Red Bull Audi flying high

Swedish driver Mattias Ekström clinched his 10th career win in the DTM, while Red Bull Audi team-mate Martin Tomczyk took second. The race in Hockenheim was shortened due to a dramatic multiple car pile-up on lap 1 that caused the event to be red flagged for more than 20 minutes.

"My car was simply the best today", Ekström praised his team. "The pit stops, too, were incredible. I'm very happy about my tenth DTM victory and about the fact that the accident in the beginning did not result in any more serious consequences than it did."

The 2007 DTM season got underway, as usual, on the high-speed venue in Hockenheim, Germany, in front of just over 100,000 spectators. Last year's runner-up in the championship, Canadian Bruno Spengler, driving a factory-backed new AMG Mercedes C-Class, took pole on Saturday ahead of Audi man Martin Tomczyk with DTM a surprising third in a 2005-spec Mercedes. Reigning champion Bernd Schneider surprisingly failed to make it to the last phase of qualifying, lining up 9th on the grid.

Tomczyk had blistering start, already building up a several car lengths lead in the next few corners. Di Resta took full advantage of his lighter car (two-year old cars are allowed to run with 30 kilograms less on board than up-to-date models), stripping Spengler of the second place. The pack made it through the first few corners, but chaos was about to unfold.

Pushed off the racing line by fellow Audi driver Timo Scheider, 7-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner Tom Kristensen spun going into the Parabolika corner and got hit on both front and behind by Alex Prémat and Susie Stoddart respectively. DTM newcomer Adam Carroll was also an innocent victim of the wreck.

With four stationary cars on track bits and pieces scattered all over the Parabolika zone, organizers decided to halt all cars on the finish line, as the race got red flagged. Track marshals rushed to the highly damaged car of Kristensen, but took all necessary time to safely remove the driver. The Dane was conscious and able to speak to his rescuers, but he was immediately transported to the clinic on track and then flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital for routine checking.

Kristensen was found to have merely suffered bruises. "Many thanks for all the good wishes I received this afternoon. I'm fine, only my head is hurting quite a bit", said the 39-year old veteran racer. Right after the high-speed impact, Alex Prémat got out of his car apparently unharmed, but soon lied down in the grass. The Frenchman sustained a rupture of a lumbar vertebrae, which, according to doctors, will not result in any permanent damage, though. Nevertheless, Prémat looks set to miss the second round of the championship, which is only two weeks away.

The race restarted after almost half an hour, but organizers decided to shorten it due to the delayed schedule. Tomczyk made an inexplicable mistake locking up the brakes and running wide going into the Motodrom section and lost the lead to Bruno Spengler, who overtook Di Resta.

With the race now finishing on time rather than after completing the 37 scheduled laps, there was little time to make the two compulsory pit stops. 2004 DTM champion Mattias Ekström decided to pit on both occasions very early in order to benefit from the clear track ahead and this was to be the winning strategy. With Audi's superior pit work, the Swede inherited the lead after all rivals made their stops. Ekström later admitted: "I had the track to myself. Because without anyone in front, my A4 was perfect."

Red Bull Audi team-mate Martin Tomczyk recovered to second after his mistake after the restart, while leading Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler was battling for the last place on the podium. The battle for third was eventually won in the very last corner of the race, when Spengler simply pushed Audi driver Timo Scheider out of his way. Spengler was initially credited with third place in the race, but stewards judged the collision as avoidable, giving the French-Canadian a 50-second time penalty, which relegated him to 14th.

The Mercedes pair of Daniel La Rosa and Alexandros Margaritis took third and fourth respectively. British youngster Paul di Resta already produced the biggest surprise the weekend by grabbing third on the grid in a two-year old car. And the reigning Formula 3 Euroseries champion was up to the challenge on Sunday, running at the front of the pack until a slow pit work by his mechanics relegated him to sixth. Di Resta would eventually grab 4 points for a fifth place finish, following Spengler's time penalty.

Ekström celebrated his win with a massive burnout on Victory Lane. He used to mark such a moment by jumping on the roof of his car, but he’s been told not to because he was damaging the bodywork and this was costing the team a lot of money. Ekström's success marked Audi's 40th win in Europe's most popular touring car series. "Apart from the accident at the beginning of the race, it's been a great day for us", Audi Motorsport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich said.