 and Bruno Spengler (BMW Schnitzer Team) in fourth can no longer play a role in the battle for the 2012 Best Pit Stop Award title with their respective teams.

With the Best Pit Stop Award, the DTMs exclusive tyre partner is rewarding the irreplaceable helpers behind the scenes, whose important work is often not being noticed. The quickest pit stop crew in a race receives three crates of beer on the Friday of the following DTM event as a small appreciation. Similarly to the DTM pointsscheme, points are being awarded for first (25) to tenth (1) place, while the classification is based on the cars. At the end of the year, the overall winner receives the exclusive crystal challenge cup from Hankook, which is at stake again in the following year. Moreover, the premium manufacturer is organising an exclusive team barbecue for the quickest crew after the season.Prior to the final round already, Hankook is looking back upon a successful second year as the DTMs exclusive tyre partner. After the quite successful premiere in 2011, the premium manufacturer didnt relax to enjoy its success, but developed a wider and bigger tyre instead, that seamlessly built on the performance of the 2011 tyre generation throughout this season. According to our corporate philosophy, with the Ventus Race, we have again developed a tyre that combines the decisive criteria for success like top-level performance and consistency, along with maximum safety,says Manfred Sandbichler, Director Motorsport Hankook Europe.Thus, the Hankook tyre always showed an error-free and strong performance, even in the most difficult conditions. Even the high kerbstones at Oschersleben, partly with welding seams that caused slight injuries and cuts on the slicks tread because of the continued driving over the kerbs, were dealt with by the Ventus Race in a dominant way as the tyre impressed with overwhelming reliability and speed. The DTM drivers were particularly impressed by the consistently high quality of all the tyre sets. Bruno Spengler sums up: All the Hankook tyre sets are almost identical, very quick and consistent. This gives a driver the necessary safety and the confidence to be quick.Next year, Hankook will again support the DTM with top-level technology and continue the successful co-operation with all teams and drivers. Manfred Sandbichler: In our development department, it is all about further optimising our already strong performance to date and providing technology at the highest level. In 2013, Hankook will again be a reliable and performant DTM partner.

#### 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?Hockenheim: profile of the tyre casingThanks to the optimized profile of the casing - perfectly fitting to their range of use and their operational area - Hankook Ventus DTM race tyres can carry a lot more load compare to road legal tyres even under relatively low inflation pressure and despite of their light weight construction. Thats how they can withstand even hardest driving maneuvers like hitting the Hockenheim curbs under highest speeds.