2002 Norisring Qualifying Race

2002 Norisring Qualifying Race
The Norisring returned for 2002.
Race Information
Date	30 June 2002
No.	45
Event	ADAC Norisring Trophäe 2002
Location	Norisring Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
Format	30 km / 15 min (Qualifikationslauf)
Lap length	2.300 km (1.429 mi)
Distance	14 laps / 32.200 km (20.008 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Mattias Ekström
Team	Team Abt
Time	49.239
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mattias Ekström
Team	Team Abt
Time	49.933 on lap 11
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mattias Ekström	Uwe Alzen	Bernd Schneider
Winner Team	Team Abt
Time	15:46.270
Race Guide
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2002 Sachsenring Feature Race		2002 Norisring Feature Race

The 2002 Norisring Qualifying Race, otherwise known as the ADAC Norisring Trophäe 2002 Qualifikationslauf, was the ninth race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, held at the Norisring in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, on 30 June 2002. The race would see Mattias Ekström sweep to his maiden DTM victory, defeating a double challenge from Mercedes' Uwe Alzen and Bernd Schneider.

Qualifying for the Qualifying Race had seen Ekström storm to his first pole position, beating Championship leading Abt-Audi stablemate Laurent Aïello by 0.130s. Schneider and Alzen would share the second row for Mercedes, having set identical times, while Joachim Winkelhock was the best of the Opel pilots in ninth.

The start of the race would see Aïello make a miserable start, while Schneider darted through to challenge Ekström for the lead into Grundig Kehre. His lunge would, however, result in Alzen slipping through to claim second, with the #5 Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes almost managing to snatch the lead from Ekström through the Schöller S.

However, that fight was overshadowed by a start-line accident between Timo Scheider, Karl Wendlinger and Marcel Fässler, which started at the start line and ended in the braking zone for Grundig. It had begun with Scheider touching Fässler into the side of Wendlinger, before the #6 Mercedes bounced back into the side of Scheider. Scheider then spun across Fässler's nose and hit Wendlinger, with all three then sliding down the straight and into the barriers.

The Safety Car was sent out due to the debris field left by the collision, with all three drivers out with damage. The restart came after almost five minutes of clear-up, with Ekström blasting away from Alzen, who would instead have to fend off the attentions of stablemate Schneider.

Yet, the fight for the top three would be fairly tame throughout, running nose-to-tail through to the chequered flag as Alzen lacked the pace to challenge Ekström, but kept Schneider behind. Further back Christian Abt and Michael Bartels collided multiple times at the Schöller S, which ended with the #15 Opel driving the #10 Abt-Audi into the wall. Both were disqualified for causing a deliberate accident after the race.

Out front, meanwhile, there would be no stopping Ekström, who charged to his maiden DTM victory two seconds clear of Alzen. Schneider was next up ahead of Aïello, while Jean Alesi and Joachim Winkelhock completed the top six.

Background

Laurent Aïello had enhanced his lead atop the Championship after his fifth win of the campaign, moving onto 38 points for the season. That left him 21 ahead of Jean Alesi in second, while Mattias Ekström had fallen 22 behind, both having failed to score. Bernd Schneider was next up, having moved onto fourteen for the campaign, while Joachim Winkelhock had added his name to the scorers' list.

In the Teams' Championship it was Team Abt Sportsline whom led the charge, moving onto a half-century after the fourth weekend came to a close. Vodafone AMG-Mercedes had therefore slipped nineteen behind in second, while Team Abt fell 31 behind in third. There were more changes behind as OPC Euroteam leapt into fourth from eighth, while Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes and OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes were still yet to score.

Entry List

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

2002 Norisring 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 Norisring Qualifying Race are outlined below:

2002 Norisring Qualifying Race Qualifying Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	49.239	—	168.159 km/h	1
2nd	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	49.369	+0.130s	167.716 km/h	2
3rd	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	49.379	+0.140s	167.682 km/h	3
4th	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	49.379	+0.140s	167.682 km/h	4
5th	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	49.386	+0.147s	167.658 km/h	5
6th	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	49.425	+0.186s	167.526 km/h	6
7th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	49.455	+0.216s	167.424 km/h	7
8th	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	49.456	+0.217s	167.421 km/h	8
9th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	49.652	+0.413s	166.760 km/h	9
10th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	49.660	+0.421s	166.733 km/h	10
11th	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	49.693	+0.454s	166.623 km/h	11
12th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	49.800	+0.561s	166.265 km/h	12
13th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	49.878	+0.639s	166.005 km/h	13
14th	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	49.934	+0.695s	165.818 km/h	14
15th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	49.948	+0.709s	165.772 km/h	15
16th	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	49.998	+0.759s	165.606 km/h	16
17th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	50.108	+0.869s	165.243 km/h	17
18th	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	50.133	+0.894s	165.160 km/h	18
19th	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	50.136	+0.897s	165.150 km/h	19
20th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	50.179	+0.940s	165.009 km/h	20
107% Time: 52.685
NC	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	8:35.494	+7:46.255	16.062 km/h	21
Source:

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

Grid

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

		23	Martin Tomczyk				19	Yves Olivier	50.136			42	Christijan Albers	50.108			17	Patrick Huisman	49.948			11	Thomas Jäger	49.878			7	Manuel Reuter	49.693			8	Joachim Winkelhock	49.652			4	Karl Wendlinger	49.455			2	Jean Alesi	49.386			1	Bernd Schneider	49.379			9	Mattias Ekström	49.239
						12	Peter Dumbreck		50.179		15	Michael Bartels		50.133		24	Stefan Mücke		49.998		18	Alain Menu		49.934		16	Bernd Mayländer		49.800		14	Timo Scheider		49.660		6	Marcel Fässler		49.456		10	Christian Abt		49.425		5	Uwe Alzen		49.379		3	Laurent Aïello		49.369

Race

Results

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

2002 Norisring Qualifying Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	14	15:46.270	49.933	10
2nd	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	14	+1.720s		6
3rd	1	Bernd Mayländer	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	14	+2.312s		4
4th	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	14	+2.964s		3
5th	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	14	+6.184s		2
6th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	14	+7.313s		1
7th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	14	+9.017s
8th	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	14	+11.392s
9th	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	14	+12.529s
10th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	14	+13.064s
11th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	14	+14.949s
12th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	14	+21.259s
13th	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam	14	+21.807s
14th	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	14	+22.109s
DSQ*	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	10	Disqualified
DSQ*	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	9	Disqualified
Ret	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	2	Damage
Ret	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	1	Puncture	—
Ret	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	0	Collision	—
Ret	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	0	Collision	—
DNS	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Bartels and Abt were disqualified for causing a deliberate collision.

Milestones

• Maiden pole position for Mattias Ekström.
• Maiden victory for Ekström.
• ABT Sportsline claimed their twelfth victory as an entrant.
  • Abt-Audi registered their twelfth victory as a manufacturer.

Standings

There had been some minor changes to the Championship hunt after the opening race at the Norisring, although Laurent Aïello still had a healthy advantage of nineteen points. Behind, the main beneficiary had been Mattias Ekström after his maiden triumph, moving up to second, while Jean Alesi had slipped to third. Bernd Schneider, meanwhile, had inched closer to the fight for second, while Uwe Alzen had become the fifteenth scorer of the campaign.

In the Teams' Championship there had been no major changes, with Team Abt Sportsline still heading the pack with 50 points to their credit. Vodafone AMG-Mercedes had closed the gap but remained eighteen behind, while Team Abt had retained third on 22 points. Elsewhere, Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes were the only team to have moved up the order, climbing to sixth ahead of Team Abt Sportsline Junior and Service 24h AMG-Mercedes.

2002 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Laurent Aïello 38 ◄0 2nd Mattias Ekström 19 ▲1 3rd Jean Alesi 17 ▼1 4th Bernd Schneider 15 ◄0 5th Christian Abt 12 ◄0 6th Alain Menu 6 ◄0 7th Martin Tomczyk 5 ◄0 8th Timo Scheider 5 ◄0 9th Christijan Albers 4 ◄0 10th Marcel Fässler 4 ◄0 11th Karl Wendlinger 3 ◄0 12th Joachim Winkelhock 2 ◄0 13th Uwe Alzen 2 ▲3 14th Michael Bartels 1 ▼2 15th Manuel Reuter 1 ▼1

2002 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team Abt Sportsline 50 ◄0 2nd Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 32 ◄0 3rd Team Abt 22 ◄0 4th OPC Euroteam 6 ◄0 5th OPC Team Holzer 6 ◄0 6th Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 6 ▲2 7th Team Abt Sportsline Junior 5 ▼1 8th Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 4 ▼1 9th OPC Team Phoenix 3 ◄0 10th Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 0 ◄0 11th OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers 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: