Frontrunner Tom Kristensen was spun in front of the pack on lap 1 of the season opener on the Hockenheimring, being hit from behind by Alex Prémat and Susie Stoddart. DTM rookie Prémat suffered the most severe consequences of the three drivers involved. After climbing out of his Audi A4 DTM apparently unharmed, the Frenchman collapsed next to the car. Prémat was later found to have sustained non-permanent back injuries. He wasn't released from hospital until last Tuesday.
Although only the safety cell of his car remained intact, Kristensen was only hardly shaken by the ferocious double impact, being discharged from hospital after tow days of routine observation. Kristensen was happy to reunite with his family at his Hobro, Denmark, residence. His youngest son, Oswald, was born a week before the race in Hockenheim, during the DTM official presentation in Düsseldorf.
"I’ll take the opportunity to relax before preparing myself better than ever for the race weekend”, Kristensen stated, targeting a competitive comeback at Oschersleben. But Audi Motorsport sidelined the Dane for the next race, deciding that Biela would race instead. Scoring no points in the first two of the ten rounds will certainly diminish Kristensen's chances to a top finish in the championship. Last year, he finished in a career best third place overall.
Four-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner Frank Biela drove 108 DTM races from 1987 to 2004, winning 9 of them and the 1991 title. Fellow Audi endurance racing driver Marco Werner drove only 6 races in the DTM back in 1993, but established himself as a top class touring car driver in the mid-90s, while competing in the German rival series, the STW-Cup. In 2003, Werner finished second in the 24-Hour race at the Nürburgring in a modified DTM car.
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