DTM: Timo Scheider wins and extends lead of standings
Timo Scheider won the eighth DTM round at Brands Hatch (Great Britain) with a razor-thin advantage. Scheider, whose Audi A4 DTM � like those of all Audi drivers � is fitted with a clutch from ZF Sachs Race Engineering, finished the race with a 0.793-second lead ahead of Paul di Resta. Like all the current 2008-spec C-Class Mercedes cars driven by his team-mates, the Scot di Resta痴 Mercedes-Benz uses a high-tech clutch from Schweinfurt as well. The third podium position was clinched by Mattias Ekstr�. With his second win of the season Timo Scheider extended his lead of the standings. The ninth DTM round will take place at Barcelona (Spain) from 19 to 21 September.
Results, Brands Hatch (GB), 8th round, DTM, 29 Aug -31 Aug
2008:
1. T. Scheider, Audi, 1h 00m25.549s, ZF Sachs
2. P. di Resta, Mercedes, + 0.793s, ZF Sachs
3. M. Ekstr�, Audi, + 4.077s, ZF Sachs
4. J. Green, Mercedes, + 13.879s, ZF Sachs
5. M. Tomczyk, Audi, + 25.617s, ZF Sachs
6. B. Spengler, Mercedes, + 37.762s, ZF Sachs
7. T. Kristensen, Audi, + 37.901s, ZF Sachs
8. G. Paffett, Mercedes, - 1 lap
Drivers� standings:
1. T. Scheider, 54 points; 2. J. Green, P. di Resta, 45 each; 4. M. Ekstr�, 44; 5. B. Spengler, 31; 6. M. Tomczyk, 26; 7. T. Kristensen, 22; 8. B. Schneider, 21; 9. G. Paffett, 8; 10. M. Winkelhock, 6.
World Rally Championship: third place for Ford driver Hirvonen
At the New Zealand Rally, the eleventh round of the World Rally Championship, Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen clinched third place. The Finn, who relies on clutch technology from ZF Sachs Race Engineering in his Focus WRC, had looked like the sure winner of the gravel event before suffering a puncture on the penultimate special stage that caused him to lose time and drop to third place. However, with his podium position, Hirvonen kept his chances of winning the title: with four WRC rounds to go, the 28-year-old only has an eight-point gap to the leader of the standings and New Zealand winner S饕astien Loeb. Less fortunate yet than for Hirvonen the 17th of a total 18 special stages went for his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. While running in second place, the young Finn retired after an accident. Munchi痴 Ford driver Federico Villagra, whose vehicle was fitted with a high-tech clutch from Schweinfurt as well, clinched one championship point finishing eighth. Henning Solberg, the Argentinian痴 team-mate, arguably proved to be the quickest driver of the rally. The Norwegian set a total of seven best times, but � due to steering problems on Friday � came ninth and thus barely missed a points-finish.
Results, New Zealand Rally (NZ), 11th WRC round, 29 Aug � 31 Aug 2008:
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena, Citroen, 3h 59m18.9s
2. D. Sordo/M. Marti, Citroen, + 17.5s
3. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen, Ford, + 41.5s, ZF Sachs
4. P. Solberg/P. Mills, Subaru, + 2m 48.9s
5. U. Aava/K. Sikk, Citroen, + 3m 30.7s
6. P. Andersson/J. Andersson, Suzuki, + 7m 37.4s
7. T. Gardemeister/T. Tuominen, Suzuki, + 7m 54.9s
8. F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc, Ford, + 8m 35.0s, ZF Sachs
Drivers� standings:
1. S. Loeb, 86 points; 2. M. Hirvonen, 78; 3. D. Sordo, 51; 4. C. Atkinson, 40; 5. J. Latvala, 34; 6. P. Solberg, 32; 7. H. Solberg, 22; 8. G. Galli, 17; 9. M. Wilson, 12; 10. F. Duval, 11.
Manufacturers� standings:
1. Citroen, 141 points; 2. Ford, 121; 3. Subaru, 74; 4. Stobart-Ford, 51; 5. Munchi痴-Ford, 22; 6. Suzuki, 20.
ALMS: Porsche duo defends LM P2 lead
With a fourth place at the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) on the city street circuit in Detroit Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard defended their lead of the LM P2 class drivers� standings with a narrow margin. With two races to go, the duo, whose Porsche RS Spyder is fitted with dampers and a clutch from ZF Sachs Race Engineering, retains a four-point advantage over David Brabham and Scott Sharp, who made up ground finishing as the runner-up. Brabham and Sharp celebrated a one-two-three victory with their Acura team-mates. In the LM P1 class Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner, whose Audi R10 TDI is equipped with a high-tech clutch from Schweinfurt, won the title early.
Results, Detroit (USA), 9th round, ALMS, 29 Aug -30 Aug 2008:
1. F. Montagny/J. Rossiter, Acura, 104 laps
2. D. Brabham/S. Sharp, Acura, + 3.985s
3. G. de Ferran/S. Pagenaud, Acura, + 28.836s
4. T. Bernhard/R. Dumas, Porsche, + 59.266s, ZF Sachs
5. R. Briscoe/P. Long, Porsche, + 59.792s, ZF Sachs
6. C. Dyson/G. Smith, Porsche, - 1 lap, ZF Sachs
7. B. Devlin/G. Bonilla, Lola, - 1 lap
8. B. Leitzinger/M. Franchitti, Porsche, - 2 laps, ZF Sachs
Other results
Results, Oschersleben (D), 8th round of the World Touring Car Championship, 30 Aug -31 Aug 2008:
Race 1
1. A. Farfus, BMW, 22m 43.764s
2. R. Huff, Chevrolet, + 7.639s
3. A. Menu, Chevrolet, + 13.754s
4. T. Monteiro, SEAT, + 15.537s, ZF Sachs
5. J. Gen�, SEAT, + 17.913s, ZF Sachs
6. R. Rydell, SEAT, + 18.262s, ZF Sachs
7. T. Coronel, SEAT, + 18.680s, ZF Sachs
8. F. Porteiro, BMW, + 18.825s
Race 2
1. F. Porteiro, BMW, 23m 01.219s
2. T. Coronel, SEAT, + 0.359s, ZF Sachs
3. R. Huff, Chevrolet, + 0.678s
4. J. Gen�, SEAT, + 6.399s, ZF Sachs
5. A. Priaulx, BMW, + 6.616s
6. A. Farfus, BMW, + 6.739s
7. S. Hern疣dez, BMW, + 7.160s
8. Y. Muller, SEAT, + 12.228s, ZF Sachs
Drivers� standings:
1. Y. Muller, 66 points; 2. G. Tarquini, 64; 3. A. Priaulx, 53; 4. R. Rydell, 51; 5. F. Porteiro and R. Huff, each 50; 7. J. M�ler, J. Gen� and A. Farfus, each 43; 10. A. Menu, 40.