2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race

2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race
Donington Park made its DTM debut in 2002.
Race Information
Date	19 May 2002
No.	41
Event	DTM Donington Park 2002
Location	Donington Park Castle Donington, Leicestershire, UK
Format	35 km / 15 min (Qualifikationslauf)
Lap length	4.020 km (2.498 mi)
Distance	8 laps / 32.160 km (19.983 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Manuel Reuter
Team	OPC Team Phoenix
Time	1:38.703
Fastest Lap
Driver	Timo Scheider
Team	OPC Team Holzer
Time	1:31.281 on lap 5
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Jean Alesi	Martin Tomczyk	Manuel Reuter
Winner Team	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes
Time	15:12.512
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2002 Zolder Feature Race		2002 Donington Park Feature Race

The 2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race, otherwise known as the DTM Donington Park 2002 Qualifikationslauf was the fifth race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at Donington Park in Castle Donington, Leicestershire, UK, on 19 May 2002. The race would see Jean Alesi secure his maiden DTM victory, as a start-line incident caused chaos.

Qualifying for the Qualification Race would see Manuel Reuter claim pole position, his first since the 2000 Hockenheim Finale Race 1, and ultimately last in the DTM. Alesi would lead the AMG-Mercedes challenge from second ahead of Alain Menu, while Martin Tomczyk led the Abt-Audi bid from fourth.

Alesi got the best start to instantly blast past Reuter to claim the lead, while behind a sluggish start for Menu allowed Tomczyk to charge into third. However, Joachim Winkelhock would stall completely on the grid, resulting in the rest of the field having to jink around the stranded Opel.

Most managed to avoid, until Uwe Alzen, running line-astern with several cars, was left unable to avoid the #8 Opel, and duly smashed into the back of Winkelhock. As a result both cars sustained heavy damage and were unable to compete for the rest of the weekend, with the Safety Car deployed as a result.

After two neutralised laps the race resumed, with Alesi unable to escape Tomczyk, who had darted past Reuter moments before the SC was deployed. The German youth duly threw everything he had at the ex-Formula One ace, briefly getting alongside through the Craner Curves before Alesi reasserted control.

Alesi and Tomczyk would steadily ease away after the first lap post-restart, with the order settling down at the head of the field. Instead, the rest of the race would be about the progress of Bernd Schneider, who climbed from sixteenth on the grid to finish eighth, as Championship leader Laurent Aïello picked up damage while fighting with Mattias Ekström and fell to the back.

With that the race was run, with Alesi running untroubled from Tomczyk in the final laps to claim his maiden DTM victory, and leave himself on pole for the Feature Race. Reuter, meanwhile, would claim third despite race-long pressure from Marcel Fässler, Timo Scheider and Menu, while Schneider ended the day in eighth behind Karl Wendlinger.

Background

Laurent Aïello had extended his early Championship lead once again, moving a full race weekend's worth of points clear at the head of the hunt. Indeed, second placed Mattias Ekström had slipped thirteen behind the leader in second, while Bernd Schneider had climbed to third, but was now eighteen points off. Christian Abt was next up ahead of Jean Alesi, with ten drivers on the scoresheet.

Elsewhere, Team Abt Sportsline had enhanced their advantage in the Teams' Championship, with their one-two moving them onto 31 points. Behind, Team Abt had retained second on thirteen points, while Vodafone AMG-Mercedes had held onto third with eleven points. The top five was then completed by OPC Team Holzer and Team Abt Sportsline Junior, while Service 24h AMG-Mercedes were the only other scorers.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race is displayed below:

2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2002
2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2002
3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	Abt-Audi	TT-R 2002
4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	Abt-Audi	TT-R 2002
5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2002
6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2002
7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002
8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002
9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	Abt-Audi	TT-R 2002
10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	Abt-Audi	TT-R 2002
11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002
15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002
16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2001
19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2001
23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	Abt-Audi	TT-R 2002
24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM 2001
Source:

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race are outlined below:

2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	1:38.703	—	146.731 km/h	1
2nd	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	1:38.770	+0.067s	146.631 km/h	2
3rd	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	1:38.770	+0.067s	146.631 km/h	3
4th	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	1:38.361	+0.658s	145.759 km/h	4
5th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	1:38.362	+0.659s	145.757 km/h	5
6th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	1:39.376	+0.673s	145.737 km/h	6
7th	9	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt	1:39.404	+0.701s	145.696 km/h	7
8th	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	1:39.498	+0.795s	145.558 km/h	8
9th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	1:39.846	+1.143s	145.051 km/h	9
10th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	1:39.908	+1.205s	144.961 km/h	10
11th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	1:40.025	+1.322s	144.791 km/h	11
12th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	1:40.084	+1.381s	144.706 km/h	12
13th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	1:40.235	+1.532s	144.488 km/h	13
14th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	1:40.298	+1.595s	144.397 km/h	14
15th	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	1:40.351	+1.648s	144.321 km/h	15
16th	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	1:40.374	+1.671s	144.288 km/h	16
17th	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	1:40.436	+1.733s	144.199 km/h	17
18th	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	1:40.546	+1.843s	144.041 km/h	18
19th	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	1:40.717	+2.014s	143.796 km/h	19
20th	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	1:40.754	+2.051s	143.744 km/h	20
21st	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	1:40.961	+2.258s	143.449 km/h	21
107% Time: 1:45.612
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race in shown below:

		24	Stefan Mücke	1:40.961			19	Yves Olivier	1:40.717			3	Laurent Aïello	1:40.436			15	Michael Bartels	1:40.351			12	Peter Dumbreck	1:40.235			11	Thomas Jäger	1:40.025			17	Patrick Huisman	1:39.846			9	Mattias Ekström	1:39.404			14	Timo Scheider	1:39.362			18	Alain Menu	1:38.770			7	Manuel Reuter	1:38.703
						10	Christian Abt		1:40.754		5	Uwe Alzen		1:40.546		1	Bernd Schneider		1:40.374		42	Christijan Albers		1:40.298		16	Bernd Mayländer		1:40.084		4	Karl Wendlinger		1:39.908		6	Marcel Fässler		1:39.498		8	Joachim Winkelhock		1:39.376		23	Martin Tomczyk		1:39.361		2	Jean Alesi		1:38.770

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race is displayed below:

2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	8	15:12.512		3
2nd	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	8	+0.795s		2
3rd	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	8	+2.742s		1
4th	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	8	+3.137s
5th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	8	+3.554s	1:31.281
6th	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	8	+4.234s
7th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	8	+5.592s
8th	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	8	+6.191s
9th	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	8	+7.431s
10th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	8	+8.250s
11th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	8	+8.760s
12th	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	8	+10.159s
13th	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	8	+14.761s
14th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	8	+15.653s
15th	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	8	+16.417s
16th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	8	+24.082s
17th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	8	+24.082s
18th	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	8	+33.586s
19th*	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	6	Damage
Ret	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	0	Collision	—
Ret	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	0	Collision	—
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

• Fifth and final pole position for Manuel Reuter.
• Jean Alesi claimed his maiden DTM victory.
• 22nd win for HWA Team as an entrant.
  • 24th victory for Mercedes as a manufacturer.
• Tenth podium finish for Reuter.

Standings

There were no changes to the head of the field after the fifth race of the campaign, with Laurent Aïello having held onto his thirteen point lead. Mattias Ekström had likewise retained second, while Jean Alesi had ascended to third, moving onto seven points after his victory. Bernd Schneider had made way for his teammate and slipped to fourth, while Manuel Reuter had added his name to the board in ninth.

In the Teams' Championship there had likewise been little change to Team Abt Sportsline's lead, as they failed to add to their 31 point tally. Behind, Vodafone AMG-Mercedes had moved into second, a point ahead of Team Abt, while Team Abt Sportsline Junior had moved back ahead of OPC Team Holzer.

2002 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Laurent Aïello 25 ◄0 2nd Mattias Ekström 12 ◄0 3rd Jean Alesi 7 ▲2 4th Bernd Schneider 7 ▼1 5th Christian Abt 6 ▼1 6th Martin Tomczyk 5 ▲1 7th Timo Scheider 4 ▼1 8th Michael Bartels 1 ◄0 9th Manuel Reuter 1 ▲8 10th Karl Wendlinger 1 ▼1 11th Christijan Albers 1 ▼1

2002 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team Abt Sportsline 31 ◄0 2nd Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 14 ▲1 3rd Team Abt 13 ▼1 4th Team Abt Sportsline Junior 5 ▲1 5th OPC Team Holzer 5 ▼1 6th OPC Team Phoenix 1 ▲5 7th Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 1 ▼1

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2002)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2015), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2002), (Accessed 29/05/2020)

References: