DTM 2000 - Sachsenring - Highlights
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00:00Back to the future.
00:07The German Touring Car Masters 2000.
00:13Hello everyone, welcome to the fourth race weekend of the season in the German Masters,
00:18the Touring Car Series of excitement throughout Germany.
00:22Today the races come to you from the Sachsenring, 2.1 mile narrow circuit near the city of Chemnitz
00:29In Eastern Germany, 19 cars ready to go before a packed house here at the Sachsenring.
00:37There's your course, 21 gear changes ahead, it looks tough, it's tight and yet it's fast.
00:44Well it's quite a nice circuit for me because for the driver it's very hard, it's going
00:48up and down hill and well you have to be really concentrated and I think we're going to have
00:53really big fights and a nice race weekend I hope so.
00:57So to these folks, the fans who have crowded in to the Sachsenring, twice a year they hold
01:02races here and on the pole for this event, there it is, Klaus Ludwig, the veteran, the
01:07senior citizen as it will.
01:08Next to him, Dumbrecht, two Mercedes up in front, then Manuel Reuter and Jochen Winkelhoff,
01:14two Opels running in the second row.
01:16In the third row, the hard luck kid, Uwe Ahlsen, man he has had tough luck this season, a lot
01:21of did not finishes, Modena is next to him, Marcel Thiemann, one of the young drivers
01:26in a Mercedes along with Fassler, Marcel Fassler.
01:30And then another Mercedes, Pedro Lamy from the Rosberg team along with Eric Allery from
01:35France.
01:36Then the man that's out in front of the points, Bernd Schneider, miserable qualifying, Opel
01:41next to him, Bartels.
01:43So they're out on the lap to get ready, the fans are on their feet, we're ready to go
01:48racing, 30 laps here on this tight circuit.
01:51That's Klaus Ludwig on the left, Peter Dumbrecht is on the right in the blue Mercedes, waiting
01:56for the green, and we're underway.
01:59And Ludwig gets a great jump, Ludwig will take the lead into the first corner, and there's
02:03quite a mess of pushing around inside, and Modena is spun out.
02:09Someone helped Modena into the gravel.
02:12And Bernd Schneider gets his share of a new corner.
02:15Here at the Sachsenring, Marcel Fassler's car has problems, he was evidently involved
02:20in some of the bumping going into the first corner.
02:23They come down the lower section, they move up a hill into a very easy-going left-hander,
02:29but the pressure will be on the right-side tires.
02:31You can see Pedro Lamy's car, he had the hood going, this is Modena, Stefano Modena wants
02:36someone to push him out so he can keep going.
02:38Pedro Lamy has the car with the hood that just disappeared, new aerodynamics for Pedro
02:44Lamy, the Portuguese driver in his first year in the German touring car masters.
02:48And Klaus Ludwig, the veteran, the 50-year-old veteran out in front, a 26-year-old Peter
02:55Dumbrick behind him.
02:57It was Dumbrick who said during qualifying, it's really bad to lose out in the last seven
03:01minutes of qualifying to a man that could be your father.
03:06Christian Abt, well, another bad day for Audi.
03:10They continue to have their problems, they've started back in the pack, they've had an uphill
03:13battle all the way, and they just continue to have their share of problems.
03:20Here comes your leader.
03:23Then comes Dumbrick, Manuel Reuter, Jakob Minkelhoff, Erik Ellery, Uwe Ahlsen, Marcel
03:29Thiemann, and then comes Bernd Schneider.
03:31Now Schneider, who is your points leader, started back in 11th position, he really had
03:35a tough qualifying, and now he's going to have to work his way up to front.
03:39Reuter, who is second in the points, needs to stay ahead of him here.
03:43There's only a three-point difference between the two coming into the races this weekend
03:47at the Sachsenring.
03:52The cars sorting themselves out very nicely here.
03:55There really is one great place to pass, and this is one of them.
03:57You can cut inside to pass here.
03:59Look as Pedro Lamy on the inside comes out and bumps a little bit, and there goes Modena,
04:05and Lamy lost his hood and had to go to the pits.
04:09The rest of the field seems to work its way through pretty good.
04:14Marcel Fessler's car comes in, they're checking it out, he was involved in that bumping in
04:18the opening lap.
04:19See if they can get him back out.
04:21He's had a great season, actually.
04:23For a young driver coming in for the first time, they're getting the car work done.
04:27He's actually right up there in the points race, but the question now is, can he get
04:33out and keep going?
04:36Modena's back, he's on the track and running.
04:39Wow, he had such a great time, too, because he started off, he was fastest in the second
04:43practice session.
04:44The car was always up there, and he has always been in the top five, six, seven cars for
04:48most of the time this season.
04:50He just hasn't had that big break to jump up front.
04:52And today, he's certainly going to have to fight his way back in a very narrow course,
04:57very, very fast course.
04:58Uwe Ahlson in the Opel.
05:01Ahlson, a man that has been fighting himself all the way through this season.
05:05He just can't seem to come to grips with that car.
05:09Ahlson had a couple did-not-finishes at Hockenheim, he had a did-not-finish at Auschwitz-Leben,
05:16and it's been one of those.
05:17His best finish is a sixth place so far.
05:20Jäger, he is in the pits.
05:24He's got problems.
05:25In fact, he's getting out, and that's tough because this is his home crowd.
05:30Born in Chemnitz, lives in Munich, he has to get out here in the first race to try to
05:35get the car ready for the second race of the day.
05:41This track in eastern Germany has about a 70-year history, as we ride with Marcel Thiemann,
05:47going into the chicane to come up to the start-finish line.
05:52Used to go back into the woods, and part of it was highway.
05:57Drivers will go through about 21 gear changes on a course that has 12, 13 corners, depending
06:01on how you count the benders.
06:04There are five second-gear corners here, so you can see it's going to be tough on the
06:07cars.
06:08But what's even tougher is the fast corners are all left-handers, which is going to put
06:13the pressure on the right outside front tire.
06:19Ahlson continues to put the pressure on Ellery in the battle for fifth position.
06:28The drivers feeling themselves out here in the opening moments of the race.
06:33Klaus Lidwig said that after he ran a long run on the second practice session yesterday,
06:40he said the tires will probably hold up for about a third of the race, and then they will
06:44start to wear down.
06:45Now, all the cars have to run the same tire, put up by Dunlap, so nobody gets an advantage
06:50here.
06:51The question's going to be, will the tires hold up, especially with the high speeds in
06:56those left-handers?
06:57The right-handers are slow, the left-handers are the ones that put the pressure on that
07:02right front tire.
07:05Bernd Schneider continues to move through the field.
07:09Schneider has certainly had a great season so far.
07:12He's got three victories to his credit.
07:14He won the first two races of the season at Hockenheim, and then he picked up a win at
07:18the Norris Ring in the second race, and here he goes by Marcel Thiemann to move up another
07:22slot.
07:23He started in 11th.
07:24The closer he can get to Reuter, the better, and you're riding with Marcel Thiemann, who
07:28now gets a different view of Bernd Schneider.
07:30Instead of the rear-view mirror, he's now looking right at him through the front windshield.
07:36Hans-Werner Alfresch, the man who runs the Mercedes operation preparing these cars, knows
07:43this man very well.
07:45Klaus Ludwig, 50 years old, a Le Mans winner, a touring car champion.
07:52He's the type of driver the fans either like or dislike, but they all come to see because
07:56they know he's really tough when it comes to touring cars.
08:00There are very few better than he is, and at 50 years of age, it looks like he hasn't
08:04slown down at all.
08:06Back with Stefano Modena, the Italian, running for the Euro team, a one-car team, and they
08:12have been battling all season with this Opel.
08:14They got it late, and then were able to make it run, and it has qualified quite well.
08:20In fact, Modena can be quite happy with it, especially in the last couple of weeks of
08:25races.
08:26Qualified sixth here.
08:27He was fifth at the Norris Ring, seventh at Ostersleben, so the car is starting to run.
08:33Meanwhile, Uwe Ahlson's going nowhere when it comes to LRA, but someone right behind
08:38him is trying to make life difficult.
08:41That's Bernd Schneider.
08:42So Schneider has come from 11th right up into the battle for the fifth and sixth slot.
08:49Winkelhock, Ellery, Ahlson, and then the man that's on top for Mercedes, Bernd Schneider.
08:58Through the chicane, it leads down the start-finish line.
09:02Cars will reach about 143 miles an hour when they get to the end of this one.
09:07Ooh, and Ahlson got a little squirrely there.
09:13But everything seems to be going all right.
09:15The question is, can Schneider get by him?
09:18The passing here is very, very difficult.
09:20The one true place to pass is at the end of the back straight, where it's a second-geared
09:25corner, a left-hander.
09:26They get up to about 149 miles an hour, and then they have to break down, and that's one
09:30of the places that's a definite place to pass.
09:32They could pass at the end of the start-finish line, but after that, it gets tough, because
09:36the course winds a lot, goes up and downhill.
09:40Very, very difficult to find a place to get by unless you've got a superior car.
09:44If the cars are equal, well, then you really got to bide your time and hope that somebody
09:48makes a mistake, or you trick somebody.
09:51Let them make a mistake, and you get by.
09:54Right now, this group are all experienced touring car drivers.
09:59This is Christian Opt.
10:00He went out.
10:01A shame for the Opt team, and his car won't be repaired.
10:04It doesn't look like he'll be able to get back for the second race.
10:11With the exception of Dumbrecht, the veterans are the ones that are running well here.
10:16Peter Dumbrecht, 26-year-old Scotsman, surprised everybody here by qualifying second.
10:23He started off very, very slowly, but boy, has he come on.
10:27And we have a car going off.
10:29It is Binglehawk.
10:31Jochen Binglehawk, and the Opel has gone off.
10:37So it's already the one of the top Opel drivers is starting to
10:41have a bad day before he even thinks about it.
10:45Wow, he was up in the points.
10:46He had done so well at the Norris Ring, and now there he goes through the gravel
10:51and up against the wall.
10:53That's one of the faster parts of the course, too.
10:56And so everybody will move up a notch.
11:03Gallery, Olsen, and Baron Schneider continue to battle.
11:10Now it's the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions.
11:20This corner here is what the Germans like to call a courage corner,
11:23which means you're shifting up,
11:24and you got your foot in the floor all the way to the floor
11:26until you come into this left-hander.
11:29There's another one right now as you go back up the hill.
11:32Then it gets a bend and another bend.
11:34And meanwhile, you're just putting your foot to the floor
11:36until you hit a sharp S,
11:38and then you speed up into the top speed part of the course.
11:44Right now, Schneider is not putting that much pressure on Olsen.
11:48He is staying there, making sure he knows he's there.
11:50And Olsen went off the course.
11:56Uwe Olsen went off the course.
12:00More problems from the driver from Betzdorf, Germany.
12:04Wow. He's going to be happy when this season's over with.
12:08What happened?
12:10Goes into the corner and doesn't go anywhere.
12:13Straight ahead.
12:15Same thing that happened to Winkelhoff.
12:18Tire problems.
12:19Right front.
12:21Here he comes in.
12:22They're going to see if they can change it.
12:23Get him back out there.
12:26Olsen, unfortunately, is getting used to the idea
12:28of coming into the pits for work during a race.
12:35They're putting the tires on,
12:36but discussing what to do about the car.
12:38Maybe there's more to it than just the tires.
12:41There comes Winkelhoff under his own power.
12:43Not quite.
12:44Oh, he got stuck in the gravel.
12:45He almost made it out.
12:49He wants to come up, but wasn't quite there.
12:52And now Bernd Schneider is putting the pressure on Ellery.
12:59Bernd Schneider works his way up on Eric Ellery.
13:05This is the battle for fourth position.
13:14And Ellery lets him by.
13:17Ellery evidently has some problems.
13:19Ellery pulled over and let Schneider by.
13:24So it's a Mercedes top four, that's for sure.
13:30Only Reuters, Manuel Reuters' car is between
13:35the leader and Schneider.
13:36Look here.
13:38Ellery has problems.
13:40He went off, went to the side.
13:44And let Schneider get by him.
13:46So now Bernd Schneider has an open track.
13:49He has to try to run down Manuel Reuter.
13:54You have the first and second players in the points race.
13:59Right there is Reuter.
14:00He's running third.
14:01And there comes Bernd Schneider.
14:05Schneider, your point leader.
14:06Reuter running second.
14:10But right now he probably wishes he had more space than he does.
14:14This is one tight battle here right now.
14:19The difference is closing.
14:21Schneider obviously with a faster car.
14:24The Opels have shown problems with the tires here in that first race.
14:30The question is, one, can Reuter bring the car home without having tire problems
14:34as some of his colleagues have had?
14:35And two, while doing that, can he hold off Bernd Schneider?
14:44Schneider, you're in the lead.
14:46Schneider, also a former touring car champion.
14:52Driven sports prototypes.
14:54Did a little bit of Formula One driving.
14:56That unsuccessful years of driving.
14:58You really just soon forget that.
15:00His big successes have come in touring cars and in the sports prototypes or GT cars.
15:06Right now, he'd like to keep that lead in the new German touring car masters,
15:13which follows the touring car championship of several years ago.
15:17That series folded when it went international with the international touring car championship.
15:21After that, it folded.
15:23There were some years here of super touring car racing,
15:25but they didn't quite catch on as these cars have.
15:28They came back and have done extremely well.
15:30Thanks to drivers like this, Bernd Schneider and Manuel Reuter.
15:37Reuter, a consistent Opel driver.
15:43Won the championship for them.
15:46Started off the season on the pole.
15:48Made a small mistake or he would have been probably further up in the points.
15:51Went off the course.
15:52Schneider went by and Reuter never was able to catch up.
15:56And right now, he knows that Bernd Schneider is right behind him.
16:02This is the battle for the title.
16:03It's also the battle for third place.
16:06Klaus Ludwig is your leader.
16:07Peter Dombrak is running second.
16:11Norbert Haug.
16:12The team manager from Mercedes.
16:19It's all up to Bernd Schneider right now whether he can catch up with Reuter because
16:24Ludwig and Dombrak have just left everybody behind.
16:26Jaeger's car comes back out to get some laps in and possibly be able to start
16:31further up ahead of some of the other cars that are out.
16:34Schneider continues to close a gap as his teammate,
16:37Thomas Jaeger, is out on the course getting started.
16:43Jaeger, a little squirrely when he comes out of the pits.
16:48Once again, Manuel Reuter in the Opel, your third place car.
16:52Bernd Schneider in fourth.
16:56And the laps are counting down.
16:58Bernd Schneider in fourth.
17:01And the laps are counting down.
17:04Into the left-hander.
17:05The short chute, another left-hander, and a chicane.
17:08And then the start-finish line straight.
17:13Reuter is using up every bit of the track he can.
17:16There really are no curbs here on these corners, so they go right into the dirt.
17:20It throws up quite a fog when they go off.
17:23Schneider's within striking distance.
17:26It's going to be difficult to get by Reuter unless he has some problems or makes a mistake.
17:31The track is very difficult to pass.
17:34You cannot get by if the cars are equal.
17:38They just take up too much room.
17:40It's relatively narrow, especially with these up-and-downhill passages.
17:46This is also a testing ground for cars, and they're only allowed to have a couple of race
17:51weekends a year here.
17:53They have a World Championship motorcycle event, which is one of the reasons they have
17:57such a big runoff area on all the corners.
18:04And they plan to make some more changes to the track this year.
18:07They got rid of a chicane this year and made it into a very fast left-hander, but evidently
18:19they plan to make some more changes so they can keep the World Championship motorcycle
18:23event.
18:26Motorcycles passed at will here, but the touring cars, a little bit bigger, a little more
18:32difficult to get by.
18:35Reuter is still hanging in there.
18:37He's trying to hold off Bernd Schneider for third place.
18:42He's got one lap to go.
18:43Looks like Reuter will succeed.
18:46Schneider will have to settle for fourth place, which isn't bad because he will still very
18:52close in the points.
18:53Reuter will have moved up again.
19:00In fact, he will have taken the lead if he stays in position there.
19:02So the championship in the German Touring Car Masters will remain as tight as ever.
19:09Here in the first race of the two-race weekend at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany.
19:15Ludwig and Dumbrecht, one and two, way out in front of these two.
19:18This is your battle for third and fourth position.
19:22Schneider, at this point, doesn't have much chance to catch up with Reuter.
19:25He's going to have to settle to stay right behind him as we come to the end of the first
19:31race.
19:32Reuter gets a little bit squirrely.
19:36Heading down to the fast section of the course and Reuter goes off.
19:41More problems for Opel.
19:44Probably again that right front tire.
19:48The Opels went off, went off at about the same point.
19:51And they had the same problems.
19:53And there's your winner, Klaus Ludwig, followed by Peter Dumbrecht.
19:57Ludwig wins his first race in the new series.
19:59Dumbrecht comes up with his best finish ever and there is Bernd Schneider finishing third.
20:05Schneider now has a big points lead.
20:09With quick maths, Schneider now has 94 points.
20:12Reuter will finish way back.
20:14And we'll have to wait and see what he does get for points, but it'll mean that Schneider
20:18has certainly jumped out to a big lead.
20:21Marcel Thiemann, it's his best finish.
20:23He came in fifth today in the first race of two.
20:28There you have the top eight.
20:29Look at that, Darren Turner, the other young Mercedes driver, finishing eighth.
20:33Good for him.
20:33Timo Scheider, the 21-year-old, also coming in seventh.
20:36So the youngsters are there, but the veterans are not.
20:38And there's your winner, Marcel Thiemann.
20:40The 21-year-old, also coming in seventh.
20:42So the youngsters are there, but the veterans...
20:44Well, some won these two veterans, Winkelhock on the left and Reuter on the right.
20:48They had their problems.
20:49They went sailing into the guardrail.
20:51Now they've got to hope they can get the cars back in time to get them ready for the second
20:55race of the day.
20:56There's Winkelhock's car.
20:57They're just going to have to try to push it in, hope they can get it repaired before
21:01the start of the second race here at the Sachsenring.
21:05Klaus Ludwig on the right, a happy man, 50-year-old.
21:10Very disappointed in the first two races.
21:12And then all of a sudden, man, did he come back.
21:25He could be enjoying retirement.
21:27He certainly doesn't have to prove anything anymore.
21:29But the challenge of the new German touring car masters was too much for Klaus Ludwig.
21:38The battle for seconds, the technology, the discussion with fellow drivers,
21:43it still fascinates him.
21:45This after 30 years of racing.
21:47The battle for seconds, the technology, the discussion with fellow drivers,
21:51it still fascinates him.
21:53This after 30 years of racing.
22:18There's a long list of successes.
22:21Three times the man has won Le Mans.
22:23He's the most successful German driver there.
22:32He's taken the chequered flag three times at the 24 hours of the Nürburgring.
22:36He's taken the chequered flag three times at the 24 hours of the Nürburgring.
22:49In the original touring car series in Germany,
22:51he took two titles and was runner-up three times.
22:55In the very best of German touring cars, the German Touring Car Championship,
23:00he was a three-time champion.
23:07His work ethic is what makes it all possible.
23:10But it was the work ethic that didn't help him here.
23:13This is the Nürburgring, 1989.
23:16Ludwig has spun and watch.
23:17A horrible crash.
23:21Ludwig came back, but it's something he's always remembered.
23:26He's a perfectionist.
23:28And when the mistakes are his, they hurt the most.
23:31To destroy a weekend drives him crazy.
23:34To destroy a weekend drives him crazy.
23:44After two difficult races this year at Hockenheim and Ostersleben,
23:48he returned to the top at the street course in Nuremberg, the Norisring.
23:52He was second in the first race.
24:00Mercedes team manager Norbert Haug was very happy for his veteran driver.
24:03And then in the second race, this.
24:05Watch as Ludwig in the middle, cuts between two drivers, makes it through and moves up.
24:11This is in a race in the rain.
24:14What a battle.
24:15Only Schneider and Reuter would finish ahead of him in this wet race at the Norisring.
24:22A second and third.
24:23Klaus Ludwig was back.
24:34So we're ready to go with the second race of the weekend here at the Sachsenring.
24:39Fourteen cars registered as finishing in the first race.
24:42That's the fewest number of cars that have finished a first race so far this season.
24:46Ludwig on front, Dumbrig second.
24:48They finished one, two.
24:50They just ran away and left everybody behind.
24:52After a great drive, Bernd Schneider will be starting third.
24:55Eric Ellery will be fourth.
24:57He's the best qualifying Opel for this second race.
25:00Then comes Marcel Thiemann with his best finish of a fifth.
25:03Michel Bartels continues to try to move up further.
25:06He's finishing in the middle, top ten.
25:08Timo Scheider, the young driver in the Opel, doing extremely well.
25:12Christian Menzel and Marcel Fesler make up the next row.
25:18And looking back, there are the Audis.
25:20Nissen and Aiello.
25:21Abt's Audi will not be in the field.
25:25Manuel Reuter, one of the fastest drivers in the race.
25:28Manuel Reuter, way back in the pack, as is Stefano Modena.
25:32We saw him go out way early in the race.
25:35Uwe Janssen and then Jochen Winkelhock, also in the back of the pack.
25:42And with them, Pedro Lamy and Thomas Jaeger, two of the newcomers to the series.
25:46But there's certainly some powerhouse drivers sitting in the back of the pack.
25:49Abt was scheduled.
25:50The car won't run, though.
25:54And Manuel Reuter will have to be starting from pit lane.
25:58They couldn't get the car ready to get it out on time.
26:00So he'll be starting from pit lane, which will put him way at the back of the pack.
26:04He's got a long way to go.
26:06The car took a lot of damage when he hit the wall.
26:10So the cars roll out.
26:12This race has been cut down to 24 laps instead of 30.
26:16The reason being the tires and safety.
26:19What has happened, no one can explain about the Opel problem with tires.
26:22And so the organizers have cut it down to 24 laps for the second race.
26:28And for the second time, Ludwig on the left gets the jump.
26:31Dumbrecht just drops in there.
26:34And Ellery takes third place away from Bernd Schneider.
26:40Alec Ellery pushes Schneider back into fourth position.
26:44Schneider is certainly in a better position than he had hoped for
26:48because Reuter is starting way in the back out of the pit lane.
26:51So Schneider, who already has picked up a big lead here after the first race,
26:55has a chance now to expand that lead further.
26:58And can you believe it?
26:59Uwe Ahlson is off the course again.
27:02And Christian Menzel is the man that was involved in that one.
27:05Uwe Ahlson just can't buy a break here.
27:11In the first race this season, he had two DNFs.
27:13It's now three and an eighth place finish.
27:16In second races, what's he done there?
27:18He's had one.
27:18He didn't start.
27:19He had a ninth and a sixth.
27:20So he certainly hopes that this one goes better.
27:23There's your leader, Ludwig, followed by Dumbrecht, Ellery, Schneider,
27:30Michel Bartels, and then Marcel Thiemann in that blue and white Mercedes.
27:34They've added red rearview mirrors to that car to make it easier to identify.
27:39Those two cars, the two teammate cars there,
27:41were difficult to figure out, the piercing cars.
27:42But now with those red mirrors, see it right there?
27:46You make it much easier.
27:48So there you get to see your top five.
27:50Plus another five.
27:52Winklehawk has moved all the way up to 10th place.
27:54Not bad, considering he started way back in the pack.
27:58There's Winklehawk right there.
28:00But boy, does he have his work cut out for him.
28:01He's got to move a long way fast.
28:05He went out early.
28:06Now he just has to keep working at it.
28:09There you see what happened.
28:10It looks like it's just a simple misunderstanding between
28:14Menzel and Uwe Ahlson.
28:16It cost them both positions.
28:18Menzel in the Ermshire Independent Opel
28:22has been struggling this season.
28:23We ride again with Stefano Modena.
28:26You can see part of the great crowd here.
28:27Over 32,000 today.
28:29Over 59,000 for the weekend.
28:32They had a great crowd here yesterday
28:35for the two practice sessions and qualifying.
28:38They only run a rollout on Friday to check the cars.
28:40Although because they only run here once a year
28:42and they can only get on the course once a year,
28:44they ran a test session on Thursday.
28:46Opel did run a long run there with the tires
28:49and everything seemed to be okay at least.
28:51But here in the first race,
28:53the track just ate those right front tires up on the Opels
28:56and they all went sailing off.
28:58It meant a great deal for Mercedes,
29:00but as far as the overall picture of the finish,
29:03it didn't help things much.
29:08Your leader, Klaus Ludwig, Dumbrak,
29:12Dumbrak, then comes Ellery, Bernd Schneider,
29:15Michel Bartels, Marcel Thiemann, Timo Scheider,
29:18and Thomas Faisler.
29:21That's your top group right there.
29:25You have a bunch of young drivers there
29:26with Thiemann, Scheider, and Faisler all running together.
29:29Right there, that group.
29:32Faisler has done extremely well this season,
29:35but Dumbrak now records the fastest lap.
29:37That's his car right here.
29:38Mercedes right there.
29:39He's running in second place.
29:42He's certainly making a name for himself now.
29:44He started off as a no-name
29:45and nobody took him very seriously
29:47after the first two events,
29:48but once he got used to how things were running,
29:51he certainly has shown well here at the Sachsenring.
29:54Timo Scheider started off the season extremely well.
29:59And then he had his problems.
30:00And once again, Uwe Ahlson has his problems.
30:03The car in the pits.
30:05This man just has to hope that this bad luck streak
30:08has to end sometime.
30:09There are your top four.
30:12A Mercedes sandwich.
30:14Ellery running third for Opel.
30:17The fifth spot is Michel Bartels in an Opel.
30:22So Opel running two of the top five cars.
30:26Mercedes finishing one, two, and three though
30:29in the first race of the day here at the Sachsenring.
30:38Eric Ellery, the Frenchman.
30:40Very popular driver.
30:42He's had somewhat success.
30:44He's won a couple races in super touring cars.
30:49And he's become very popular with the drivers.
30:53He just hasn't quite yet found his niche yet here.
30:57So far this season, he did not finish at Hockenheim,
31:00a seventh place there.
31:01He had a fourth and 10th at Oschersleben.
31:04Two 15th place finishes at the Norrisring
31:06and then finished fourth in the first race
31:09here at the Sachsenring.
31:10So it's been an up and down season for him.
31:14The man behind him, well, he simply dominated.
31:16Van Schneider right now is running the course.
31:20Quite frankly, biding his time to wait and see
31:22if the Opels continue to have problems.
31:25Those tire problems in the first race were deadly
31:27as far as having them finish in the points.
31:29And Schneider can kind of wait to see
31:31if Ellery has problems or doesn't.
31:33Keep a little bit of the pressure on,
31:34keep forcing him to run,
31:36get him into those fast left-hand turns
31:38and that right front tire,
31:39the one that the other Opel drivers
31:41had so much trouble with.
31:42Well, who knows?
31:43I can only hope that Ellery brings it home.
31:48Peter Dunbrecht, a sign he's very happy to see,
31:51but not many people expected him to see,
31:53running second right there
31:54in that blue and silver Mercedes.
31:57Then comes Ellery, then comes Van Schneider.
32:03Schneider, three wins to his credit.
32:06A double win at Hockenheim,
32:08a third and 12th at Oschersleben,
32:11and then a fourth and a victory at the Norris Ring
32:14and third in the first race here today.
32:17So the only race he finished out of the top 10
32:19was at Oschersleben.
32:23The fact is we've had, so far this season,
32:27two double victories.
32:29Schneider took double victories at Hockenheim.
32:33Reuter took double victories at Oschersleben,
32:35leading from start to finish.
32:38And Marcel Fesler gets by Timo Scheider.
32:44This is the battle back in the pack among the young drivers.
32:49And way back in the pack, Manuel Reuter in his Opel,
32:51that yellow and white Opel,
32:53starting from the pit lane,
32:56has a long road to go.
32:58Right ahead of him is Winkelhock.
33:04And he is just going to have to see what he can do
33:06to work his way through.
33:10But he certainly is going to have a hard time.
33:15Both of them are.
33:16There's just no room on this track to get by,
33:19and if the cars stay equal,
33:20he has a hard time getting by.
33:22Christian Menzel with Laurent Aiello ahead of him,
33:25and the Audi driver goes off.
33:30When you consider that Laurent Aiello
33:32dominated the Super Touring cars
33:35and then was a champion in England,
33:38and then comes back and tries to run these cars,
33:39and they just don't want to run yet.
33:41And so he's gone from being the contender,
33:43the man everybody wanted to beat,
33:45to a man that's trying to catch up
33:46and at least get up into the top 10.
33:49Racing fortunes can be tough.
33:51Marcel Thiemann
33:54in the Mercedes with the red mirrors,
33:57followed by Marcel Fesler,
33:59and ahead of them,
34:00Thiemann decides to find a different line
34:03through that corner.
34:05The young driver has done extremely well,
34:06but in the last few races,
34:10Scheider has fallen back.
34:13He was surprised everybody at Hockenheim
34:15with two fourth place finishes,
34:16a fifth and seventh at Ostersleben,
34:17but then 12th and 11th and a seventh here.
34:21So it's been up and down for him,
34:23but things have cooled off just a little bit.
34:26Marcel Thiemann
34:28working up on Bartels,
34:31and there you see Thiemann Scheider going off.
34:37Looks like simply a mistake on his part.
34:41No defect whatsoever.
34:42Meanwhile, look at this.
34:44Bernd Schneider now is pulling up
34:46and filling up the rear view mirror
34:48with the red mirrors.
34:49He's got a lot of room for improvement.
34:51He's got a lot of room for improvement.
34:53He's got a lot of room for improvement.
34:56Of Eric Ellery and Marcel Thiemann,
34:58well, he's trying to move up also.
35:00Thiemann has done extremely well this season.
35:03He's been relatively consistent, quite frankly.
35:06He's not been up there.
35:10Well, he did lead once.
35:11He led at the Norris Ring,
35:15but he has certainly been able to finish up
35:17in the top group,
35:18is more than most people would have expected him to.
35:26There's the pack that is back,
35:28motoring it out in front,
35:30and all the chargers who had to start
35:32at the back of the pack today
35:33are now having to work their way through
35:36as Jaeger is in that group.
35:39He had problems,
35:42and this is the whole group working its way
35:44back through the field.
35:49This is the front straight into the right-hander
35:52that takes you downhill
35:56through a left-hander,
36:00and then they make a sweeping right
36:01at the bottom of the hill.
36:05There's a short chute here,
36:07and then they're sailing back uphill again.
36:14Modena, Jaeger,
36:16Rinkelhoff,
36:18Reuter.
36:21Normally that powerhouse group,
36:24they're just fighting for existence here
36:26after having a difficult time in the first race
36:29because of tires.
36:33Timon continues to roll.
36:46The end of the fastest part of the course.
36:54These are the turns that have hurt people.
36:55This is the left-hander that takes them up
36:57to the start-finish line.
37:04Fessler out in front of Timon.
37:08Stefano Modena ahead of him.
37:18The field has certainly sprung big differences
37:20here in pack.
37:21You see this backpack,
37:22the group that had the problems in the first race,
37:25had to start way back,
37:27and are simply trying to get up into the points.
37:29And certainly Manuel Rauda would like to get up
37:31into some sort of points.
37:33Bernd Schneider is running up,
37:35and there goes Modena.
37:37Stefano Modena has gone off the course.
37:41More problems for the Opel driver.
37:46Let's hope that it's not something that's,
37:48again, with the Opels.
37:52The Opel fans had a hard race the first time.
37:54Here in this second one,
37:55well, he goes through.
37:58Looks like it may have been a driver error on this one.
38:01He gets sideways.
38:02Who knows?
38:06And he loses four positions very, very quickly.
38:12There you see it.
38:13He was on his own.
38:14He didn't get any help.
38:22Of all the drivers in the field,
38:23come to think about it,
38:24well, Fessler has done extremely well.
38:29But Schneider, of course,
38:30your points leader,
38:31has been the man that's been in charge of
38:34quality finishes.
38:34Here's the group in the back again.
38:37Bartles.
38:38And Fessler gets around Bartles,
38:40ducks inside.
38:41So does Thiemann.
38:43And Michel Bartles.
38:44Let's see if it was a problem.
38:45If they pull away,
38:46then Bartles has a problem,
38:48and everybody else is going to be able to get by him.
38:50And the Opels again.
38:52Cross their fingers if they can come across the finish line
38:54as you're riding with Marcel Thiemann.
39:01This race,
39:02we mentioned earlier,
39:03shortened from 30 to 24
39:04because of the unusual problems with tires
39:07that occurred in the first race.
39:10It was scheduled for 30,
39:11and they put it back to 24
39:13for safety reasons.
39:18Bernd Schneider
39:20continues to roll.
39:21There's what's happened.
39:21You can see they bumped just a little bit.
39:23Fessler and Bartles bumped.
39:24Fessler had gotten inside.
39:26Thiemann took advantage of it
39:27and swung by.
39:30Meanwhile,
39:32Bernd Schneider continues to be
39:33one of the most successful
39:36drivers this season so far.
39:38No driver has finished in the top five
39:39in all seven races so far.
39:43But Schneider has only fallen out of one of them.
39:45So he's six of seven in the top five.
39:47That's why he's out in front.
39:50Reuter had been up there with him,
39:51but in the first race,
39:52Reuter went off on the very last lap
39:54and certainly dropped way back.
39:57Oddly enough,
39:58up until today,
39:59only one driver had finished
40:00in the top ten in all the races.
40:01That was Joachim Winkelhock,
40:02but he went off in the first race,
40:04so that one's gone.
40:07Sachsenring is taking his toll
40:08on just about everybody
40:09except that man,
40:10Peter Dombre.
40:11The Scotsman.
40:14Having one heck of a race day.
40:17Sitting up in second place,
40:18you just don't get to see him
40:19because he and Klaus Ludwig
40:21are simply running away from everybody.
40:26And once again,
40:29Bernd Schneider starts to apply pressure,
40:30this time on Eric Allerade.
40:34This is the battle for third place.
40:38Let's face it,
40:39Schneider knows the Opels had problems
40:41in the first race.
40:42The track was very difficult
40:44on the right front tires of the Opels.
40:48Schneider can keep the pressure on Allerade.
40:52He can hope that something goes wrong
40:54with the car because otherwise
40:55he won't get by him.
40:58Allerade had problems in the first race
41:00and then through sportsmanship
41:02let him by,
41:02but right now sportsmanship is out.
41:06Bernd's gonna have to get by him somehow
41:08on his own.
41:12They stayed up with the leaders pretty well.
41:14There's your second place car,
41:15Peter Dombre.
41:18But Schneider continues to pull up here.
41:22He'll go through the chicane.
41:28Down the straight in front of the pit area,
41:30there goes Dombrek
41:31and here comes that battle for third.
41:34Just a few laps to go.
41:39As these two are battling for the
41:42third position,
41:42Klaus Ludwig is looking at a double victory.
41:46And Ludwig certainly will be back
41:48in the points race.
41:51And Peter Dombrek will certainly have gained
41:53a lot of respect.
41:56But they're out of the picture right now
41:57because the battle's right here.
42:00Bernd Schneider pressuring the Frenchman
42:03Eric Allerade
42:04in the waning moments of the second race of the day
42:06in the German Touring Car Masters
42:08here at the 2.19 mile Sachsenring
42:13near the city of Chemnitz, Germany.
42:18It's a demanding track.
42:20One of the few in Germany that have
42:22up and downhill segments of this type.
42:25They like to claim this to be the little Nürburgring.
42:28Of course, the Nürburgring, the famous long course,
42:3014 miles with up in the mountains.
42:34No other course in the world like it.
42:38But this is one of the few courses in Germany,
42:39among the new ones particularly,
42:41that has some hill sections in it
42:43of any real quality.
42:45The Grand Prix course of Nürburgring has a hill,
42:47but nothing like what they have here.
42:50Uh-oh, Ellery's got a problem.
42:52Ellery's going off.
42:53There was that right front tire.
42:55You saw it lock up.
42:57Bernd Schneider had luck.
43:01And Norbert Haug can't believe his luck
43:04or the misfortune, shall we say, for Opel.
43:07Now the question is,
43:08can Bernd Schneider pull up from third
43:11to second or first even?
43:13Oh, look at that.
43:14The tire locked up and Ellery goes off.
43:18What a dark day for the Opel crew
43:21here at the Sachsenring.
43:25There's going to be a lot of talk about this one
43:27tomorrow morning
43:28when they sit down and go back over this one.
43:35Back in the pack,
43:36we have Timo Scheider still trying to move up.
43:43The young 21-year-old certainly
43:45continues to make a name for himself.
43:47He has had his problems here
43:51over the past few races.
43:57Right now, he's out there to push
43:59and push as hard as he can.
44:08The course is taking its toll
44:10on all types of drivers.
44:12This is one of those
44:13that you just kind of have to wonder
44:15how everybody got through it,
44:16especially when it's all over with
44:18because no one's exactly sure
44:20why things have happened the way they are.
44:23The battle you're watching right now
44:26is back in the sixth, seventh, and eighth slots
44:30with Michel Bartels, Timo Scheider,
44:35and Darren Turner.
44:37Darren Turner, another of the young drivers
44:39that we haven't heard too much of this season,
44:41but there he is in that trio.
44:44There goes Marcel Thiemann.
44:46Here they come.
44:47This is the battle for sixth, seventh, and eighth.
44:51Michel Bartels, Timo Scheider,
44:54and Darren Turner.
44:58Two Opels and a Mercedes.
45:00Actually, the Opels are holding up
45:05the Opel flag here,
45:07and they're about the only ones
45:08that have been able to do it.
45:09With Alarie gone,
45:12right now it seems to be a Mercedes parade.
45:17There's Eric Alarie.
45:18Not a very happy man.
45:26It's more a case here
45:27as if Bartels and Scheider
45:29can hold off Darren Turner
45:31to hold up the honor of Opel
45:34because it's been a long afternoon
45:36for Volker Strzick and the Opel crew.
45:40After doing so well
45:44the past couple of race weekends
45:45and then to have something like this?
45:46Wow.
45:49Bernd Scheider has recorded the fastest lap.
45:54In the first race,
45:55it was Faisler who had the fastest lap.
45:59Scheider comes up with his fourth
46:01fastest lap of the season.
46:06Bernd certainly having quite a year,
46:08even though he's had to fight back
46:09after a bad qualifying year.
46:12He's worked his way back up
46:13to a third place finish
46:14in the first race.
46:15He's running third now.
46:18And certainly will expand his points lead.
46:24With Manuel Reuter struggling
46:26at the back of the pack.
46:36We're in the waning moments
46:37of the fourth race weekend of the year
46:39in the German Touring Car Masters.
46:42A series that started this year
46:44to great success with the fans.
46:46They have come out in large numbers.
46:48Mercedes, Opel and Audi.
46:49The teams involved next year.
46:51They're hoping that even more teams
46:53will be joining them.
46:54Of course, the big question is,
46:56will the other German big racing firm
46:58BMW come back in?
46:59But right now there's the man of the day.
47:01Klaus Ludwig, 50 years old.
47:06A touring car legend in Germany.
47:10Bernd Scheider.
47:12The man right now,
47:13chasing a rookie and the legend.
47:16Running third.
47:18He'll settle for third.
47:19He gets a little squirrely
47:20as they're heading into
47:20the uphill part of the course.
47:23They make the left-hander
47:24and swing all the way back down the hill.
47:30Unless something happens,
47:31Scheider will finish third.
47:33Dumbrek will have by far
47:34his best season event ever.
47:37Two second place finishes.
47:40He's certainly proven himself today
47:41and of course Klaus Ludwig will become,
47:43if he keeps going,
47:44will become the third double winner
47:47this season.
47:50At the Norris Ring,
47:51Winkelhock and Scheider
47:52split the two races.
47:54Other than that,
47:55the pole sitter has taken the victory
47:57and tapping to Ludwig here.
48:01Scheider certainly putting on
48:02a tremendous performance,
48:03but it's not going to be quite enough.
48:05Once again, Norbert Haug.
48:08There's Fensler
48:10in that black Mercedes
48:12and here comes Klaus Ludwig
48:15to pick up the victory
48:15and he has a problem with his tires.
48:17Can you believe that?
48:18Right as he goes across the finish line,
48:19he has tire problems.
48:21Klaus Ludwig has won
48:23the second race of the day
48:26here at the Saxon Ring.
48:29Klaus Ludwig definitely is back.
48:34Norbert Haug, a very happy man.
48:36Norbert Haug, a very happy man for Mercedes.
48:41They did their work
48:42and they were able to come home
48:45with the victory.
48:46And Mercedes finishes one through five.
48:49Michel Bartels and Timo Scheider,
48:51sixth and seventh,
48:52were the top Opels.
48:54Way back in the pack,
48:57Manuel Reuter.
48:58He will finish 11th.
49:01So he is out of the points,
49:04which means Bernd Schneider
49:05has picked up a tremendous
49:06number of points here
49:07after the races here
49:09at the Saxon Ring.
49:10Klaus Ludwig
49:12will move probably into third.
49:14There are your finishing top eight.
49:16You can see the top five,
49:18all Mercedes.
49:19Eighth place, also Mercedes.
49:23Difficult time for the Opel crew.
49:26And there's Klaus Ludwig.
49:28Has to be a very happy man.
49:30Dombrik on the left.
49:33Bernd Schneider on the right.
49:36And there are your points.
49:52Schneider way out in front,
49:53106 points.
49:54Manuel Reuter, 79.
49:56The next stop on the tour,
49:58it'll be at the Nürburgring,
49:59the Grand Prix course
50:01in the fifth race weekend
50:02of the German Touring Car Masters.
50:04We leave you now
50:05with the shots of the day
50:06here at the Saxon Ring.
50:07Hope you enjoyed the races
50:08from the Saxon Ring.
50:09This is Milt Fitzwater reporting.
50:11Join us from the Nürburgring.