1° Gary Paffett AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse
2° Christian Abt Audi A4 DTM at 3"627
3° Mattias Ekström Audi A4 DTM at 6"269
4° Allan McNish Audi A4 DTM at 13"251
5° Martin Tomczyk Audi A4 DTM at 13"615
6° Heinz-Arald Frentzen Opel Vectra GTS V8 at 14"538 
7° Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt) at 21"917
8° Pierre Kaffer Audi A4 DTM at 23"310
9° Manuel Reuter Opel Vectra GTS V8 at 34"250
10° Bernd Schneider AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse at 56"012

Photo Stefano Catellani

Title defender Mattias Ekström had excellent chances of defending his lead in the drivers’ standings. However, the Swede from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was spun by a rival in the "Dutzendteich” corner as early as on the sixth of 72 laps. Having dropped back to tenth place, Ekström worked his way forward to third place with his damaged A4 DTM, despite suffering another blow that sent him into a third spectacular spin on the final lap.

Former Formula 1 driver Allan McNish finished in fourth place to claim his best DTM result so far, despite his involvement in a crash on the opening lap. During his first pit stop a new bonnet had to be installed. Like last year, Martin Tomczyk fought his way forward from position 14 on the grid to fifth place. Tom Kristensen and Pierre Kaffer completed Audi’s good result with seventh and eighth places respectively.

Tom Kristensen, who had started from the pole position for the second time in a row, was extremely unfortunate again: at the beginning of the race, the Dane had been fighting for the lead with the subsequent victor, Gary Paffet, when an early safety car period upset the team’s strategy. While most of the drivers made their two pit stops during the safety car periods, Kristensen had to pit for his second tyre change in normal race conditions.

For Frank Stippler and Rinaldo Capello, the turbulent Norisring race ended prematurely: after the start, Stippler was in ninth place when he was pushed into the guard rail by a rival. The impact damaged the gearbox of his Audi A4 DTM. In his first race at the Norisring, Rinaldo Capello was in seventh place before sliding backwards into the wall in the chicane, which forced him to retire.

Rinaldo Capello (Audi Sport Team Joest #18)
"Needless to say, I’m very disappointed, because I could have scored my first DTM points today. I was already in seventh place when the accident happened. I didn’t drive faster in the chicane than on the previous lap, but suddenly the rear of the car went out of control. I crashed into the wall backwards, and that was the end of my race.”