2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race

2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race
The Hockenheim Short circuit was used for the final time in 2002.
Race Information
Date	21 April 2002
No.	38
Event	ADAC-Preis Hockenheim 2002
Location	Hockenheimring Short Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Format	100 km (Feature Race)
Lap length	2.638 km (1.639 mi)
Distance	39 laps / 102.882 km (63.928 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	{{{{{natp}}}}} Unknown
Team	{{{{{natpt}}}}} Unknown
Time	Unknown
Fastest Lap
Driver	Christian Abt
Team	Team Abt Sportsline
Time	57.879 on lap 28
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Laurent Aïello	Mattias Ekström	Jean Alesi
Winner Team	Team Abt Sportsline
Time	39:34.203
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2002 Hockenheim Opening Qualifying Race		2002 Zolder Qualifying Race

The 2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race, otherwise known as the ADAC-Preis Hockenheim 2002 Feature Race, was the second race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 21 April 2002. The race would see Laurent Aïello charge to his first win of the campaign, as debutante Jean Alesi claimed his first DTM podium finish.

The grid for the first Feature Race in 2002 was set during the Qualifikationslauf, with Martin Tomczyk starting from pole position for the first time. Aïello was next up ahead of Mattias Ekström and Christian Abt in an all-Abt-Audi top four, while Timo Scheider and Marcel Fässler shared the third row for Opel and Mercedes respectively.

The start of the race would see Aïello make a barnstorming start, while Tomczyk limped away from pole position after letting his revvs drop. Those behind immediately had to jink to avoid the #23 Abt-Audi, with Alesi the big winner as he leapt from eighth to fourth.

Alesi duly moved into third with a move on Christian Abt later around the opening tour, as Aïello broke clear ahead of Mattias Ekström. Tomczyk, meanwhile, had slipped down to tenth after his miserable start, with the rest of the field making it through the first lap without drama.

The early laps saw the leading Audis break away from Alesi, while behind Uwe Alzen and teammate Marcel Fässler would come together, resulting in the German slipping down the field. Alzen then had a more significant off at the penultimate corner, while Peter Dumbreck was spun to the back of the field at the Sachskurve by Joachim Winkelhock.

Fässler was the first retirement after a brake failure, while Alain Menu was awarded a stop-go penalty for a grid infringement. With that, the field began to make their compulsory stops as the pit window opened on lap thirteen, with Tomczyk the first driver to stop. Moments later, however, the German youth would suffer a gearbox issue, and duly slid into the gravel and out at the Sachskurve.

Wendlinger would briefly lead the race amid the pit-stop phase, before Aïello reclaimed the lead ahead of Abt and Ekström, while Alesi had slipped to fourth. Debutante Stefan Mücke, meanwhile, would spend the laps after his stop running off track, colliding with Yves Olivier before going off at the Sachskurve.

With that, barring a stop-go for Abt, the race was over, with Aïello sweeping to victory ahead of Ekström, while Alesi completed the podium. Schneider was next up ahead of Scheider and Wendlinger, having had to fend off the two drivers throughout the second half of the race, while Abt was a frustrated seventh, right behind the scrap for fourth but outside of the points.

Background

Martin Tomczyk would open the Championship with victory, moving onto three points ahead of Laurent Aïello, while Mattias Ekström sat in third. In the Teams' Championship, meanwhile, Team Abt Sportsline Junior led the charge on three points, with the two other Abt Sportsline squads completing the top three.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race is displayed below:

2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature 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	Marcel Tiemann	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:

Grid

The starting grid for the 2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race in shown below:

		42	Christijan Albers				11	Thomas Jäger				18	Alain Menu				16	Marcel Tiemann				15	Michael Bartels				1	Bernd Schneider				5	Uwe Alzen				12	Peter Dumbreck				14	Timo Scheider				9	Mattias Ekström				23	Martin Tomczyk
						17	Patrick Huisman				7	Manuel Reuter				8	Joachim Winkelhock				19	Yves Olivier				24	Stefan Mücke				4	Karl Wendlinger				2	Jean Alesi				6	Marcel Fässler				10	Christian Abt				3	Laurent Aïello

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race is displayed below:

2002 Hockenheim Opening Feature Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	39	39:34.203		10
2nd	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	39	+2.734s		6
3rd	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	39	+10.063s		4
4th	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	39	+15.448s		3
5th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	39	+17.618s		2
6th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	39	+20.113s		1
7th	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	39	+21.409s	57.879
8th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	39	+44.757s
9th	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	39	+45.200s
10th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	39	+45.863s
11th	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	39	+57.995s
12th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	39	+58.184s
13th	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	39	+1:00.222
14th	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	38	+1 Lap
15th	16	Marcel Tiemann	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	38	+1 Lap
16th*	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	32	Damage
17th*	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	32	Retired
Ret	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	28	Retired
Ret	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	22	Damage
Ret	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	15	Gearbox
Ret	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	12	Brakes
Source:

• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Dumbreck and Reuter were still classified despite retiring as they had completed 75% of the race distance.

Milestones

• Laurent Aïello secured his fifth win.
• ABT Sportsline claimed their seventh victory as an entrant.
  • Abt-Audi registered their seventh victory as a manufacturer.
• Jean Alesi claimed his maiden podium and points finish.
• Maiden points finish for Karl Wendlinger.

Standings

Laurent Aïello ended the opening weekend of the season with the lead in the Championship, leaving Hockenheim with twelve points. Mattias Ekström had secured second, while Jean Alesi left his maiden DTM race meeting in third place, just ahead of Martin Tomczyk and Bernd Schneider. Timo Scheider and Karl Wendlinger were the only other scorers.

In the Teams' Championship, meanwhile, it was Team Abt Sportsline whom led the charge, holding a seven point lead over sister squad Team Abt. Vodafone AMG-Mercedes were next up in third ahead of Team ABT Sportsline Junior, while OPC Team Holzer were the only other scorers in fifth.

2002 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Laurent Aïello 12 ▲1 2nd Mattias Ekström 7 ▲1 3rd Jean Alesi 4 ▲5 4th Martin Tomczyk 3 ▼3 5th Bernd Schneider 3 ▲6 6th Timo Scheider 2 ▼1 7th Karl Wendlinger 1 ▲3

2002 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team Abt Sportsline 12 ▲1 2nd Team Abt 8 ▲1 3rd Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 7 ▲4 4th Team Abt Sportsline Junior 3 ▼3 5th OPC Team Holzer 2 ▼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: