Zeltweg, 7 September, 2003
In the ninth DTM race of the 2003 season, Mattias Ekström impressively
fought his way up to third place with several excellent overtaking
manoeuvres and collected six points. The Swede actually started from fourth
place on the grid, but lost nine places at the start when he was forced to wait
behind his team colleague Martin Tomczyk who had stalled the engine of his
Abt-Audi TT-R. Audi Junior Tomczyk fell from his front row starting position
back to 14th place, and was forced to retire due to a loose flat-bottom after a
collision. Karl Wendlinger collected his first point of the season. The
Austrian inherited eighth place from his team colleague Christian Abt, who,
after being held up by a puncture on his Abt-Audi TT-R during the final lap,
still finished eleventh. DTM Champion Laurent Aiello was ninth, and the
second Audi Junior Peter Terting crossed the finish line fourteenth. Going
into the last race of the 2003 DTM season, Mattias Ekström is the best
placed Audi driver in the drivers’ championship with 38 points in fourth
place. Laurent Aiello is fifth with 37 points.
The race at a glance
Weather
clear blue sky, 26 degrees Celsius
Spectators: 62,000
Start
#14 Tomczyk stalls on the line, as a result also holds up #5 Ekström, #2 Abt
lies in eleventh position after the start,
following behind are #1 Aiello and #5 Ekström, #6 Wendlinger is 13th, #15
Terting 18th
5th lap
The Abt-Audi quintet lies in the order
#2 Abt
#1 Aiello
#5 Ekström
#6 Wendlinger
#14 Tomczyk between tenth and 14th position
7th lap
#2 Abt in the pits, #6 Wendlinger also come in to the pits
8th lap
#14 Tomczyk makes first compulsory pit stop, but collides with Dumbreck
who is just about to leave his pit
9th lap
#15 Terting is eighth, #5 Ekström second
10th lap
#5 Ekström makes first compulsory pit stop, #1 Aiello leads briefly, but
comes in at the end of the lap. The stop, at 21.5 seconds, is very long
12th lap
#15 Terting still hasn’t made his first pit stop, as a result he is in third place,
#5 Ekström is eighth, #2 Abt lies in eleventh position, #6 Wendlinger is 12th,
#1 Aiello 17th
13th lap
#14 Tomczyk visits pits for second time, does not rejoin the race. Menu
spins after being touched by #15 Terting in hotly contested battle
16th lap
#15 Terting spins, but can continue
19th lap
#5 Ekström overtakes Alesi, he is now fifth
21st lap
#2 Abt and #5 Ekström make second compulsory pit stops
22nd lap
#6 Wendlinger and #1 Aiello in the pits, the Frenchman collides with Jäger
when pulling away
25th lap
#5 Ekström lies in fourth place, #2 Abt is eighth, #6 Wendlinger is ninth, and
#1 Aiello is eleventh. #5 Ekström catches up with the third placed Reuter
31st lap
#5 Ekström attacks Reuter, gets past, and is now third
Finish
#5 Ekström is third,
#6 Wendlinger collects one point for eighth position
#1 Aiello is ninth
#2 Abt eleventh and
#15 Terting 14th
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