Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) won the DTM season finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg having started second on the grid. Second place in the final round of the season went to the newly-crowned DTM champion Martin Tomczyk (Audi) who started third on the grid. At the finish, Tomczyk was 7.620 seconds down on Green. Miguel Molina (Audi) who started from pole position lost his lead early to Green and Tomczyk but managed to secure his maiden podium finish in third place.
Susie Wolff’s bad luck streak continued with her car stalling at the start. Bruno Spengler, who could have been this year’s champion if not for a damper failure in the Oschersleben race, started at sixth position but lost three places was pushed down to ninth position by the end of lap 1. Prior to the race, Spengler had a 2 point lead over Ekström in the driver’s standings. Spengler’s slide down to ninth paved way for Mattias Ekström to complete the 1-2 for Audi in the drivers’ standings by finishing sixth and scoring three points in the finale.
Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), in the last round of her debut season in DTM was awarded a penalty for jumping the start, and managed to finish sixteenth. Lap 26 saw Susie Wolff in the pit lane for her drive through penalty awarded after an unsafe release from her pit stop in lap 19.
Audi also claimed victory in the DTM teams’ classification. The Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline won with 85 points from THOMAS SABO/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG (76 points). Italian Edoardo Mortara (Audi) was awarded with the prize for the ‘Best Performance’ as a DTM rookie.
Jamie Green (AMG Mercedes C-Class) :“I feel very proud to have won this race which is also the final outing for the AMG Mercedes C-Class, the most successful car in DTM history. My car was perfect and I’m so pleased to have won here at Hockenheim for the second time. Now I can start the winter break on a high as a race winner this year. Many thanks to my team for all their work today and throughout the season. I’m looking forward to the new DTM era which starts in 2012. I’m sure it will be just as exciting as the old one, if not more so…!”
Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), 3rd place:“A tremendous race. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake at the start but then we had a good pace and were fighting for positions. It’s great to have mounted the podium in the last race of the Audi A4 DTM. I’m also happy about my pole position. We’d like to continue like this.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), 6th place: “I’m very pleased. As far as performance goes, this has been my best season in the DTM. In the first half the results weren’t the way I’d have liked them to be, but the second half was very good. On the whole, I’m proud and happy. We made a lot of improvements in the Abt team and the people from Audi Sport worked hard as well. We’ve learned a lot for the coming season.”
Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), 16th place: “My start was bad and my nerves were shaking. The race had a weak beginning but a good ending. I’m quite pleased. The times were solid; we had two very good pit stops and finished the race without damage. For me it’s been a nice close of the season. My thanks go to all the people that have supported me this season.
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) – Ninth: “Unfortunately, my bid to end the season as runner-up in the championship didn’t quite come off, but all the same, I take satisfaction from having won two races and having started from pole position in four. That’s much more important than finishing second in the standings. So all in all, this has been a good year for us. The team worked really hard and, right up to the final lap, we gave it everything. I was faster than Oliver Jarvis and Timo Scheider today, but they proved too difficult to overtake.”
Susie Wolff (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 15th: “I had, of course, hoped to do better than 15th place in my first race as Susie Wolff, but it was tough to move up the field more than a couple of places from P17 on the grid. Like all the team, I’m pleased for Jamie and his victory – the 85th for the C-Class – I love this car!”
David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) – 17th: “This was an unlucky race for me – my first pit stop wasn’t brilliant, unfortunately. After that my race was more or less over, since I had no chance to move up the field. I would of course have wished for a better result for the end of the season.”
