Win for Bernd Schneider and the New Mercedes-Benz C-Class

* Third Mercedes-Benz victory in the fourth race
* All four new Mercedes-BenzC-Class cars among top-six
* Four poles for the new C-Class in four races
* Bernd Schneider (2007 Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class) won the fourth round of the 2007 DTM in Brands . It is Bernd’s 42nd DTM victory and his first of the year. For the race version of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class it is the second win within three weeks.
* All four 2007 C-Class cars finished among the top-six: Mika Häkkinen (AMG Mercedes C-Class), starting from pole position, came home fourth ahead of Bruno Spengler (DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class).
* In the overall ranking, Bernd Schneider improved to third with 17.5 points behind Audi drivers Martin Tomczyk (20 points) and Mattias Ekström (18). Paul di Resta (JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class 2005), who retired on the first lap due to an accident without his own fault, dropped from first overall to fourth with 16 points.

* A crowd of 18,000 attended the 2007 DTM season’s fourth race during the weekend.
Stuttgart, Jun 12, 2007 -- The start: Mika Häkkinen started from pole position for the second time this year and for the third consecutive time from the front row. However, the Finn lost one position to Bruno Spengler who had qualified second. Bernd Schneider improved from sixth to fifth whilst Jamie Green lost one place from seventh to eighth. Following an accident at the second corner, which involved also Paul di Resta without his own fault, the safety car was deployed.



Lap 8 : Re-start. Mathias Lauda and Gary Paffett tangled, Lauda went off shortly.

Lap 9 : Bernd Schneider’s first pit stop, followed by Gary Paffett one lap later.

Lap 12 : Jamie Green pitted for the first time.

Lap 22 : Mika Häkkinen came in for his first stop from second position.

Lap 29 : Second pitstop of Jamie Green.

Lap 31 : Mika Häkkinen who had followed Bernd Schneider closely for a couple of laps made his second stop. Gary Paffett pitted for the second time one lap later.

Lap 35 : Second stop of Bernd Schneider. Bruno Spengler pitted from the lead for the first time on lap 36.

Lap 40 : Bruno Spengler was back in the lead, followed by Audi drivers Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk.

Lap 48 : Accelerating after his second pit stop, Bruno Spengler stalled the engine shortly and resumed behind Mika Häkkinen, Bernd Schneider and Mattias Ekström.

Lap 54 : Bernd Schneider overtook Mika Häkkinen entering the Paddock Hill Bend. Afterwards, Mika had to hold off Ekström.

Lap 57 : Ekström overtook Mika entering the front straight.

Lap 63 : All drivers have completed their pit stops. Bernd Schneider was in the lead ahead of the Audis of Martin Tomczyk and Mattias Ekström, followed by Mika Häkkinen, Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green.

Finish (Lap 82) : Bernd Schneider held off all attacks and won after 82 laps with a gap of 0.543sec ahead of Tomczyk. Ekström ended up third followed by Häkkinen, Spengler and Green. It is Schneider’s 42nd DTM victory and his first after Lausitzring 2006.

The first to congratulate Bernd Schneider was Lewis Hamilton who had watched the race together with his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes teammate Fernando Alonso in via Satellite. Lewis who had raced in the Formula 3 Euro Series and won it in 2005, is like Fernando a big DTM fan and did physical training together with Bernd and all other team mates a couple of years ago. For Lewis and Fernando, the live broadcast from was a warm-up for the Canadian Grand Prix where Lewis will start from pole for the first time in Formula 1, and Fernando will be second on the grid – a nice parallel to the Brands Hatch grid with Häkkinen and Spengler on the front row.

Bernd Schneider, 2007 Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class, winner: “A great success, I am happy. I did not expect to improve from sixth on the grid to first on such a short track with only a few overtaking opportunities. But we had a perfect new C-Class and a great strategy and I thank my team for this super job. I dedicate this victory to my father Horst who turned 71 today. I was particularly happy that Lewis Hamilton has called together with Norbert and congratulated right after the race.”

Mika Häkkinen, AMG Mercedes C-Class 2007, fourth: “Starting from pole position I had expected more than fourth place; however, the entire weekend was positive and I am still quite happy. Congratulations to Bernd on his victory. With six races to go the championship is still wide open – I will ‘C’ what I can do.”

Bruno Spengler, 2007 DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes C-Class, fifth : “My start was very good and I was in the lead for a long time. With my mistake when I stalled the engine after my second pit stop I lost all my chances for a podium finish and I am really angry about myself.”

Jamie Green, 2007 AMG Mercedes C-Class, sixth : “After my pit stops I got stuck in traffic and lost a lot of time. That’s the problem on this short and narrow circuit, because overtaking is almost impossible here.”

Alexandros Margaritis, 2006 stern AMG Mercedes C-Class, ninth: “To improve from 17th on the grid to ninth at the finish is quite a good performance; however, to miss the points positions by only one place is a bit frustrating.”

Gary Paffett, 2006 Laureus AMG Mercedes C-Class, 10th : “I was involved in the incident at the second corner and my car was damaged. Afterwards I lacked downforce and was not able to go faster.”

Mathias Lauda, 2006 Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class, 12th: “I am not satisfied. After the incident with I had dropped to last place. In the following I got stuck behind other cars and then I made a mistake and had a short off.”

Susie Stoddart, 2005 TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class, 16th: “I pitted too early after the safety car period and this was not counted as a compulsory stop. Therefore I had to make a total of three stops and a better result was not possible.”

Paul di Resta, 2005 JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes C-Class, retired after a first-lap accident without his own fault: “I am very disappointed, because we had a strong strategy and points would have been possible despite my 15th grid position. It’s a shame; however, that’s racing.“

Daniel la Rosa, 2006 TrekStor AMG Mercedes C-Class 2006, excluded from the event: “I made my second compulsory stop on the final lap; however, the rules require you to drive a full lap afterwards what I didn’t do. Therefore I was disqualified.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport (linked to the DTM press conference by telephone from the Canadian Grand Prix in ) : “Congratulations to Bernd on his excellent victory, today we saw the best Schneider ever. Congratulations also to the HWA team headed by Gerhard Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis on the second consecutive success for the new C-Class within three weeks. To charge through the field from sixth on the grid to victory on this short and narrow circuit is a remarkable performance and we had already expected this opportunity. On his ideal lap, Bernd was one and a half tenths faster than all his competitors. Without taking half of the points away after the Lausitzring, which is a undeserved handicap for us there would be three drivers in the lead, all tied on 20 points, and Bernd and Paul di Resta among them. Anyway, we have put this behind us and the championship is still wide open and with six races to go there are six C-Class drivers among the top-eight in the overall ranking. We now look forward to the season highlight at ’s Norisring in two weeks.”

Source: DaimlerChrysler