DTM: Jamie Green wins thriller at the Norisring
The third round of the DTM season at the Norisring will enter the history books as one of the most thrilling ever. The seven fastest drivers crossed the finish line within just 3.8 seconds. The beaming winner after 80 laps in front of 132,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) was Jamie Green whose 2008-spec Mercedes-C-Class is fitted with clutch high-tech from ZF Sachs Race Engineering. Behind Bruno Spengler (Mercedes) Mattias Ekstr将モm finished in third place. All Audi A4 DTM cars are equipped with clutches from Schweinfurt as well. Ekstr将モm’s team-mate Timo Scheider looked like the winner for a long time but an aggressive overtaking manoeuvre on the first of the final three laps on the only city street circuit on the DTM calendar put Green in front. Scheider can take consolation from the fact that he will go to the fourth round of the season at Zandvoort in the Netherlands three weeks from now as the leader of the standings.
Result Norisring (D), 3rd DTM round, 26 Jun-28 Jun 2009:
1. J. Green, Mercedes, 1h08m39.223s, ZF Sachs
2. B. Spengler, Mercedes, + 1.357s
3. M. Ekstr将モm, Audi, + 1.678s, ZF Sachs
4. T. Scheider, Audi, + 2.626s, ZF Sachs
5. G. Paffett, Mercedes, + 2.940s
6. R. Schumacher, Mercedes, + 3.250s
7. P. Di Resta, Mercedes, + 3.807s
8. T. Kristensen, Audi, + 9.266s, ZF Sachs
Drivers’ standings:
1. T. Scheider, 17 points; 2. B. Spengler, 16; 3. M. Ekstr将モm, G. Paffett and J. Green, 14 each; 6. T. Kristensen and P. Di Resta, 11 each; 8. O. Jarvis, 6; 9. M. Winkelhock, 5; 10. M. Engel, 4.
WRC: ZF Sachs partner Ford dominates in Polen
At the Poland Rally, which has returned to the WRC calendar for the first time since 1973, ZF Sachs partner Ford set the pace. The two factory drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala had outrun their rivals halfway through the rally and decided victory amongst each other. But Latvala had an accident on the final – just 2.5-kilometre long – special stage and thus ultimately cleared the way for Hirvonen, who also took the lead in the standings from title defender S将アbastien Loeb (Citro将ウn) with his second consecutive exploit. “A great rally with breathtakingly quick gravel sections. Driving here was incredibly huge fun and winning, of course, even more so. Too bad that we didn’t manage to clinch a one-two win,” said Hirvonen. Other contenders finishing in the points were Henning Solberg, Matt Wilson and Krzysztof Holowczyc from the Stobart-Ford team. They took places three, five and six. All Ford Focus WRC cars competing in the World Rally Championship are fitted with high-performance clutches from ZF Sachs Race Engineering.
Result Poland Rally (PL), 8th WRC round, 25 Jun-28 Jun 2009:
1. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen, Ford, 3h 07m27.5s, ZF Sachs
2. D. Sordo/M. Marti, Citro将ウn, + 1m 10.3s
3. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud, Ford, + 2m 05.7s, ZF Sachs
4. P. Solberg/P. Mills, Citro将ウn, + 2m 24.3s
5. M. Wilson/S. Martin, Ford, + 4m 17.5s, ZF Sachs
6. K. Holowczyc/L. Kurzeja, Ford, + 4m 33.9s, ZF Sachs
7. S. Loeb/D. Elena, Citro将ウn, + 19m 15.1s
8. C. Rautenbach/D. Barritt, Citro将ウn, + 19m 20.6s
Drivers’ standings:
1. M. Hirvonen, 58 points; 2. S. Loeb, 57; 3. D. Sordo, 39; 4. H. Solberg, 27; 5. J. Latvala and P. Solberg, 25 each; 7. M. Wilson, 19; 8. F. Villagra, 14; 9. S. Ogier, 13; 10. C. Rautenbach, 8.
Manufacturers’ standings:
1. Citro将ウn, 106 points; 2. Ford, 89; 3. Stobart-Ford, 60; 4. Citro将ウn Junior Team, 29; 5. Munchi。ュs Ford, 18.
Other results:
Result Norisring (D), 3rd Porsche Carrera Cup round, 26 Jun-28 Jun 2009:
1. T. J将」ger, Porsche, 33m 50.813s, ZF Sachs
2. V. Brito Filho, Porsche, + 0.289s, ZF Sachs
3. N. Armindo, Porsche, + 1.819s, ZF Sachs
4. J. Janak, Porsche, + 4.316s, ZF Sachs
5. J. Seyffarth, Porsche, + 5.306s, ZF Sachs
6. N. Thiim, Porsche, + 5.565s, ZF Sachs
7. P. Wlazik, Porsche, + 13.976s, ZF Sachs
8. J. Bleekemolen, Porsche, + 14.284s, ZF Sachs
Drivers’ standings:
1. T. J将」ger, 58 points; 2. J. Seyffarth, 52; 3. N. Thiim, 42; 4. J. Bleekemolen, 39; 5. R. Renauer, 30; 6. V. Brito, 28; 7. J. Janak, 26; 8. H. Plesse, 17; 9. S. Asch, 16; 10. P. Hirsch, 14.