DTM Wiki
Flag of Austria 2002 Spielberg Feature Race
Red Bull Ring 1996
The A1-Ring returned for 2002.
Race Information
Date 8 September 2002
No. 52
Event Flag of Austria DTM A1-Ring Austria 2002
Location Flag of Austria A1-Ring
Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Format 100 km / 40 min (Feature Race)
Lap length 4.326 km (2.688 mi)
Distance 24 laps / 103.824 km (64.513 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter {{{{{natp}}}}} Unknown
Team {{{{{natpt}}}}} Unknown
Time Unknown
Fastest Lap
Driver Flag of Germany Uwe Alzen
Team Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes
Time 1:28.411 on lap 14
Race Result
First Second Third
Flag of Switzerland Marcel Fässler Flag of Germany Bernd Schneider Flag of France Jean Alesi
Winner Team Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes
Time 36:44.213
Race Guide
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Flag of Austria 2002 Spielberg Qualifying Race Dutch Flag 2002 Zandvoort Qualifying Race

The 2002 Spielberg Feature Race, formally known as the DTM A1-Ring Austria 2002, was the sixteenth race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, held at the A1-Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, on 8 September 2002.[1] The race would see Marcel Fässler secure victory, after title rivals Bernd Schneider and Champion-elect Laurent Aïello battled to keep the title fight alive.[2]

The Qualifikationslauf had seen Mattias Ekström sweep to victory, granting him pole position for the Feature.[3] Schneider would share the front row with the Team Abt youth, Aïello would share the second row with Jean Alesi, while Alain Menu was the best placed Opel pilot down in seventh.[3]

The start of the race saw Ekström dart into the lead, while Schneider moved across to block any attempt at a lunge from Aïello into the first corner.[4] However, Aïello would be preoccupied fighting with Jean Alesi and Uwe Alzen into the first corner, with the two black Mercedes duly pincering the #3 Audi into the right hander to dump Aïello back to sixth.[4]

Alezen would get spun around during the opening tour, while Aïello eased back past Martin Tomczyk unopposed to reclaim fourth after the #5 Mercedes' spin.[4] Out front, meanwhile, Ekström would do his best to bolt, although both Schneider and Alesi both had a clear speed advantage over the Swedish youth.[4]

The early laps would see a status quo develop at the head of the field however, with Ekström able to keep Schneider and bay, while Aïello latched onto the tail of Alesi.[4] Indeed, the order would prove static until the end of lap nine, when Aïello followed race leader Ekström into the pits to serve their mandatory stops.[4]

Schneider stopped a lap later to hand the lead to teammate Alesi, and would duly rejoin alongside Aïello, who had enough momentum to draw past the #1 Mercedes and move ahead.[4] Ekström then let the Frenchman through into the de jure lead, before holding Schneider off for a lap before the defending Champion finally forced his way past.[4]

Traffic then played its hand, with the lead battle ebbing and flowing between Aïello and Schneider before Aïello got badly baulked by a spinning Patrick Huisman ahead.[4] They would both then get caught out by Thomas Jäger when the German racer made a late dart into the pits, sending both into the gravel at the final corner.[4]

Schneider came off worst and went deep into the gravel and dropped to seventh, while Aïello rejoined in fourth behind Fässler as Alesi assumed the lead ahead of Ekström.[4] Rain then arrived to further confuse matters, with the worsening conditions seeing Fässler move up into the lead as the race entered its final throes with a lot of chopping and changing.[4]

Onto the final lap and Alesi was leading from Schneider, Aïello and Fässler with the two title rivals squabbling right up to the final corner.[4] Aïello then threw his car down the inside of Schneider at the final corner, before bouncing off the side of the #1 Mercedes and half-spinning into a charging Alzen and then against the pit wall.[4]

Alesi, meanwhile, would slam on the brakes approaching the finish line in a bid to hand victory to Schneider, only for Fässler to dart past the pair of them to secure victory, with the #1 Mercedes also passing the #2 car.[4] Alzen made it an all Mercedes top four in fourth, while Aïello limped to the line in fifth ahead of a relatively distant Menu, the only Opel in the points in sixth.[4]

Background[]

There were no changes made to either the A1 Ring or the entry list ahead of the Feature Race, with Mattias Ekström to start from pole position after his Qualifikationslauf triumph.[3]

Aïello Advantage[]

There was little change to the Championship after the opening race at the A1-Ring, although Laurent Aïello had seen his lead marginally reduced. Indeed, Bernd Schneider had chipped a point off of the Frenchman's advantage to 23 points, meaning he still held hopes of taking the title. Mattias Ekström, meanwhile, had also managed to keep himself in the hunt with his Qualifying Race victory, but would have to win all three remaining Feature Races to beat Aïello.

Likewise, there had been only marginal revisions to the Teams' Championship, with Team Abt Sportsline retaining their healthy advantage at the head of the field. Indeed, they still held a sixteen point lead over Vodafone AMG-Mercedes in second, while Team Abt had slipped 41 points behind in third.

Entry List[]

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

2002 Spielberg Feature Race Entry List
No. Name Entrant Constructor Chassis Livery
1 Flag of Germany Bernd Schneider Flag of Germany Vodafone AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002 BSC 02 Livery
2 Flag of France Jean Alesi Flag of Germany Vodafone AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002 ALE 02 Livery
3 Flag of France Laurent Aïello Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R 2002 AIE 02 Livery
4 Flag of Austria Karl Wendlinger Flag of Germany Team Abt Abt-Audi TT-R 2002 WEN 02 Livery
5 Flag of Germany Uwe Alzen Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002 ALZ 02 Livery
6 Flag of Switzerland Marcel Fässler Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002 FAE 02 Livery
7 Flag of Germany Manuel Reuter Flag of Germany OPC Team Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002 REU 02 Livery
8 Flag of Germany Joachim Winkelhock Flag of Germany OPC Team Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002 WIN 02 Livery
9 Flag of Sweden Mattias Ekström Flag of Germany Team Abt Abt-Audi TT-R 2002 EKS 02 Livery
10 Flag of Germany Christian Abt Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R 2002 ABT 02 Livery
11 Flag of Germany Thomas Jäger Flag of Germany Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 JAE 02 Livery
12 Flag of the United Kingdom Peter Dumbreck Flag of Germany Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 DUM 02 Livery
14 Flag of Germany Timo Scheider Flag of Germany OPC Team Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002 TSC 02 Livery
15 Flag of Germany Michael Bartels Flag of Germany OPC Team Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002 BAR 02 Livery
16 Flag of Germany Bernd Mayländer Flag of Germany OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 MAY 02 Livery
17 Dutch Flag Patrick Huisman Flag of Germany OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 HUI 02 Livery
18 Flag of Switzerland Alain Menu Flag of Germany OPC Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2001 MEN 02 Livery
23 Flag of Germany Martin Tomczyk Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline Junior Abt-Audi TT-R 2002 TOM 02 Livery
24 Flag of Germany Stefan Mücke Flag of Germany Service 24h AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 MUC 02 Livery
42 Dutch Flag Christijan Albers Flag of Germany Service 24h AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 ALB 02 Livery
43 Flag of Finland JJ Lehto Flag of Germany OPC Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2001 LEH 02 Livery
Source:[5]

Grid[]

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

BAR 02 Livery ALB 02 Livery HUI 02 Livery DUM 02 Livery WEN 02 Livery TSC 02 Livery WIN 02 Livery MEN 02 Livery ALZ 02 Livery AIE 02 Livery EKS 02 Livery
Row11 15 Flag of Germany Michael Bartels Row10 42 Dutch Flag Christijan Albers 12:17.639 Row09 17 Dutch Flag Patrick Huisman 12:16.729 Row08 12 Flag of the United Kingdom Peter Dumbreck 12:12.179 Row07 4 Flag of Austria Karl Wendlinger 12:10.481 Row06 14 Flag of Germany Timo Scheider 12:09.028 Row05 8 Flag of Germany Joachim Winkelhock 12:08.102 Row04 18 Flag of Switzerland Alain Menu 12:04.326 Row03 5 Flag of Germany Uwe Alzen 12:02.659 Row02 3 Flag of France Laurent Aïello 11:59.081 Row01 9 Flag of Sweden Mattias Ekström 11:57.245
24 Flag of Germany Stefan Mücke 12:18.866 43 Flag of Finland JJ Lehto 12:17.295 16 Flag of Germany Bernd Mayländer 12:14.912 11 Flag of Germany Thomas Jäger 12:11.687 10 Flag of Germany Christian Abt 12:09.638 6 Flag of Switzerland Marcel Fässler 12:08.718 7 Flag of Germany Manuel Reuter 12:06.401 23 Flag of Germany Martin Tomczyk 12:03.194 2 Flag of France Jean Alesi 12:00.753 1 Flag of Germany Bernd Schneider 11:58.586
                MUC 02 Livery                LEH 02 Livery                MAY 02 Livery                JAE 02 Livery                ABT 02 Livery                FAE 02 Livery                REU 02 Livery                TOM 02 Livery                ALE 02 Livery                BSC 02 Livery               

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

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

2002 Spielberg Feature Race Result
Pos. No. Name Team Laps Race Time Fastest lap Pts.
1st 6 Flag of Switzerland Marcel Fässler Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 24 36:44.213 10
2nd 1 Flag of Germany Bernd Schneider Flag of Germany Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 24 +1.515s 6
3rd 2 Flag of France Jean Alesi Flag of Germany Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 24 +1.545s 4
4th 5 Flag of Germany Uwe Alzen Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 24 +2.114s 1:28.411 3
5th 3 Flag of France Laurent Aïello Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline 24 +3.120s 2
6th 18 Flag of Switzerland Alain Menu Flag of Germany OPC Euroteam 24 +8.626s 1
7th 7 Flag of Germany Manuel Reuter Flag of Germany OPC Team Phoenix 24 +10.866s
8th 14 Flag of Germany Timo Scheider Flag of Germany OPC Team Holzer 24 +12.517s
9th 10 Flag of Germany Christian Abt Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline 24 +15.582s
10th 43 Flag of Finland JJ Lehto Flag of Germany OPC Euroteam 24 +16.679s
11th 9 Flag of Sweden Mattias Ekström Flag of Germany Team Abt 24 +24.103s
12th 17 Dutch Flag Patrick Huisman Flag of Germany OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes 24 +25.845s
13th 42 Dutch Flag Christijan Albers Flag of Germany Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 24 +26.040s
14th 24 Flag of Germany Stefan Mücke Flag of Germany Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 24 +37.010s
15th 15 Flag of Germany Michael Bartels Flag of Germany OPC Team Holzer 24 +42.075s
16th 4 Flag of Austria Karl Wendlinger Flag of Germany Team Abt 24 +43.863s
17th 11 Flag of Germany Thomas Jäger Flag of Germany Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 24 +1:04.625
18th 12 Flag of the United Kingdom Peter Dumbreck Flag of Germany Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 24 +1:22.223
19th 8 Flag of Germany Joachim Winkelhock Flag of Germany OPC Team Phoenix 23 +1 Lap
Ret 16 Flag of Germany Bernd Mayländer Flag of Germany OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes 16 Retired
Ret 23 Flag of Germany Martin Tomczyk Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline Junior 10 Clutch
Source:[5]
  • 3 Indicates a driver was awarded points for qualifying in the top three.[5]
  • Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
  • Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones[]

  • Third victory for Marcel Fässler.
  • 27th win for HWA Team as an entrant.
    • Mercedes secured their 29th victory as a manufacturer.

Standings[]

The results of the sixteenth race of the season meant that the title fight would continue on to Zandvoort, as Laurent Aïello had not outscored Bernd Schneider in the Spielberg Feature. Indeed, with 26 points left to fight for the Frenchman would hold a nineteen point lead, meaning he would have to wait until the Zandvoort Feature race if he was to take the crown away from the double Champion. Behind, Mattias Ekström was now officially out of the hunt in third, 33 points off the leader, while Jean Alesi and Marcel Fässler rounded out the top five.

In the Teams' Championship it was still Team Abt Sportsline who led the charge with two rounds to go, the German squad having moved onto 78 points. However, their closest challengers Vodafone AMG-Mercedes had closed to within striking distance, just five behind, while their sister squad Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes had moved up to third ahead of the second Team Abt entry. Abt's junior entry for Martin Tomczyk then completed the top five, ahead of the first Opel entry of OPC Team Phoenix.

2002 Drivers' Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Flag of France Laurent Aïello 65 ◄0
2nd Flag of Germany Bernd Schneider 46 ◄0
3rd Flag of Sweden Mattias Ekström 32 ◄0
4th Flag of France Jean Alesi 24 ◄0
5th Flag of Switzerland Marcel Fässler 21 ▲2
6th Flag of Germany Uwe Alzen 20 ▼1
7th Flag of Germany Christian Abt 13 ▼1
8th Flag of Germany Martin Tomczyk 7 ◄0
9th Flag of Switzerland Alain Menu 7 ◄0
10th Dutch Flag Christijan Albers 5 ◄0
11th Flag of Germany Timo Scheider 5 ◄0
12th Flag of Germany Manuel Reuter 4 ◄0
13th Flag of Germany Joachim Winkelhock 3 ◄0
14th Flag of Austria Karl Wendlinger 3 ◄0
15th Flag of Germany Michael Bartels 1 ◄0
2002 Teams' Championship
Pos. Name Pts. +/-
1st Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline 78 ◄0
2nd Flag of Germany Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 70 ◄0
3rd Flag of Germany Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 41 ▲1
4th Flag of Germany Team Abt 35 ▼1
5th Flag of Germany Team Abt Sportsline Junior 7 ◄0
6th Flag of Germany OPC Team Phoenix 7 ◄0
7th Flag of Germany OPC Euroteam 7 ◄0
8th Flag of Germany OPC Team Holzer 6 ◄0
9th Flag of Germany Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 5 ◄0
10th Flag of Germany Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 0 ◄0
11th Flag of Germany OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes 0 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. Robert Wilkins, 'DTM calendar 2002 approved.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 07/02/2002), https://www.crash.net/dtm/news/26539/1/dtm-calendar-2002-approved, (Accessed 01/06/2020)
  2. 'F?ssler wins as title rivals clash.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 08/09/2002), https://www.crash.net/dtm/news/26650/1/fssler-wins-as-title-rivals-clash, (Accessed 29/06/2021)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named QRR
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 DTM, 'We #StayHome together: DTM A1-Ring Spielberg 2002 Weekend (Best Races Re-Live)', youtube.com, (YouTube: 11/04/2020), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3dvT4YF9_w, (Accessed 03/07/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 '2002 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters A1-Ring', motorsportstats.com, (Motorsport Network, 2019), https://results.motorsportstats.com/results/2002-a1-ring-2, (Accessed 03/07/2020)
2002 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship
Manufacturers
Abt-AudiAMG-MercedesOpel
Car/engine
Abt-Audi TT-R 2002Audi 4.0l V8AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002AMG 4.0l V8Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2002Opel 4.0l V8
Teams
CEB/OASE AMG-MercedesOPC EuroteamOPC Team HolzerOPC Team PhoenixOriginal Teile AMG-MercedesService 24h AMG-MercedesTeam AbtTeam Abt SportslineTeam Abt Sportsline JuniorVodafone AMG-MercedesWarsteiner AMG-Mercedes
Drivers
1 Bernd Schneider2 Jean Alesi3 Laurent Aïello4 Karl Wendlinger5 Uwe Alzen6 Marcel Fässler7 Manuel Reuter8 Joachim Winkelhock9 Mattias Ekström10 Christian Abt11 Thomas Jäger12 Peter Dumbreck14 Timo Scheider15 Michael Bartels16 Marcel Tiemann/Bernd Mayländer17 Patrick Huisman18 Alain Menu19 Yves Olivier23 Martin Tomczyk24 Stefan Mücke31 Johnny Cecotto42 Christijan Albers43 JJ Lehto44 Éric Hélary
Races
ADAC-Preis Hockenheim QRADAC-Preis Hockenheim FRZolder QRZolder FRDonington Park QRDonington Park FRSachsenring QRSachsenring FRNorisring QRNorisring FRLausitzring QRLausitzring FRGroßer Preis der Tourenwagen QRGroßer Preis der Tourenwagen FRSpielberg QRSpielberg FRZandvoort QRZandvoort FRDMV-Preis Hockenheim QRDMV-Preis Hockenheim FR
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