9.1.2004
Timo Scheider again racing for Opel in 2004
Like in the previous four years already, Timo Scheider (25) will once
again be driving for Opel in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) in
2004. Thus, the Austrian-based driver is completing the driver line-up
for the manufacturer from Rüsselsheim for the forthcoming DTM-season.
Previously, Opel had signed on three renowned drivers with Formula 1-star
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, ex-DTM-champion Laurent Aiello as well as three
times' DTM-race winner Marcel Fässler. Double Le Mans-winner
and the 1996 ITC-champion Manuel Reuter, as well as Scot Peter Dumbreck,
the best-placed Opel-driver of last season, were already confirmed as
drivers for the next year during the 2003 season final at Hockenheim.
"The extension of my contract with Opel wasn't self-evident.
Therefore, I am all the more happy that it has worked out and that I
will be able to race again for Opel this season", says Timo Scheider,
who is living in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg with his fiancée
Jasmin Rubatto and his son Loris. Last year, he achieved his biggest
success in touring car racing so far, when he drove an Opel Astra V8
Coupé towards victory in the prestigious 24-hour race at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife,
together with Manuel Reuter, Marcel Tiemann and Opel's motorsport
manager Volker Strycek. Timo Scheider also underlined his positive development
during the penultimate season round of the DTM at Zandvoort, where he
started from pole-position for the first time and led the field for most
of the race.
Opel's motorsport manager Volker Strycek: "Now
that we have finalised our driver line-up, we have finished an important
phase in
preparation for the coming season. The current team is certainly the
strongest ever to have competed for Opel in touring car racing. Now,
our priority is finalising the new Opel Vectra GTS V8, our race car for
the coming DTM-season. Development is running very well, everything is
going as planned."