Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, Jul 08, 2008

§ The sixth out of 11 rounds of the 2008 DTM in Zandvoort, Netherlands next weekend marks the half time point of the championship.
§ Prior to the race at the North Sea shore, the top five drivers in the overall ranking are within 10 points. Among them are three Mercedes drivers: Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class), winner of the previous race at the Norisring 10 days ago, is second overall with 31 points, one point behind the leader Timo Scheider (Audi). Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) is third on 27 points and Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) is fifth with 22 points.
§ Since his first DTM win in the penultimate round of the 2007 season in Barcelona on 23rd September 2007, Jamie Green won four of the last seven DTM races, more than all his rivals together.
§ Whilst Saturday’s qualifying in Zandvoort will be delayed to 17:46 h, the race will be started at 13:00 h CET instead of 14:00 h; it will be broadcast LIVE as usual by German channel ARD.

Zandvoort has the fastest spot of all DTM circuits. At the end of the front straight, before braking for the Tarzan corner, the DTM cars reach a top speed of almost 270 kph. At the 4.307km circuit, Gary Paffett holds the DTM lap record with a time of 1m34.785 since 2005.

Ralf Schumacher (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class) who will participate in his sixth DTM race knows Zandvoort from two Formula 3 Masters races. In 1994, he started 12th and retired after five laps; one year later, he was second on the grid and finished the race in second place, six tenths of a second behind winner Norberto Fontana.
New pit stop window: Starting with Zandvoort, the pit stop window for the remaining six races will be changed. The cars are allowed to pit already after the first quarter of a race and the mandatory stops have to be completed by the end of the third quarter. In the 38-lap race at Zandvoort, the pit lane will be open for the mandatory stops between laps 10 and 29.

Comments on the Norisring race by Jamie Green, winner of the last race at the Norisring, Bruno Spengler, second at the Norisring, and Nobert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:

Jamie Green, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class: “Apart from my pole in 2006 and my fastest lap in 2007, I didn’t do much for my points account in Zandvoort. So it’s about time.”

Bruno Spengler, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class: “I look forward to Zandvoort, an interesting and challenging circuit, and to the fans who create a great atmosphere there, like at the previous race in Nuremberg. A good qualifying performance is crucial, because overtaking is very difficult on this track with its long sweeping corners. The best would be to start there where I started at the Norisring recently.”

Nobert Haug: “After winning three races in a row, we arrive in Zandvoort with an additional weight of 10 kilos in our 2008 C-Class. On this very demanding and winding circuit, this converts to a time handicap of about two tenths of a second, and in the past, it had happened that two rows on the grid were within two tenths. Therefore, it will be not an easy task for us, but certainly one we will try to solve with a good momentum and motivation. Finally, it was managed to make it easier for the 2007 cars; this will contribute to the races’ quality as will the extension of the pit stop window.”

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