By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com
Mattias Ekstrom and his Audi Abt Sportsline crew won what truly was a rain lottery today on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. The one major variable in the German Touring Car Masters series (DTM) race in France was the ever changing rain in the area -- from light showers to driving rain -- adding to the usual action in the German series.
Ekstrom inherited the lead when Audi factory teammate and points leader Timo Scheider dived into the pits on lap 11 and remained on slicks. Soon the track was starting to form rivers along the circuit and the usual mandatory two pit stops became four or more.
Even with a case of the flu, the Swede was able to take his third race win this season by over four seconds to second place Paul di Resta from the Mercedes camp.
"This wasn't bad for a sick racer. After I was frustrated with a bout of flu all weekend I'm now totally happy about victory," said Ekstrom. "The race was great and my Audi A4 was running perfectly from the start to the final lap. I couldn't wish for more than this except, of course, that I would have liked still being in the race for the title. The decision has been postponed to the finale. There, we'll be giving everything to clinch the title with Timo for Audi."
While Ekstrom celebrated his 13th career victory, di Resta was also pumped about his podium finish. Placing his AMG Mercedes second in the penultimate round forces the championship battle to the season finale in Hockenheim on October 26th.
"It was not the right decision to start with rain tyres, but in conditions like today, it is difficult to make the right choice," di Resta said. "It's super that I finished second despite my extra pit stop and that I am only two points behind Timo Scheider -- we knew that it would rain in the final third and my team had the perfect timing for the change; that was crucial. My speed was good despite the handicap weight which we now got rid of for the final race.
"I look forward to Hockenheim and I want to win in the great finale and thus clinch the championship title," he added.
Frenchman Alexandre Premat for Audi Sport Team Phoenix ended third in the 2007-spec on his home turf. He was one of only four drivers who did just the required pit stops and ran the entire race on slicks.
"A fantastic weekend! Standing on the podium at my home race makes me very proud," smiled Premat. "My team and I gave everything in qualifying and the race and were rewarded by third place. My team did everything right in terms of strategy so that I was able to attack at any time during the race."
Scheider finished sixth and holds a two point lead over di Resta. The German now needs to stay in front of the Scotsman in the DTM finale. "It was the right decision to go into the race with slicks. Advancing from fifth to first is definitely something special. Unfortunately, we timed our second stop two laps too early, that's too bad. We'll chalk this up to experience now and concentrate on the finale," he said.
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