Bruno Spengler and Mercedes-Benz Together Again for 2011 DTM Season

The 2011 DTM season marks the ninth DTM season that Bruno Spengler will line up behind the wheel of a Mercedes AMG C-Class

The start of the 2011 DTM season will mark the ninth DTM season that Bruno Spengler will line up on the track behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class and his seventh season as a Mercedes DTM racer.

Mercedes-Benz and Bruno Spengler first worked together eight years ago when he was recruited into the Mercedes-Benz Young Driver Program for the 2003 Formula 3 Euroseries. A serious testing accident left him sidelined for the first six rounds of the year but, in just his second race back, Spengler took his Dallara Mercedes to a third-place podium finish at Le Mans. His combination of talent and fighting spirit set the mould for what was to follow, as he grew with Mercedes to become one of the stars of the DTM.

Following his series debut in 2005, Spengler graduated to the HWA works Mercedes-Benz team for 2006. His first win came that year at the Norisring, when he became one of the youngest winners in the championship’s history at just 22 years and 334 days old. Three more victories followed that year, on the way to a runner-up spot in the championship. He mounted another strong title challenge in 2007, taking one race win and again claiming second place in the championship. Further top-five finishes in the standings followed in 2008 and 2009.

Last season, a hard-fought title battle went right down to the wire, and Spengler was firmly in the hunt until the final race in Shanghai. The crown was ultimately claimed by his Mercedes-Benz team-mate Paul Di Resta, a fellow graduate of the Young Driver Programme, with Spengler finishing third overall. For 2011, Bruno will be aiming to add to his career total of seven DTM wins and mount another strong championship challenge.

Bruno Spengler: “I am delighted to be starting my seventh DTM season with Mercedes-Benz. During the winter, I spent nearly a month in Canada recharging my batteries and preparing for the new season. There’s never a guarantee of success in motorsport, especially in such a closely fought series as DTM, but I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got this year and, together with my team, we’ll be pushing all the way.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “At 27 years old, Bruno Spengler is still a young driver – but he’s already a ‘veteran’ with Mercedes-Benz Motorsport in the very best sense of the word. Bruno gets better every year, and 2011 will mark our ninth year working together. We began back in 2003, when Bruno joined our Formula 3 Junior Programme but immediately suffered an extremely serious testing accident that could, at worst, have meant the end of his career. However, Bruno kept faith in us, and we in him, and that made the joy and satisfaction of his successes after his recovery all the sweeter. Today, he is one of the highest-profile and most successful DTM competitors, but also one of the nicest drivers in the field – and a favourite with the fans. There is still much that Mercedes-Benz Motorsport and Bruno want to achieve together, in order to celebrate a relationship that has now lasted nearly ten years.”

2010 DTM Championship Goes To AMG Mercedes C-Class Driver Paul Di Resta

Bruno Spengler 13th in the race after qualifying crash and 17th starting position, and third in the championship

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) is the 2010 DTM champion. The Scotsman finished the 11th and final round of the 2010 DTM at Shanghai, China in second place and took the title with 71 points.

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) won the final race on a temporary street circuit in Shanghai’s district Pudong and ended the championship runner-up with 67 points. This victory was the ninth for Mercedes-Benz in 2010 out of the 11 races. Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class), overall leader before the race after eight podiums out of the previous 10 races, had started 17th on the grid after a qualifying accident and ended up 13th in the race and third in the championship with 66 points.

It is Paul Di Resta’s first DTM championship title after he had been runner-up in 2008. For Mercedes-Benz, it is the 10th drivers’ title since the brand entered the DTM as a works outfit in 1988: Before this year’s title win, Bernd Schneider took six championships, Klaus Ludwig two and Gary Paffett one.

Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG with Spengler/Paffett are first in the team ranking already since Hockenheim six weeks ago; they have now 133 points.

Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished sixth. David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home eighth and scored his first championship point in the final race of his first DTM season. Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up 10th ahead of Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class). CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished 15th ahead of Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class).

The race was red-flagged after 50 of 60 scheduled laps, after the track was blocked momentarily following a short coming-together of Susie Stoddart and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi).

  • The start:The race was started behind the Safety Car which drove ahead of the field for three laps. After that, overtaking was allowed only after turn three. For the fourth time this year, Paul Di Resta started from pole position, followed by Gary Paffett and Jamie Green. Due to an accident in the first qualifying, Bruno Spengler lined up 17th on the grid.
  • Lap 15:Bruno Spengler was 15th when he pitted for the first time.
  • Lap 17:Paul Di Resta came into the pits from the lead, followed by Susie Stoddart (ninth) one lap later.
  • Lap 20:David Coulthard (fifth) came in for the first time; Bruno Spengler (17th) came in for the second time.
  • Lap 21:Respective first pit stops by Jamie Green (second) and Ralf Schumacher (fifth). Maro Engel pitted one lap later.
  • Lap 23:Gary Paffett (leader) pitted for the first time; Susie Stoddart came in for the second time.
  • Lap 29: Gary Paffett (fourth) completed his second stop followed by CongFu Cheng (second) for his first stop one lap later.
  • Lap 31:Second stop by Jamie Green (third).
  • Lap 33:Paul Di Resta (second) came in for the second time.
  • Lap 38:CongFu Cheng received a 5sec pit stop penalty because of driving through the working zone during his first pit stop.
  • Lap 39: Second pit stop by David Coulthard (second). When he resumed, he stalled the engine and lost several seconds.
  • Lap 43:Second pit stop by CongFu Cheng (fourth). One lap later, Ralf Schumacher (second) was the last driver to complete his second stop.
  • Lap 44:All drivers had completed their two mandatory pit stops. Gary Paffett was in the lead ahead of Paul Di Resta.
  • Lap 50:After a short coming-together of Susie Stoddart and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), the road was blocked for a moment and the race was red-flagged for good. Gary Paffett won ahead of Paul Di Resta who took the title. Full points were awarded as more than 75 per cent of the scheduled 60 laps had been completed.

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) winner: “It was a tough race and with my win I achieved everything possible. However, I had lost a few points during the season; otherwise the fight with Paul today would have been more exciting. Congratulations to him, he had a great season and deserves the championship.”

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) second and champion:”I am really happy about my DTM title win – a dream came true. I thank my entire team and everybody at Mercedes-Benz for this great season.”

Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) sixth: “Sixth place is ok, although third position was in reach. Unfortunately, I got stuck in traffic after my first pit stop so we decided to pit again early, but so I lost a few places. However, I am the best driver with a last year’s car, like I was in 2009, so I have reached my target for this year.”

David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) eighth: “Yesterday, I was sixth and achieved my best qualifying result in the DTM, today I scored my first point and posted the fastest lap of the race. This is a nice end of my first DTM season. Unfortunately I lost a few places in traffic – an even better result would have been possible today.”

Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) 10th:”The circuit was a real challenge and the organizers did everything for the safety. It was a good decision to start behind the Safety Car. For this season, I had wished for more good results. My speed was always there, but if you start too far in the back of the field, it is not easy to show that.”

Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 11th: “An uneventful race for me. Without yesterday’s crash and with a better grid position points would have been possible today. Well done to Paul on his championship win and thank you to my Persson team and Mercedes-Benz for the great support throughout this season.”

Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) 13th: “I look back to a good season; however, in the last event I made a mistake in qualifying which almost decided the championship already before the race. I suffered from understeer today which was probably a consequence of my accidents on Friday and Saturday. Congratulations to Paul on his title win.”

CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) 15th:”Unfortunately, I made a mistake during my first pit stop and received a time penalty. Otherwise, a result between 10th and 12th positions would have been possible; my speed was not bad. I thank my team for a great first year in the DTM and congratulations to Paul on the title win.”

Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) 16th: “It is like a little victory that I was able to start the race, following my accident on Friday. I thank my team for the great job fixing the car in time for the race.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:”A difficult final of a great 2010 DTM season with Paul as the deserved Champion and Gary as the Shanghai winner – for the second time after he had won also the so far only race here in 2004.

“This season, Paul did the best job of all – Bruno Spengler who arrived here as the overall leader would have deserved as well as Gary Paffett – but in the end Paul achieved the well-deserved title win.

“A cordial thank you for the first three places in the championship and nine wins out of 11 races to everybody in the HWA team under Gerhard Ungar, to the Mücke and the Persson team.

“I also want to thank all active and hardworking colleagues who are usually not on the front row – our specialists of organisation, media, marketing and controlling – and, of course, also the ladies in our office, who are always working at real “race speed” day-to-day and always precisely.

“There are no great victories without a great team, and we have a great team.”

Paul Di Resta, the 2010 DTM Champion

Paul Di Resta (24) is the 2010 DTM Champion. He won the title with second place in the season’s finale which had been staged at Shanghai for the first time. Paul thus overtook his team mate Bruno Spengler who had started the final race as the points leader. The race in China was Paul’s 42nd DTM race. He won six of them, started from pole position six times and posted seven fastest race laps.

Paul Di Resta is a cousin of former Mercedes-Benz DTM driver Dario Franchitti, who won the US IndyCar series for the third time and the Indy 500 for the second time in 2010. Paul began racing karts at the age of eight. In 2000, he won the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future kart series. Three years later, he took part in his first car race in the British Formula Renault. In 2004, he won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award and became a Mercedes-Benz Junior.

Racing for English team Manor Motorsport, Paul Di Resta entered the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005, finishing his debut year 10th overall after three pole positions and one podium place. In the following year, he won five races and clinched the championship ahead of the 2010 Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

In 2007, Paul moved up to DTM and finished his second race in the championship in second place – with a last year’s car. At the end of that year he was fifth overall. One year later, now racing a new model, Di Resta took his first DTM race win and finished the year runner-up. In 2009, Paul Di Resta was third overall in the DTM and also became test and reserve driver for Force India Mercedes in Formula One.

Mercedes-Benz DTM: Oschersleben Race Results

Bruno Spengler clinched his seventh podium finish out of eight races, the 21st of his DTM career, and maintained the overall lead

Like at Brands Hatch two weeks ago, Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) won the 2010 DTM’s eighth round at Oschersleben; like two weeks ago, Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) finished second. After 50 laps (184.800 kms), Paul came home 1.271sec ahead of Bruno.

Mercedes-Benz achieved their 75th victory of the new DTM 117 races since 2000. It is the 159th DTM win out of 328 races for the brand since Mercedes-Benz entered the championship as a factory team in 1988 and the seventh out of eight races this season – the sixth in a row. Paul Di Resta took his fifth win in his 39th DTM race.

Bruno Spengler clinched his seventh podium finish out of eight races 2010, the 21st of his DTM career, and maintained the overall lead with 60 points. Paul is second with 53 points ahead of Gary with 44 points. Mattias Ekström (Audi) is fourth on 34 points. In the final three races. A driver can score a maximum of 30 points.

A first decision was made in the team ranking: Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG with Spengler/Paffett lead with 104 points ahead of Laureus AMG Mercedes (Di Resta/Schumacher) with 56 points. Audi Sport is third on 42 points which means that the title can be won only by a Mercedes-Benz team, as a team cannot win more than 54 points in the three races still to come.

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) who had started 10th ended up a strong fourth despite a penalty. Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home seventh. Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) missed a points finish and ended up ninth ahead Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class). Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) and David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home 12th and 14th respectively.

CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired due to an accident on lap 2.

A total of 62,000 spectators attended the DTM race at Oschersleben during the weekend.

The start: For the third time this year, Paul Di Resta started from pole position whilst Bruno Spengler had qualified second. Paul accelerated in to an immediate lead followed by Bruno, whilst Gary Paffett improved from 10th on the grid to seventh. Maro Engel spun off at the second corner, but was able to continue at the back of the field.

Lap 2: CongFu Cheng retired after he had spun off and hit the tyre wall..

Lap 7: Gary Paffett overtook Martin Tomczyk (Audi) for sixth place.

Lap 8: Because of an alleged illegal move, race control asked Gary Paffett to change positions with Martin Tomczyk again.

Lap 11: Bruno Spengler (second) pitted for the first time. Ralf Schumacher (12th) followed one lap later.

Lap 13: First pit stop by Gary Paffett (fifth); he resumed behind Martin Tomczyk.

Lap 14: Susie Stoddart (seventh) pitted. David Coulthard (seventh) came in one lap later. Again, Gary Paffett passed Martin Tomczyk.

Lap 16: Maro Engel pitted from sixth place.

Lap 19: Jamie Green (fifth) completed his first stop.

Lap 20: Paul Di Resta (first) pitted, but lost more than three seconds due to a problem with the air lance. His stop lasted more than twice as long as usual and he rejoined the race immediately behind Bruno Spengler.

Lap 26: Second halt by leader Bruno Spengler. He lost time and thus dropped behind Timo Scheider. Jamie Green (fifth) pitted one lap later.

Lap 29: Maro Engel (seventh) and Susie Stoddart (eighth) came in for their respective second stops. David Coulthard (ninth) pitted one lap later.

Lap 32: Gary Paffett (third) and Ralf Schumacher (sixth) pitted again.

Lap 34: Bruno Spengler overtook Timo Scheider at the first corner. Paul Di Resta completed his second stop and maintained the lead ahead of Bruno.

Lap 35: All drivers had completed their two stops – Paul Di Resta held the lead ahead of Bruno Spengler, Gary Paffett was fourth and Jamie Green seventh.

Lap 44: Maro Engel overtook Oliver Jarvis (Audi).

Finish (lap 50): Paul Di Resta won ahead of Bruno Spengler; Gary Paffett came home fourth.

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) winner: “My second win within two weeks – fantastic. Thank you to my team – you gave me a perfect C-Class which I realised already in this morning’s warm-up. When I lost time during my first pit stop I felt my heart beat, but I managed to move up to the front again. Me first and Bruno second – if we continue like this, the championship battle will be really exciting. I am very confident.”

Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) second: “Second place and eight points are a good result. I thank my team for a great job. During the last stint I was faster than Timo and I put a lot of pressure on him; the fight was over when he suffered from a puncture. As I had lost time behind him, Paul was able to move in front of me. I am now looking forward to the next race in Hockenheim.”

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) fouth: “I was much faster than Martin Tomczyk and I cannot understand what should have been wrong with my first overtaking manoeuvre. We tangled briefly, but this is normal in a race. At least I showed that overtaking is possible in Oschersleben.”

Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) seventh: “This circuit does not suit our car so much; therefore, seventh place and two points are not too bad. I hope for more in Hockenheim.”

Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) ninth: “To end up ninth from 15th on the grid is quite ok. Unfortunately, I missed a points finish, but this I ruined already in yesterday’s qualifying.”

Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 10th: “My start was not so good but I was faster towards the end, so I am quite happy with my 10th-place finish.”

Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) 12th: “After spinning on the opening lap I was able to catch up, but the drive-through penalty because of pit lane speeding ruined my race.”

David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) 14th: “Another nice Sunday excursion. I tangled right after the start and afterwards, I struggled with my car’s balance. But I made more valuable experience.”

CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired due to an accident: “I was hit by another car, hit the tyre barrier and that was it.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “We almost tripped ourselves up today, when Paul’s first pit stop lasted twice as long as planned and Bruno dropped behind Timo Scheider due to a not ideal stop – the big advantage both had after 20 laps was suddenly gone. But Paul and Bruno fought back and achieved the 1-2 victory. Without his tyre problem, Timo Scheider would have had something to say about first place. I’m sorry for him; when you want 10 points and end up with zero, it hurts. Gary Paffett showed a great drive – without his penalty, which I don’t understand at all, third place instead of fourth would have been possible: strong, considering Gary started 10th on the grid.

“There will be no internal critics today after our not ideal stops: The guys – and the girls – all work so hard and do most of their jobs always right. We now look forward to Hockenheim and the DTM’s German finale. It would be very nice if we could manage a good star performance like today in our home race attended by thousands of Mercedes-Benz colleagues.”

Mercedes-Benz DTM: DTM Zandvoort Race Results

Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class Drivers Gary Paffett and Paul Di Resta Finish Zandovoort in first and second places

Mercedes-Benz C-Class driver Gary Paffett won the 2010 DTM’s sixth round at Zandvoort after finishing third two weeks ago during the fifth round at Nürburgring. After 42 laps (112.4 miles), he came home 0.396sec ahead of Paul Di Resta. Overall leader Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class), coming off a win at Nürburgring,finished the race in seventh.

In the direct comparison with Audi in the years 1990 until 1992 and since 2000, Mercedes-Benz achieved the 101st win out of 185 races in this period of time. It is the 157th DTM win out of 326 races for the brand since Mercedes-Benz entered the championship as a factory team in 1988 and the fifth out of six races this season.

After five continuous podium finishes including two wins this year, Bruno missed the podium for the first time this season; however, he maintained the overall lead with 44 points. Gary is second overall with 35 points ahead of Paul with 33 points each. Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG with Spengler/Paffett leads the team ranking with 79 points.

Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home ninth ahead of Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class). David Coulthard (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up 12th, Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished 15th ahead of CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class).

Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired on lap two due to a broken front right suspension.

A total of 39,000 spectators attended the DTM race at Zandvoort during the weekend.

The start: Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) started second on the grid ahead of Paul Di Resta; Bruno Spengler had qualified seventh and Ralf Schumacher eighth. Whilst pole sitter Timo Scheider (Audi) stopped briefly, Gary took the lead followed by Paul; Bruno improved to sixth place.

Lap 2: Maro Engel pitted with a broken front right suspension and retired.

Lap 7: Ralf Schumacher made a mistake under braking into the Tarzanbocht and dropped to ninth behind Scheider.

Lap 11: Bruno Spengler (sixth) completed his first mandatory stop. Ralf Schumacher (eighth) followed one lap later.

Lap 14: Gary Paffett pitted from the lead, so did Paul Di Resta (1st) on the following lap.

Lap 16: Jamie Green (third) and David Coulthard (eighth) came in for their first stops.

Lap 17: CongFu Cheng (12th) completed his first stop. Susie Stoddart (ninth) pitted on lap 18. Bruno Spengler defended fifth position against Scheider who just exited the pits. Gary Paffett was in the lead ahead of Paul Di Resta.

Lap 23: Jamie Green (ninth) came in for his second routine halt. David Coulthard (11th) and Susie Stoddart (14th) followed one lap later.

Lap 25: Bruno Spengler (fourth) pitted.

Lap 27: Gary Paffett (leader) completed his second stop. Paul Di Resta (first) came in on lap 28, Ralf Schumacher (fourth) on lap 29 and CongFu Cheng (15th) on lap 30.

Lap 31: After the second round of pit stops, Gary Paffett held the lead with 1.6sec ahead of Paul Di Resta. Overall leader Bruno Spengler was the third C-Class driver in eighth place.

Lap 32: Bruno Spengler tried to pass Mike Rockenfeller (Audi); both cars tangled and Rockenfeller spun. Bruno was seventh.

Lap 37: Ralf Schumacher overtook Jamie Green and improved to ninth. One lap later, he challenged Martin Tomczyk (Audi) for eighth place.

Finish (lap 42): Gary Paffett clinched his second win of the year; Paul Di Resta ended up second and Bruno Spengler scored two points in seventh place.

Gary Paffett (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) winner:

“I just like this track. I got the maximum out of the car and driving here was great fun. I thank my team for a great job during the weekend. Like Bruno, I have won two races this year and I am ready to challenge him for the championship.”

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) second:

“A good race for me and for Mercedes-Benz. I came close to the lead, but could not manage to pass Gary. Well done to him on his race win. I scored eight points today and the fight for the championship is open again.”

Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) seventh:

“A difficult race for me and our team. With all the Audis around me it was not easy to find the right strategy. Our guys did their best and in hindsight you always know better. We made the best out of the situation. Congratulations to the entire Mercedes-Benz team and to Gary and Paul on their 1-2 victory.”

Ralf Schumacher (Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class) ninth:

“Unfortunately I made a mistake when I battled with Martin Tomczyk and drove briefly through the gravel; therefore I lsot eighth place. In the end I overtook Jamie and was almost able to take eighth place and one point.”

Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) 10th:

“My car’s performance in the race was better than in qualifying; however, I still lacked grip. In the end, I lost ninth place to Ralf. Now I look forward to my home race at Brands Hatch in two weeks where I want to do better again.”

David Coulthard (Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class) 12th:

“For the first time I had quite a good start and improved by three positions. However, I struggled with oversteer throughout the race and therefore could not move up.”

Susie Stoddart (TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 15th:

“I did a very late first pit stop and after that I had many cars in front of me which had already pitted. So I had too much traffic and that was my race.”

CongFu Cheng (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) 16th:

“I had two lengthy pit stops due to a problem with a wheel nut. Therefore, I was not able to achieve a better result.

Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired on lap 2 with a broken front right suspension:

“I had a slight coming-together during the start – we will have to analyse if this was the reason for the damage.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:

“Gary and Paul were a class of their own here. As the championship leader, Bruno lost a bit more ground than necessary after a lengthy pit stop, but being the old and the new overall leader he can get over it.  We will go into the upcoming races focused and enthusiastically and with a trio of Bruno Spengler, Gary Paffett and Paul Di Resta on top of the leader board. Thank you to all the hard-working employees in our teams HWA headed by Gerhard Ungar, Persson with Ingmar Persson and Mücke with Peter Mücke – all of you did a great job.”