A dominant lights-to-flag victory for Martin Tomczyk

• Ralf Schumacher finishes second in his home race after a great battle

• Bruno Spengler makes his way up into fourth place with a strong recovery

• Hankook tyres again convince with much grip and consistency also at the Red Bull Ring

Spielberg/Austria, June 5^th, 2011 – That was a feast for fans and drivers alike. In Sunday’s first DTM race after eight years in Spielberg in Austria, the spectators got to see a brilliant comeback of the most popular international touring car series. After 38 thrilling laps, Audi driver Martin Tomczyk was the first to cross the finish line and celebrated his fifth victory in the DTM. Thus, the 29-year old moved up to second in the drivers’ standing and happily accepted the winner’s trophy from Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Europe’s head of motorsport.

In bright sunshine, Tomczyk started the race from pole position and defended his first place until the finish. With his AMG Mercedes C-Class, Ralf Schumacher tried everything, but wasn’t able to overtake the Audi driver and was classified second, 0.462 seconds down. Oliver Jarvis came home third with his Audi A4 DTM. The leader in the points’ standings, Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz), showed a great recovery. The twelfth-placed from qualifying made maximum use of the consistency of the Hankook slicks and only turned into the pits for his first tyre change at the end of lap 22. With this strategy, the Canadian still made his way up to finish fourth and thus defended his points’ lead.

Martin Tomczyk: “It was a great race. I had a good getaway and was able to pull a gap of four to five seconds right away. I have controlled the race and looked after the tyres to make sure that they keep the performance until the end. That worked out perfectly and we have deserved victory, because we have worked for it.”

Ralf Schumacher: “The first pit stop was good, I gained one place. The tyres worked very well, our strategy was perfect, the entire race was trouble-free.”

Oliver Jarvis: “Unfortunately, we have lost our second place on the grid during the pit stop. I wanted to claim this position back again, but unfortunately, that was impossible. Tyre manufacturer Hankook is doing a great job and provides us with consistent tyres, which is very impressive. From the start of the season, I am totally happy. In my race today, the tyres were perfect, they worked flawlessly.”

Bruno Spengler: “The race was great fun. I was able to drive consistently fast qualifying laps, the tyres worked perfectly and were even still very fast at the end of the first stint. There was absolutely no difference between the various sets of tyres and that is the key to make it through the entire distance without problems. With these tyres, one can do races like the one I did today. Many thanks to my team and the Hankook tyres.”