AMG-Mercedes Dominates In Hockenheim

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on October 24, 2005 at 11:20 AM CST


The AMG-Mercedes DTM racing team had a banner day in Hockenheim  
yesterday, dominating the final race of the season and finishing in  
the top three positions.

Bernd Schneider of Vodafone AMG-Mercedes took first, followed by  
Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes' Jamie Green. But the real story of the day  
was Gary Paffett, who finished in third position and in doing so,  
captured the 2005 DTM championship. His rival, Audi's Mattias  
Ekström, finished the race in seventh position, despite a poor  
qualifying round which forced him to start from fifteenth.  This race  
marked the eighth time in DTM's eighteen year history that the  
championship came down to the final race of the season.



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DTM Hockenheim: Gary Paffett Champion

Hockenheim, Oct 23, 2005

Schneider, third in qualifying, made a perfect start on a wet track  
and overtook pole sitter Green and Tom Kristensen (Audi) to take the  
lead. In the first two laps, Paffett fought with Heinz-Harald  
Frentzen (Opel) for fifth position; afterwards he attacked Frank  
Stippler (Audi) in fourth place.

Schneider, Green and Paffett made their first pit stops on lap 16.  
Two laps later, Schneider was back in the lead ahead of Green whilst  
Paffett was again fifth behind Stippler. The Englishman came into the  
pits for the second time on lap 25. He then fought with Kristensen  
for third place. On lap 31, Gary passed the Audi driver in front of  
the Mercedes grandstand. Schneider and Green pitted for the second  
time on lap 27 and resumed first and second. After 36 laps Schneider  
won ahead of Green whilst Paffett completed the Mercedes triple like  
in the season opener in April with third place.
Jean Alesi (AMG-Mercedes) pitted on laps 17 and 28 and ended up 13th.  
Mika Häkkinen (Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes) had a coming-together with  
Bernd Schneider on lap 17 and resumed with a damaged right rear  
fender. He made his pit stops on laps 17 and 21 and came home 15th.


Gary Paffett, DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes, third and champion:  
"I'm really happy to achieve this championship. It's a great feeling  
to win the title. It has been a perfect season and everybody in the  
team worked really hard throughout the year and I want to thank them.  
Today's race was tough. It was difficult to find the right timing to  
change the tyres. The battle with the Audis was hard but fair. Thank  
you to my HWA guys – you are great!"

Bernd Schneider, Vodafone AMG-Mercedes, winner: "The whole weekend I  
had this feeling that the race win was possible. However, in today's  
conditions you also needed a bit of luck. Therefore I'm even happier  
to repeat last year's victory in the final race."

Jamie Green, Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes, second: "Bernd had a better  
start than me and this was a preliminary decision. After I had  
changed to slicks I was able to re-pass Tom Kristensen. I'm satisfied  
to have achieved my second podium finish of the year."

Bruno Spengler, Junge Gebrauchte von Mercedes, eighth and best driver  
of a 2004 AMG-Mercedes C-Class: "My car improved lap by lap in the  
course of the race. I'm happy to have scored one point in the final  
race."

Jean Alesi, AMG-Mercedes, 13.: "In the wet I was just not fast  
enough; however, when the track dried out I became faster and faster.  
Unfortunately, it was not enough to score points."

Mika Häkkinen, Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes, 15.: "An exciting race and  
a great season final for our team. It's a shame that I lost my fourth  
place overall to Bernd after we had a short coming together."

Stefan Mücke, Mücke Motorsport AMG-Mercedes improved from 20th on the  
grid to 11th at the chequered flag. His team mate Alexandros  
Margaritis retired on lap 19 after an accident.

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:  
"Congratulations to Gary Paffett on his title win and to Bernd  
Schneider on today's victory. I thank the HWA team under Gerhard  
Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis who made a fantastic job throughout  
the year. Today they found the correct set-up in difficult  
conditions. It's perfect to end the season with a 1-2-3 victory. The  
C-Class ruled and it's a rare achievement that one manufacturer wins  
all three titles within one year. I thank everybody for this success.  
Our fights with the competition were hard and fair. A great DTM  
season ended in front of an impressive crowd with a record  
attendance. We all hope that Heinz-Harald Frentzen did not incur any  
severe injuries in his accident."

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