| Hockenheim, 5 October, 2003 At the DTM finale held in front of 105,000 spectators at Hockenheim, Audi driver Mattias Ekström occupied second place and, as a result, finished on the winners rostrum for the fifth time this year. Last year’s champion Laurent Aiello fought his way up to fifth place in his Abt Audi TT-R after qualifying in a lowly fifteenth position. Audi Junior Peter Terting (19) collected the first points of his short DTM career with eighth place. The race at a glance Weather cloudy, cool Spectators 105,000 (entire weekend) Starting positions 1 #5 Ekström 4 #14 Tomczyk 11 #15 Terting 12 #2 Abt 15 #1 Aiello 16 # 6 Wendlinger Start #5 Ekström takes the lead #14 Tomczyk drops down to fifth place Lap 1 1. #5 Ekström; 5. #14 Tomczyk; 10. #2 Abt; 12. #1 Aiello; 14. #15 Terting; 15. #6 Wendlinger Lap 5 #14 Tomczyk is touched by #8 Menu at the hairpin, spins and falls back to 14th position, #1 Aiello overtakes #2 Abt Lap 7 #2 Abt and #15 Terting make first compulsory pit stop Lap 8 #5 Ekström comes into the pits as leader for the first fuel stop, is held up as he pulls away. #6 Wendlinger also in the pits Lap 9 #5 Ekström drops behind #10 Alesi, #14 Tomczyk enters the pits Lap 14 2nd #5 Ekström; 7th #1 Aiello; 10. #2 Abt; 11. #15 Terting; 16. #14 Tomczyk; 19. #6 Wendlinger Lap 18 #1 Aiello now in fifth place after tyre failure of #3 Schneider, 8th #2 Abt, 9th #15 Terting Lap 20 #2 Abt makes second compulsory pit stop Lap 21 #5 Ekström pits Lap 22 #1 Aiello completes his second pit stop Lap 23 Second pit stop for #15 Terting and #14 Tomczyk Lap 32 #15 Terting ousts #2 Abt from ninth place Lap 35 Drive-Through-Penalty for #6 Wendlinger after collision with #17 Bleekemolen Lap 36 #15 Terting climbs up to eighth place Lap 37 #5 Ekström attacks #10 Alesi, but doesn’t find a way past Finish 2 #5 Ekström; 5 #1 Aiello; 8 #15 Terting; 9 #2 Abt; 13 #14 Tomczyk; 14 #6 Wendlinger First DTM point for Audi Junior Peter Terting |
| 1 |
Jean Alesi |
Mercedes |
37 laps |
| 2 |
Mattias Ekström |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 0.213s |
| 3 |
Marcel Fässler |
Mercedes |
+ 4.295s |
| 4 |
Peter Dumbreck |
Mercedes |
+ 5.350s |
| 5 |
Laurent Aiello |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 7.303s |
| 6 |
Bernd Schneider |
Mercedes |
+ 14.566s |
| 7 |
Timo Scheider |
Opel |
+ 26.709s |
| 8 |
Peter Terting |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 32.935s |
| 9 |
Christian Abt |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 34.340s |
| … |
| 13 |
Martin Tomczyk |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 53.505s |
| 17 |
Karl Wendlinger |
Abt-Audi TT-R |
+ 1m 24.829s |
2003 DTM Final standings after 10 races Drivers |
| 1 |
Bernd Schneider |
Mercedes 68 |
| 2 |
Christijan Albers |
Mercedes 64 |
| 3 |
Marcel Fässler |
Mercedes 57 |
| 4 |
Mattias Ekström |
Abt-Audi 46 |
| 5 |
Jean Alesi |
Mercedes 42 |
| 6 |
Laurent Aiello |
Abt-Audi 41 |
| 7 |
Peter Dumbreck |
Opel 31 |
| 8 |
Timo Scheider |
Opel 12 |
| 9 |
Alain Menu |
Opel 9 |
| 10 |
Manuel Reuter |
Opel 5 |
Manufacturers |
| 1 |
Mercedes-Benz |
237 |
| 2 |
Audi |
93 |
| 3 |
Opel |
60 |
|
| Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro competed in an unusual supporting race held at the DTM finale in Hockenheim. Both Audi works drivers were among the select starter field chosen to compete in the “Bye, bye Lupo Cup“-Charity Race, in which numerous ex-DTM drivers raced. Emanuele Pirro fought his way up to second position from eleventh on the grid, therefore managing to mount the winners’ rostrum. “The race with the small VW Lupo was great fun,” said Pirro. “And it was all for a worthy cause.” The race helped to raise a donation of almost 100,000 Euro for a foundation for homeless children. Frank Biela was touched by a fellow competitor during the opening stages of the race; the three-time Le Mans winner brought his battered car home in ninth place. The race was won by Roland Asch. |
