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00:00This is the German Touring Car Masters, today coming to you from Ostersleden, Germany.
00:24This is Ostersleden, near the city of Magdeburg, it's the home of the Motorpark Ostersleden.
00:39At one time it was open field, now it's a tribute to motorsports, and touring cars
00:45are a big part of what keep this hotel busy.
00:49Today it will be hosting the third event in the German Touring Car Masters.
00:59Once again the paddock area full of touring cars, ready to hit this exciting circuit.
01:052.28 miles long, get a good look at the pit area here at Ostersleden.
01:14Back open in 1997, today it's ready to go.
01:19It's one of the fastest tracks on the circuit, it's also one of the most difficult to pass.
01:24But there's more than just racing here, would you like to try to drive some of these yourself?
01:29These aren't quite the same type of cars that will run in the German Touring Car Masters,
01:33but then again you never know what kind of excitement you might find.
01:39These versions will go just a little bit quicker.
01:46And if you go to the academy, well then you get a chance to learn to drive these, but
01:50today it's these drivers who have the spotlight.
01:54The drivers from the German Touring Car Masters, and their fans.
02:00Over 58,000 fans approached the track this weekend, there's a look at it, you see the
02:04start and finish line, that's the fastest segment of the course right there, down that
02:08front straightaway.
02:10Look at the back section though, and that chicane back there, it's unbelievably fast.
02:15On the pole, a surprise, Marcel Fessler from Switzerland, next to him, Laurent Aiello.
02:21Then comes Bernd Schneider and Uwe Ahlsen in Mercedes.
02:26In the next row, more Mercedes with Dumbrec and next to him, another Audi with Ekström.
02:33And the cars continue, as you can see we have Mercedes and Audis, the real problem is, what
02:37happened to the Opels?
02:40Here's Albers, and it's a case now, there is your first Opel, Manuel Reuters, starting
02:46well back in the pack, they've had their problems, they can't get them sorted out.
02:50We're into the qualification race, nine laps, this sets the field for the big race later
02:57in the day.
02:58And Fessler gets a great jump in his Mercedes, Laurent Aiello is running second, it looks
03:03like Bernd Schneider tucked into third place, not quite, Uwe Ahlsen is still inside, they're
03:08running side by side for third place, everybody else seems to be going well.
03:13Nobody's giving an inch back there in third, that's Schneider on the right, Ahlsen on the
03:18left, the silver against the black Mercedes.
03:20And way back in the pack, the Opels.
03:24Best qualifier, twelfth position, Fessler out in front, then comes Aiello, this should
03:28sort it out, and there it is.
03:30The key point on this racetrack, three left hand turns, you get through these fast, you've
03:36got a good chance to be out in front.
03:39Schneider took advantage of being inside, going into those left handers, and has taken
03:43over third place.
03:45So Marcel Fessler takes the lead, Laurent Aiello is second, Bernd Schneider is third.
03:50Your second and third place cars are the ones that have won races so far this season.
03:57Fessler is the surprise.
03:59He qualified in the very last minute for the pole position.
04:05Schneider was on the course, made a small mistake, and couldn't beat him.
04:11So one of the young drivers on the series, Marcel Fessler, 25 years old from Switzerland,
04:18took the pole, and he has the lead here in Oschersleben in the qualifying race.
04:24The field, sorting itself out.
04:27Things not quite as aggressive as they were at the Nürburgring, the metal was flying
04:31all over the place at the Nürburgring.
04:33Here everybody seems to be a little bit better under control.
04:36Twenty-two cars start the qualifying race, we have two new drivers in the field.
04:42David Salins is in for Pedro Lamy, there is the Mamoru car, the one independent, he kinda
04:48got bumped there, and off he went.
04:52He's the independent driver, the lone non-factory driver in the field.
04:57And Manfred Winkelhock in that orange Opel is spun by Marcel Thiemann, now Thiemann is
05:01another of the new drivers, he's replacing Bert Meinlander, we'll talk about him in a
05:04moment, but look at this, another tough day for the man they call Smokin' Joe.
05:11We're riding now with Martin Tomczyk, the young driver that did so well at Nürburgring,
05:17and you get a good launch of that very tight chicane as we head out into the back section
05:21of the course here in Ostersleben, this is a long straightaway, and it goes into a very
05:27tight and yet very fast chicane.
05:32This is one of the fastest parts of the course as they set up for the start-finish line stretch
05:37and here they come, down the long straightaway, they'll get up to around a hundred and forty
05:44miles an hour, a little over that probably, then they have to go into the left-hander
05:51which swings them into a right-hand 180 and they're back out into the circuit again.
05:56This is a very friendly course for the fans, they can see everything, if you're sitting
06:01on this end of the field, you can see almost everything except the back two corners.
06:06Tremendous angles here for the fans.
06:11The rest of the field, working its way around, there goes Tomczyk, not anywhere near up front
06:16like he was at Nürburgring, and here comes Winkelhock after his excursion off the course
06:20from the help of Thiemann, he's not a happy driver, he has had a tough time this season,
06:25things have not gone well for him.
06:28He didn't finish at Hockenheim, didn't finish at Nürburgring in the first qualifying race,
06:34didn't start the second race, the feature race at Hockenheim, and finished 13th finally
06:38in the race at Nürburgring, so he's had a tough time.
06:42Fesler, Laurent Aiello, and look at this, Bernd Schneider is closing in.
06:49Everyone uses the curbs, it's amazing how these curbs will get used, this is a very
06:53fast right-hander here.
06:58And then they're on to the front straight again.
07:04The cars are running very, very quickly here, it's not a very slow course, the temperature
07:09is up a little bit today, and because the temperature is up, it slows things down just
07:13a little bit, they'll be up around an average of 95, 96 miles an hour.
07:21Uwe Ahlson has now recorded the fastest lap here in the qualifying race.
07:28Ahlson, another driver who is looking to make a name for himself, he left the Opel team
07:34last year, actually he was fired after a small on-track altercation with Manuel Reuter.
07:40He joined the Mercedes team, the Barsteiner Mercedes AMG squad.
07:46His teammate is Marcel Fesler, who is up in front, so the pressure is on Ahlson, one of
07:51the veteran touring car drivers, to come up with a good performance here.
07:57He's riding once again back in the pack with Tomczyk, he's running back in 10th position.
08:06Ahead of him is Jaeger, another of the young drivers in the Mercedes.
08:13Tomczyk did very well at the Nürburgring, actually led the race at one point, things
08:18haven't gone quite the same for him here in Ostersleben.
08:22Fesler's crew, letting him know where he is, who's where.
08:28As Fesler continues to lead, no one is really putting pressure on him, it doesn't look like
08:33Schneider's putting heavy pressure on the Audi of Laurent Aiello.
08:37You have to understand that there's only three points to win, two points for second and one
08:41point for third in these qualifying races.
08:45So you push enough to keep your position, but not hard enough to do damage to the car
08:49or anybody else, although after the race at the Nürburgring a couple weeks ago, that's
08:55hard to say, I guess.
08:58But there's plenty of breathing room here between first and second, and some breathing
09:01room between second and third.
09:03You can expect that if things continue the way they're going here right now, that this
09:09will most likely be the finish, you get a good look at that very tight chicane, everybody
09:13just uses the kerbs, see how they straighten that out by just running straight over the
09:16kerbs.
09:21Down the backstretch, into a longer chicane, a right-left combination here.
09:27Schneider's very quick through here, and he uses a very narrow line going through, and
09:32you can see that everybody uses the entire track, kerbs, they come out wide, they use
09:36every little bit of track they can to gain speed here, and it's a very difficult track
09:41to pass on because of that.
09:45And Marcel Fesler picks up the victory in the qualifying race here at Ossersleben, and
09:50will be starting on the pole position in the main race coming up shortly.
09:56Laurent Aiello is finishing second, followed by Bernd Schneider.
10:04Then comes Uwe Ahlsen, Peter Dombrak, Matthias Ekström in the Audi, another of the young
10:11drivers finishes sixth, Guzman seventh, Abt is eighth, Jaeger ninth, and Tomczyk is tenth.
10:17There you have it.
10:18The real problem is, though, you don't see the Opels until you get all the way down to
10:23thirteenth position, and there is Manuel Reuter.
10:26The Opels are just fighting and fighting to stay in the lead.
12:41So much for the fun and games, let's get back to racing here in Ossersleben time for the
13:05main race of the day.
13:08They're going to be running 28 laps around this 2.28 mile circuit.
13:13Mechanics have had a short time to get the car ready.
13:17Now it's a matter of the fans waiting to see what happens here at Ossersleben.
13:23Third race of the season, Fesler on the pole, then comes Aiello.
13:28So we have the two cars that were up front, back up front again.
13:32Next to them, Uwe Ahlsen and Schneider.
13:36Mercedes still demanding attention.
13:38Dumbreck and then Ekström.
13:42Husemann is then next to Abt, so we have Mercedes and Audi.
13:48Then we have Jaeger and another Audi of Tomczyk.
13:52All attention is on the leaders.
13:54That's Fesler on the right in the black Mercedes, Aiello on the left in the yellow Audi.
14:00Way back in the pack, Winkelhock after his disappointing first race.
14:04Waiting for the green.
14:05Let's see if Fesler gets another great jump.
14:07It looks like he has.
14:08We're underway down the long straightaway.
14:11Look at this.
14:12Marcel Fesler with a great start.
14:14On the right there is Bernd Schneider moving inside of Aiello.
14:17Is he going to get by?
14:18Yes, he is.
14:20So Aiello is quickly back into third place.
14:23Ahlsen is right behind him.
14:29So you have the leader, Fesler, Schneider.
14:36Then comes Aiello.
14:37Then comes Ahlsen.
14:38And Ahlsen gets inside and gets by him.
14:42And Aiello seems to be falling back just a little bit.
14:46Ekström gets by him.
14:48The young driver from Sweden in the Audi gets by him.
14:53Something may be wrong with his car.
14:57It's kind of a surprise.
15:03Marcel Thiemann also has moved up there it looks like.
15:07Or is that Husman?
15:08That's Husman.
15:10He has moved up into the top group.
15:11So it's Fesler.
15:13Then comes Schneider.
15:14Then comes Ahlsen.
15:15Aiello is back into fourth position.
15:18Then comes Ekström.
15:24Then it is Husman and Dumbrek.
15:28Dumbrek the teammate from Bernd Schneider.
15:33Abt and Tomczak round that group out.
15:37So the Opels still way back in the pack.
15:41Difficult time for them.
15:45Menuh at 14th is the best of the Opels in the field so far here in the main race.
15:54Another look going into the first left right hand combination after the start.
15:59Schneider has already gotten by.
16:02Not too much bumping going on.
16:05Last year in this same corner it was Winkelhofer when sailing off into the grass came across
16:09the field and we had cars all over the place.
16:12Very clean very disciplined start here in Ostersleben.
16:16And the third race weekend of the season in the German touring car masters.
16:24Take a look at the back of the pack.
16:26Winkelhofer way behind.
16:27A very unusual position for him.
16:30The cars have already started to sort themselves out.
16:33Now they have to keep in mind for those who are watching these races for the first time
16:36these cars have to make a pit stop somewhere in the first 75% of the race.
16:40They have to make a four tire change.
16:45So everyone is going to try to get first of all some breathing room and as much space
16:48as they can ahead of the competition.
16:51The pit stops are taking anywhere from 6.9 to 8.9 seconds.
16:58And they can decide the race.
17:01It will be interesting to see if people try different pit strategies.
17:07Some drivers have come in way early hoping that when the others go in they can pull around
17:10and get up ahead.
17:12It's all a matter of strategy.
17:13It's all a matter of the crews deciding who's going to do what here.
17:18And Fessler gets a good jump now.
17:19He's got a good lead on Bernd Schneider.
17:23Something a little bit unusual.
17:24Ahlsen behind him.
17:25Then Laurent Aiello.
17:26Then comes Matthias Ekström.
17:32Those are your top five.
17:36Behind them.
17:37Husman.
17:38Dumbrek.
17:39Abt.
17:41And you're riding with him right now.
17:48He's behind the boss, Christian Abt, who runs the Abt Sports Line Racing Team.
17:55He and his brother actually run it.
17:57His brother takes care of the crew and the pit work and he takes care of the racing on
18:01the track.
18:02He has to be very happy after last year when they had a miserable year.
18:07Now all of a sudden they're more than competitive.
18:11They've won a race in fact.
18:12They've won at the Nürburgring and they're competitive here.
18:17All four cars in the top ten.
18:21With the Mercedes.
18:22And the Opels, well, they're back just a little bit.
18:26In fact, they're more than just a little bit back.
18:29They're a long way back.
18:31First Opel is around 15th right now.
18:33They've got a long way to go.
18:35That's the Opel right there.
18:38That is out in front there is Bartels and his Opel.
18:41Olivier.
18:42Then Timo Scheider.
18:46He is in that black with the red hood.
18:48Scheider is the only Opel driver to come up with a point so far this season.
18:53The Opel driver is only with one point and it's Scheider, young Timo Scheider, who has
18:57done it.
18:58And it's his consistency that has done it.
19:01Tomczyk.
19:03Coming in.
19:04This could be a strategic stop.
19:05All four are being changed.
19:08He comes out.
19:09And the idea being, of course, 7.6.
19:11Not bad.
19:12The idea being, he gets out on the track and when everybody else comes back in, he will
19:16have made up the time if he can put in some good laps and take the lead.
19:20He'll come in, we'll get an idea of where he is with the rest of the pack as he joins
19:26the circuit.
19:27Oh, and he made a mistake.
19:31The tires had not gotten warm.
19:33He went off the course into the grass.
19:35Well, that's the mistake of a newcomer.
19:37Back on the circuit again.
19:39Nobody got by him, but what he wanted to gain in the pits, he's lost by leaving the pits.
19:45Tough break for Martin Tomczyk in the Audi.
19:50Now he's just going to have to see what he can do to make up some time here.
19:54Aiello dropping back into fourth.
19:56Although he is in a very strong fourth position, somewhere in the beginning there was a problem
20:01and he may have made a mistake with shifting or something, but he lost his second position
20:06after running very strong in the qualifying race.
20:09The slow car on the right there is Malmirao, the independent.
20:12He had problems in the first race, had a DNF, didn't finish.
20:16Looks like he's got problems here in the main event.
20:26Here comes Dumbrek into the pits.
20:28So the second of the pits being made, Peter Dumbrek, the teammate of Baron Schneider.
20:37He's out in 7.8.
20:39He's kind of hoping, I'm sure, that he's going to be able to make up some ground when everybody
20:45else pits.
20:47He's having his share of problems here.
20:48He's not running as strong as he has in the previous races.
20:52He's been a factor most of the time.
20:53He drops all the way back to, well, he's going to go all the way back to probably around
20:5820th position after all is said and done here.
21:04There's another look at Tomczyk's mistake coming out of the pit road.
21:08You get a chance to ride with him as he does it.
21:15So another lesson learned from Martin Tomczyk as he joins the world of German touring cars.
21:22The two teammates are now running second and third.
21:30Something has happened here.
21:31Schneider has taken the lead.
21:32What happened?
21:35Looks like Fesler may have made a mistake there.
21:37And Baron Schneider got by him, and now Uwe Ahlson drops in behind him.
21:42So Baron Schneider has suddenly taken the lead here.
21:46Fesler is running second.
21:48Uwe Ahlson is running third.
21:51It's a Mercedes trio.
21:54Another of the Audis comes into pit.
21:57Christian Abt will change four and then get out.
22:02So drivers now are taking the change a little early.
22:05It's 28 laps, so you'd figure around 13, 14, or 15, they'd make the change, but some drivers
22:12are coming in much earlier.
22:15Ah, that's what happened.
22:19Marcel Fesler lost it in that very fast chicane, went off the course, picked up a lot of grass,
22:24and at the same time, Baron Schneider picked him up and passed him.
22:28So Baron Schneider, the defending German touring car masters driving champion, is once again
22:34out in front.
22:36Schneider won the races in Hockenheim, finished extremely well at the Nürburgring, qualified
22:42third, finished sixth in the qualifying race, and then second in the race.
22:47He has the points lead coming into the weekend.
22:52Aiello, who had been challenging him, is back now in fourth position.
22:57So as long as Schneider can keep Aiello behind him, Schneider picks up points all over the place.
23:04Marcel Fesler has to be kicking himself a little bit for the mistake he made.
23:10Now it's going to be a question of who's going to be able to beat the other one in the pits.
23:14That's the question.
23:17That is the point of these pit stops, is to see if they can make it a teamwork situation
23:21for the crews to have their effect on the race.
23:24Here comes that important left-hander.
23:25There's the first, then the second, and then a short left-hander that takes him into the
23:30180 that brings him back around again.
23:33It has to be taken wide open.
23:34You make up time or lose time in a big way there.
23:38Come out of the corner, head into the very tight chicane, over the curbs.
23:41You see how they jump the curbs?
23:44And these are high curbs.
23:45These are not low curbs.
23:47It's really a jolt on the car.
23:55Schneider goes into the longer curb now, using every bit of the track that there is.
24:04And Fesler has not been able to make up any ground, but Schneider goes off the course.
24:09Berndt, who is affectionately known as the Dominator because of his success in touring
24:16cars, is pushing his Mercedes to the limit, but the young Marcel Fesler is staying right
24:24with him.
24:25Uwe Ahlsund is running third.
24:30And now you get a better look at the distance between the cars.
24:34The question now will be the pit stop.
24:36Schneider wants to show Fesler that he can pull away from him.
24:39A little head game here.
24:41And Fesler wants to stay as close as he can and then make the pit stop that might or might
24:47not decide the race here.
24:54Now is the time that the leaders will start thinking about the pit stop.
25:00More cars continue to come into the pits.
25:04This is Salins, the new driver, replacing Pedro Lamy.
25:10Lamy decided he didn't want to race in the series anymore, didn't feel the car was competitive,
25:15and David Salins, who also drives in Formula 3, has taken over that ride.
25:25Look at the distance now, how far back Laurent Aiello has fallen.
25:29That's somewhat surprising.
25:34And here comes Aiello into the pits.
25:39Let's see how quickly he can get out.
25:45Not too good.
25:47Awfully long.
25:48That hurts.
25:50That hurts.
25:51The time should be around seven seconds or a little over.
25:56That was too long.
25:58He will not be able to make up much ground there.
26:01He will not be able to make up much ground there.
26:03You can see as he comes out, everyone else has pretty much gone by him that was there,
26:07and he's going to have to play catch-up now.
26:09He falls in behind Dumbrek, and Dumbrek had already pitted.
26:15There's Dumbrek going on Hubert Haupt, about to lap him.
26:20Laurent Aiello will tuck in behind Dumbrek as they have to work their way back up into the pack.
26:27It's not going to be easy.
26:29It's going to be a very difficult haul for them.
26:33Aiello has dropped all the way back to 17th position in the field,
26:37but you have to remember everybody else has got a pit yet.
26:40And there's your leader.
26:41Where's Fessler?
26:45Olsen is running second.
26:48Ah, there's Fessler.
26:49He's coming into the pits.
26:52Marcel Fessler is making his pit stop.
26:56Now it's going to be critical for Schneider and Olsen.
26:58Are they going to be able to make theirs and hold their positions?
27:02Mercedes chief Norbert Haupt talked about the pit stops.
27:06I think it's a very important part of the whole race, the strategy, the pit stop.
27:12I think if you lose only one second in the pits, you just cannot win the race.
27:17So that's the question here.
27:18Can Marcel Fessler get out in time?
27:20He's going to be out in 7.9.
27:22Good time.
27:24Now the question is going to be, where does he come into the field?
27:27How does he work his way back in?
27:29Is he going to beat the rest of the pack out?
27:32He's out very, very quickly.
27:37He's out in 11th position.
27:40So he is ahead of Dumbrek.
27:43He is now ahead of the crew that has already pitted.
27:48But he's way back in 11th, waiting to see how everybody else does when they pit.
27:53Jochen Winkelhock.
27:56The man looking to get off a bad luck streak.
28:03One of the hardest competitors you're going to find in Germany as far as touring cars are concerned.
28:07He won the English championship.
28:09He's been tough in super touring cars.
28:12Went from BMW to Opel.
28:14Boy, he sure had his tough time this year.
28:17And coming up right behind him is Marcel Fessler.
28:23So Fessler continues to battle his way forward.
28:30And one of those who may or may not be victim real quick here is Winkelhock.
28:38Ekstrom comes into the pits.
28:40Winkelhock.
28:43Ekstrom comes into the pits.
28:47Another of the Audis.
28:50Trying to repeat their fine performance at the Nürburgring.
28:56And right behind them sailing into the pits is Christian Albers in a Mercedes.
29:03Bernd Schneider has not pitted as yet.
29:06Nor has Uwe Ahlson.
29:11And Uwe took a little bit of a different line through the chicane.
29:17He's known as an aggressive driver.
29:19That was just a little bit too much.
29:27Now let's see who's going to pit if anybody is.
29:34It's Ahlson. Ahlson dives into the pits.
29:37Uwe Ahlson brings his Mercedes in.
29:41He's going to have to get it down to 35 miles an hour real quick.
29:44Right about here.
29:50So Ahlson has pitted. Your leader is still Bernd Schneider.
29:58Ahlson, of course, hoping to hold his position.
30:02But it will sort itself out very quickly.
30:04But it will sort itself out very quickly.
30:06As we have seen in the first two races.
30:11Once again, you can see the teamwork.
30:14As the teams have really worked on getting these cars in and out.
30:17Although that was very long. 8.4.
30:21Ahlson comes out and has to duck in.
30:29Ducked right in behind Dumbrek.
30:31So Dumbrek's early pit stop was quicker than Ahlson's and kept him out there.
30:35There is Laurent Aiello. He had a very long pit stop.
30:38Didn't do himself any good.
30:42And here comes Bernd Schneider, your leader.
30:45Bernd Schneider comes into the pits.
30:49And at this moment, if the score chart is right,
30:52then Marcel Thiemann, the driver substituting for Bernd Meilander,
30:57is taking the lead.
30:59Schneider is out in 8.7. That was long.
31:02Let's see where he comes out.
31:04Watch carefully. On the left is the main course.
31:06There is Fessler. Fessler beats him out.
31:10Marcel Fessler beats Schneider out.
31:15And as soon as Thiemann heads to the pits,
31:19Fessler will be your official leader again.
31:23It's amazing what these pit stops will do.
31:26The field now has just about sorted itself out.
31:30Manuel Reuter is sandwiched in between the two drivers here, and he's open.
31:35He is out of contention, basically.
31:39He is way back in the pack. In fact, he's around,
31:44well, at least 10th position.
31:49And he has to go in yet.
31:51He's had his share of problems.
31:53Laurent Aiello, behind Dombrek.
31:59So if the chart does come up right,
32:01it looks like Aiello is running around 5th position.
32:06There comes Marcel Thiemann.
32:12Thiemann replaced Meilander.
32:14Meilander broke his heel bone while he was jogging on Friday.
32:18He quickly got Marcel Thiemann in.
32:21Thiemann is sitting in the car, doing extremely well for him.
32:27There is Dombrek.
32:31Who is now running in 4th position.
32:34Laurent Aiello is running in 5th.
32:40The leader once again
32:43is Marcel Fessler. What a great
32:47time for this young driver.
32:49He has put on a tremendous show here in Ostersleben.
32:54In the newspaper reports, after the first two race weekends,
32:57Fessler did very well down in Hockenheim.
33:00In fact, he qualified 13th, and then he had one of the great
33:03weekends of recovery. He finished 7th in the qualifying race,
33:06and finished 2nd in the race. And after that one,
33:09the Swiss press started building up Marcel Fessler.
33:13And in that race, he had to finish behind Bernd Schneider,
33:16and the Swiss press was upset. They felt that Mercedes had already
33:19set up a team order, and that they had told Fessler not to try to get by
33:22Bernd Schneider. Well, now we're going to find out,
33:25because Bernd Schneider has pulled up right on the back bumper
33:28of Marcel Fessler. The situations are reversed.
33:34Mercedes says there is no team order.
33:37We'll find out, especially after all the
33:40talk about Formula One, and the team order that was displayed there
33:43in Ferrari.
33:48Fessler, one of the young drivers,
33:51is now going to see what it's like to have a veteran pro
33:54sit right on his back bumper, waiting for him to make a mistake.
33:58The two cars obviously are quite equal.
34:03And that was the purpose of the rules.
34:06Schneider seems to be able to
34:09pick up space in the curves, and Fessler makes it up
34:12on the straightaway.
34:19Both of them using up the entire circuit.
34:26It can't be any tighter than this.
34:31Two Mercedes,
34:34the youngster and the veteran, running one and two here in
34:37the first lap, and Norbert Haug, the team manager,
34:42paying attention very closely to what's going on here.
34:46He can't be too upset, actually.
34:49His Mercedes are all right up there in front.
34:52He has Alsen running back in third position,
34:55Dombrak is running in fourth,
34:58and then comes the Audi of Ayello.
35:07And when it comes to the Opels,
35:10well, they're back just a little bit, and once again,
35:13it looks like Timo Schneider is the best of the Opels.
35:17He is. He's running back in 12th position,
35:20so the young Timo Schneider
35:23continues to be very consistent here.
35:26He's the only driver to score a point for the Opels.
35:30He qualified 17th, finished 18th in the qualifying race,
35:33but now he's up near point territory,
35:36in 12th position.
35:39This is the battle for the lead that hasn't changed.
35:43Schneider has not found any way to get around
35:46Marcel Fesler.
35:50As we mentioned, Fesler's performance at Hockenheim
35:53qualified 13th, finished 7th and 2nd.
35:56And then at the Nürburgring, he qualified 4th and finished
35:598th and 5th. He qualified here in the pole.
36:02He took the qualifying race.
36:05He's leading the main race.
36:09A young Swiss driver, proving the Mercedes
36:12made a good choice here.
36:17Halsen, right there in the back, in the black Mercedes,
36:20you can see he's way back.
36:23Behind him is Peter Dumbrek.
36:26Dumbrek has also been very consistent, and sort of everybody's playing him down.
36:29He is the partner of Bernd Schneider, who is running
36:322nd here. Dumbrek qualified 2nd at Hockenheim.
36:35He finished 2nd and 3rd. He qualified 9th at the Nürburgring
36:38and finished 3rd and 8th.
36:41He qualified 5th here, finished the qualifying race in
36:445th position, and is currently running in 4th.
36:47So the young driver
36:50from England is doing extremely well.
36:53Oh, that gets a little bit tight.
36:58But everybody gets it straightened out.
37:02Peter Dumbrek has not done badly. He drove last year
37:05for the first time in the series.
37:08Coming into the weekend, he was 5th in the points.
37:11He's riding with Patrick Husman now,
37:14as he comes sailing in with his battle.
37:20And that was Thomas Jaeger that was sandwiched in that group.
37:23And...
37:26one of the Audis is going to be parked.
37:33So it isn't quite the weekend that Audi
37:36wanted to have, but it will have to do.
37:39It's not bad after all.
37:42Fessler's team letting him know where he is.
37:45And I'm sure that Fessler can tell that Schneider is 2nd right behind him.
37:48Mercedes running 1, 2,
37:513, and 4. Then the Audi of Aiello is running
37:54in 5th position.
37:57So the Audis continue to drive well.
38:01The car has improved immensely.
38:04It has proven it can win.
38:07Now it just needs a little luck. There was a difficult time
38:10at the start of this race.
38:13And from that point on, though,
38:16Laurent Aiello's been battling trying to get back into it.
38:19Hadn't quite been able to do it.
38:26Bernd Schneider continues to push.
38:29They're overly aggressive drivers. Very aggressive. Wants to win,
38:32but he's not going to come up and give you a bump to try to get by.
38:35Some other drivers might do that.
38:38But I don't think that
38:41in this case Bernd Schneider is going to do that.
38:44But he certainly is going to put the heat on.
38:52The Audi that went out, incidentally, was Martin Tomczyk.
38:55So the young driver who did so well at Nürburgring
38:58is out here in Oslo-Sleben.
39:01Fesler continues to hold on.
39:04He's driving very, very smoothly.
39:07Has not shown any weaknesses whatsoever.
39:10Schneider has not been able to pull out any kind of stop to be able to get by.
39:19Everyone is currently aware
39:22that Fesler made the mistake early
39:25that let Schneider get by him for a few laps.
39:28Then the pit stop
39:31put Fesler out in front of Schneider once again.
39:34Will Fesler make the same mistake again?
39:37Who knows? Here is that left-hander.
39:40A whole series of lefts that are keys
39:43to going into this corner and coming out of it toward the chicane.
39:46You get a great view of the track here.
39:50As they head into the chicane.
39:56Out into the back section
39:59and Schneider goes way off on the course.
40:02He's using every bit of the road
40:05and more trying to get by Marcel Fesler.
40:10And so far, the young Swiss driver
40:13is not giving an inch.
40:16It's great racing.
40:19Schneider, the defending champion
40:22won the races in Hockenheim.
40:25Took the pole, took the qualifying race, took the race.
40:28Nürburgring qualified third, finished sixth in the qualifying race.
40:31Second in the race. So he has plenty of points.
40:34Here he qualified third.
40:37Third in the qualifying race.
40:40Now challenging for the lead in second position.
40:43Olsen is running back in third.
40:46And Uwe just doesn't seem to be a part
40:49of this particular game that's being played up front.
40:52Olsen hasn't had too bad a season.
40:55He had a difficult time at the Nürburgring
40:58when the car broke on the last lap of the major race.
41:01He ended up 19th. He'd been running well up to that point.
41:04In Hockenheim, he finished fifth and fourth.
41:07He finished fourth here in the qualifying race.
41:10Olsen will stay up there in the points race.
41:13Mercedes couldn't be much happier as far as the points are going to be concerned
41:16because Aiello is further back and if the
41:19stays about as it is now
41:22that means that Fesler would move up into second place
41:25in the points.
41:28No matter what, Bernd Schneider is going to remain out in front.
41:31Now we've got the problem of a
41:34lapped car ahead of them.
41:37Martin Haupt, who had been racing in the United States,
41:40came back to Germany to run in the German Touring Car Masters.
41:43That's him going by right there.
41:50He does not really have a big
41:53role in this so he probably will give them plenty of room to get by.
41:56But it's going to be a little time yet before they get that far.
41:59Schneider, there he is in 12th place.
42:02The best of the
42:06Opels. Olivier, 13th in an Opel.
42:09Bartels in an Opel, 15th.
42:12Menue, 17th in an Opel. And Reuter, 18th
42:15in an Opel.
42:20There's going to be a long break between this race and the next one
42:23which will be at the Sachsenring. About four weeks there.
42:26And Volker Stricsic from Opel simply
42:29says we've got a lot of work to do and we've got time to do it this one.
42:32Then there's another short break there before they get to the
42:35Norrisring. So Opel, if they're going to do anything
42:38to try to get back into the swing of things here,
42:41they've got some time. Are they going to be able to do it?
42:44That's the question.
42:49The battle remains up front. Hubert Haupt is your lapped car here.
42:52The orange and white Opel.
42:55The Euro team is about
42:58to be lapped. There comes Uwe Ahlson. Then comes
43:01Peter Dumbrek. And there is the first Audi
43:04of Laurent Aiello. He's followed
43:07by Christian Abt. And then comes
43:10Matthias Ekström. So the Audis are doing quite well
43:13for themselves. Fifth, sixth and seventh position.
43:20When you think about last year, and they were lucky to finish in
43:23the top 15 or 20.
43:26This year they're up in the top 10, top 5.
43:29It's a great turnaround.
43:32There were some rules changes over the winter to help these cars
43:35which are just a little bit shorter than the
43:38other cars. And the aerodynamic change
43:41alone seems to have made the difference.
43:44So now the leaders are going to have to get by Hubert Haupt.
43:47Let's see if Haupt gives him room.
43:50He pulls way over
43:53and they go by. Haupt gave him
43:56plenty of room to get by in the left handers.
43:59So now it's up to Bernd Schneider
44:02to see if he can catch Marcel Fesler here
44:05in the waning laps of the third
44:08race weekend in the German Touring Car Masters.
44:11Today from Aschersleben near the city of Magdeburg, Germany.
44:17This is one of the newer circuits in Germany.
44:22One of the more modern circuits.
44:25The one thing it has as a problem is
44:28because it's so fast it really is quite narrow.
44:31It's built wide but the cars go so quick that they can't get by.
44:34It really is difficult to pass here if you have equal cars
44:37like you do right here. These two, Fesler and Schneider.
44:40They are basically equal
44:43and there is nowhere to try to outbrake somebody.
44:46It's just too tight.
44:49And Fesler just
44:52keeps a very cool head. It's beautiful driving.
44:55No mistakes.
44:58The car hasn't even wiggled.
45:01And Schneider can't get much closer.
45:04But Schneider as you see is using every bit of the road.
45:07He goes off the course. Once again Norbert Haug.
45:10But he has to be happy no matter what happens.
45:13He's got the first four cars in the field.
45:23A great crowd here in Ostersleben.
45:26It's the largest one of the season so far.
45:2958,000 for the weekend.
45:32The nice thing is they had great weather here.
45:35At Hockenheim and at the Nürburgring
45:38the weather was less than ideal.
45:41I couldn't blame the fans for not turning out in big numbers.
45:44Here in Ostersleben
45:47a whole bunch of racing fans that have been hungry for racing
45:50for years. Now they've got it.
45:53And they've turned out for it.
45:56It's just the Opel fans who love to set out those yellow flares
45:59when the teams are doing so well. They've kind of got to hold back a little bit
46:02and hope for better things to come
46:05the second time around.
46:11Fesler right now is just sitting there.
46:14He's holding on. He's in the last lap.
46:17As long as he doesn't make a mistake, his first victory is there.
46:23Take a look and see what happened here.
46:26Salins is unceremoniously
46:29bumped off the course by Manolo Reuter.
46:32So that's his baptism of German
46:35touring car masters.
46:38There'll be more races ahead for him as he substitutes
46:41and not substitutes. He's taking the place of Pedro Lamy
46:44and the Rossberg team in a Mercedes.
46:50Let's see if Schneider can do anything. Schneider pushed too hard.
46:53Schneider pushed too hard off the course. It's over.
46:57Marcel Fesler just needs to bring it home.
47:00The young Swiss driver is about to pick up his first victory
47:03in German touring car racing.
47:06Now the pressure is off.
47:09The only pressure that's on him is inside of him.
47:13Butterflies or whatever else. He knows he's got the championship
47:16event here in Oschersleben. It's his.
47:19And all he's got is one more,
47:22two more corners.
47:25The straight, the corner
47:29and his team will be awaiting him.
47:33Here he comes. Marcel Fesler wins
47:36at Oschersleben. His first victory
47:39in German touring cars.
47:43Bernd Schneider finishes second, Uwe Alsen third
47:46but it's a happy Mercedes crew.
47:53And so Marcel Fesler, the weight is off.
47:56He's picked up the victory.
47:59The 25 year old can now smile
48:02when he goes home tonight. Bernd Schneider holds on to the lead
48:05in the points race.
48:09But it's this man that will be celebrating
48:12in the Mercedes tent tonight. Marcel Fesler
48:15held off the defending champion.
48:18And you know he has to be happy.
48:22It's a very great day for me.
48:25It was a nice weekend. I was in the pole
48:28the first time. It's now my first victory.
48:31I'm very happy and my crew was very good
48:34because I did a mistake in the race and they make a really
48:37good pit stop for me so we could
48:40retake the lead and I'm very happy.
48:45But you also have to look at the standings that the Audis have to be happy.
48:48Fifth, sixth and seventh.
48:51A great finish for the Audis here
48:54in Oschersleben. The best of the
48:57Opels once again. Timo Scheider
49:00in 12th position.
49:04And now it's time to celebrate. It will be a Mercedes
49:07podium. The very happy Mercedes
49:10crew is Marcel Fesler in the middle.
49:13Bernd Schneider on the left. Uwe Alsen on the right.
49:16And a happy crew to celebrate. Champagne
49:19time.
49:27So now everybody's attention has to start
49:30looking toward the Sachsenring.
49:33Of course the team men are just going to have to dry
49:36off after the champagne shower. Bernd Schneider
49:39your point leader. Marcel Fesler has taken over second place.
49:42Laurent Aiello is third. Peter Dumbrek is fourth.
49:48You can take a look at the rest of the team.
49:50Bernd Schneider remains with one point. The only Opel driver
49:53to come up with a point. The thing that hurt Bernd Schneider
49:56the pit stop.
50:00I'm a little bit disappointed about second place because
50:03I was leading the race and we lost.
50:06We lost first place during our pit stop. I think the strategy
50:09was not good as one from
50:12Marcel Fesler. And this was the reason we lost. But on the
50:15other hand I have to think in the championship and
50:18for this I think the second place is a good place you can live with.
50:21I think that was a nice race
50:24with a hard fight with Bernd Schneider especially in the
50:27first run. The car was quite good.
50:30I had in the beginning of the first race
50:33a little problem in the rear axle.
50:36I don't know what it is.
50:39I'm absolutely happy. I'm motivated for the next race
50:42in four weeks in Sachsenring.
50:45We will see. What we need is a little bit of luck and then maybe
50:48that we go one step higher on the podium.
50:51And so that does it for our coverage
50:54of the German Touring Car Masters Round 3 in Ossersleben.
50:57This is Milt Fitzwater. We hope you'll join us when our next event
51:00will be at the Sachsenring.
51:03The German Touring Car Masters. The best touring car racing in Germany.
51:24German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:27German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:30German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:33German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:36German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:39German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:42German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:45German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:48German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:51German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:54German Touring Car Masters Round 3
51:57German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:00German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:03German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:06German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:09German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:12German Touring Car Masters Round 3
52:15German Touring Car Masters Round 3