Preview: Seventh round of the 2011 DTM Season at Brands Hatch
• Since 2006, when Brands Hatch made its debut in DTM racing, Mercedes-Benz drivers have won three out of the five races staged here, with Bernd Schneider claiming the first in 2007
• In the past two years, the race was won by reigning DTM champion and current Formula One driver Paul Di Resta: in 2009, he recorded the hat trick of pole position, victory and fastest race lap
• For the four British Mercedes-Benz drivers – David Coulthard (Scotland), Jamie Green (England), Gary Paffett (England) and Susie Stoddart (Scotland) – Brands Hatch is their home race
Comments on the seventh race of the 2011 DTM season from:
Bruno Spengler (27, Canada, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class):
- finished as runner-up at Brands Hatch in 2010
- will be contesting his 70th DTM race at Brands Hatch
- leads the standings by seven points after six out of ten championship races
- won this year’s first DTM show event in the Munich Olympic Stadium
“Brands Hatch is a very special track, although I can’t honestly say it’s one of my favourites. Even so, I finished second last year, which was a decent result. The layout is quite interesting: for one thing, it’s quite short, so the whole field tends to be quite bunched up. You can’t afford to make a single mistake here. If you’re just a tenth of a second down, you’ll find yourself several places back on the grid. The first corner is particularly challenging and one of the most difficult parts of the track.”
Ralf Schumacher (36, Germany, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class):
- qualified fourth for last year’s race
- secured a podium in the 1999 British Grand Prix at Silverstone
“Brands Hatch consists of many tight turns, and the car has to be well-balanced. Things went well here for me last year until I was forced to retire; I posted fourth fastest time in qualifying. This season, we ‘re running the new Hankook tyres for the first time, but hopefully, I can continue to build on my performance to date plus experience gained last year to secure more points.”
Jamie Green ( 29, England, AMG Mercedes C-Class ):
- finished as runner-up at Brands Hatch in 2006
- will be contesting his 70th DTM race at Brands Hatch
“Brands Hatch is a comparatively short but nonetheless challenging circuit – you can’t relax for a single second. As with every other race weekend, I’m aiming to win. I haven’t won so far this season, so I’d like to change that in my home race. The C-Class has always been competitive in the past at Brands Hatch, and Paul Di Resta won here for the last two years. In 2006, I came close to winning at Brands Hatch, but it wasn’t to be. That’s extra motivation for me to maybe do it this time round.”
Gary Paffett (30, England, THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class):
- finished fourth at Brands Hatch in 2009
- lives in Newmarket, around 75 miles (120km) from the track at Brands Hatch
“Brands Hatch is a one-off – quite different from all the other venues on the calendar. It’s short, difficult, and the first corner is very fast. For me, it’s always a great feeling to be back on home soil in the UK and to have the support of the fans. I like Brands and would love to be up there on the podium in my own country. Because it’s such a short track, qualifying is of paramount importance; just like at the Norisring, we’re talking about gaps of hundredths rather than tenths of a second. The race lasts 98 laps – that makes it one of the toughest of the year for us drivers, because you never get a chance to catch your breath.”
David Coulthard (40, Scotland, Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class):
- won two out of three races of the 1991 British Formula 3 Championship at Brands Hatch
“I drove in various junior series at Brands Hatch on several occasions but, apart from Silverstone, I’m much more familiar with German tracks such as the Nürburgring and Hockenheim than I am with a lot of the British venues. Even so, I have good memories of Brands Hatch – after all, I won two races here in the British F3 Championship and finished the season second overall. The track has a very special character, and I’m really looking forward to returning. I would also like to get in amongst the points for the second time this season “
Susie Stoddart (28, England, TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class):
- has contested all five DTM races at Brands Hatch since the track made its series debut in the 2006 season
“Although I come from Scotland, eight hours away from Brands Hatch, next weekend is a sort of home race for me, which is obviously very exciting. The track may be short but packs a lot in – the race is over almost 100 laps, and on each of them, you have to be 100% fully focused. It’s not easy to overtake on this circuit or to get up close to the driver ahead because you lose too much front-end grip. All the same, I’ll be trying to get a good result for the sake of my fans.”
Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“Small is beautiful – that applies to no track better than the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch. The race is 98 laps long but no lap on the DTM calendar is as short as at Brands. We scored two wins there in the last two years with Paul di Resta who, since winning last year’s DTM title, has moved up to Formula One successfully for 2011 and is doing a terrific job. Even without Paul, we want to complete a hat trick of wins this weekend at Brands, but I’m sure that the competition will also be aiming for victory. The DTM race in England should prove very exciting, and the four British drivers in our team will of course be especially motivated to deliver a good performance at their home race in front their own fans.”
Source: Daimler AG
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