19.9.2005
Three Opel drivers in points at Lausitz

With Laurent Aiello, Manuel Reuter and Heinz-Harald Frentzen three Opel drivers scored points at last weekend’s race of the 2005 German touring car series (DTM).

Opel showed a strong performance in Saturday’s qualifying session at the Eurospeedway at Lausitz, Germany: Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Manuel Reuter ranked 2nd and 3rd after producing stunning Super Pole laptimes. Laurent Aiello finished the qualifying on 9th and Marcel Fässler on 14th position.

Opel made a fantastic start to the race, with Reuter hitting the front after a brilliant start. Frentzen grabbed the lead on the inside of the first turn. Aiello made a steady start, aware that he didn’t want to get involved in the title fight between Gary Paffett (Mercedes) and Mathias Ekström (Audi) just ahead of him, and so remained in 9th.

Frentzen led for the first 18 laps until the first mandatory pitstops, while Reuter stayed out a lap later and also led. The long first stint meant that those who had pitted early for fresh rubber jumped ahead of them. Frentzen rejoined in 5th, just behind Aiello, whose earlier stop lifted him up to 4th. Reuter was now down in 7th position.

Aiello took the lead between laps 25 and 27 as the second cycle of pitstops began. Frentzen and Reuter also hit the front again on successive laps before their second stops. Aiello was now in hot pursuit of third-placed Tom Kristensen (Audi) but, despite setting some great laptimes, he was not able to catch up with the seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner by the end of the race. Reuter finished 5th and Frentzen 7th, after a late collision with Jean Alesi (Mercedes) had caused him to spin. Fässler had to retire from the race in the first lap after a collision Stefan Mücke (Mercedes). Ekström won the race ahead of Paffett and Kristensen.

Opel’s motorsport chief Volker Strycek said: “We changed our strategy to a long first stint but it was difficult to judge exactly where we were against the cars that had pitted early. The track temperatures played a big role, and meant that fresh tyres were a big advantage, so we lost our early lead. But I’m happy with the result of having three cars in the top seven places. Laurent had the pace of the leaders throughout the race, and we hope to continue this form in the next race at Istanbul.”

After nine of eleven races, Ekström is leading the standings with 69 points, one point ahead of Paffett. Kristensen ranks third with 47 points.

The next DTM race is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2.