7.6.2004
Opel DTM makes progress at Lausitz

In front of a huge crowd Opel scored its second top-five finish of the DTM season at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on Sunday.

In Saturday’s qualifying race Peter Dumbreck was once again the top Opel driver ending in the fourth position. Timo Scheider was sixth, Manuel Reuter and Marcel Fässler finished in eighth and ninth position completed the good result.

With the exception of Manuel Reuter who drove from the eighth position to the fifth, the start of Sunday’s race was a disaster for Opel as all Opel top ten drivers lost positions in the first lap. Laurent Aiello, started from twelve was already up to rank eight at the end of the opening lap.

In an exciting race Aiello climbed to the fifth rank and ended the race as the best Opel driver while Marcel Fässler in the eighth place a second Opel driver scored.

“I'm very happy to finish in the top five having started from so far back,” said Aiello, the 2002 DTM champion. “If I had a better starting position, with the car I had today I feel it would have been possible to win today - the car was that good.”

“Today we showed we have the possibility to run at the front but I think that we could be better than fifth on the result sheet,” said Opel Motorsport Director Volker Strycek.