2002 Zandvoort Feature Race

2002 Zandvoort Feature Race
The Circuit Park Zandvoort debuted in the DTM in 2002.
Race Information
Date	29 September 2002
No.	54
Event	Rundstreckenrennen Zandvoort 2002
Location	Circuit Park Zandvoort Zandvoort, North Holland, Netherlands
Format	100 km / 40 min (Feature Race)
Lap length	4.307 km (2.676 mi)
Distance	24 laps / 103.368 km (64.230 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	{{{{{natp}}}}} Unknown
Team	{{{{{natpt}}}}} Unknown
Time	Unknown
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mattias Ekström
Team	Team Abt
Time	1:37.620 on lap 24
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mattias Ekström	Bernd Schneider	Marcel Fässler
Winner Team	Team Abt
Time	40:04.709
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2002 Zandvoort Qualifying Race		2002 Hockenheim Finale Qualifying Race

The 2002 Zandvoort Feature Race, otherwise known as the Rundstreckenrennen Zandvoort 2002, was the eighteenth race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in Zandvoort, North Holland, Netherlands, on 29 September 2002. The race would see Laurent Aïello make his second bid for the Championship title, albeit from the back of the grid.

Indeed, Aïello had been barred from competing in the Qualifikationslauf earlier in the day, after the #3 Abt-Audi had failed post-qualifying scrutineering. He would hence start from the very back of the grid as title rival Bernd Schneider started from sixth, with Marcel Fässler and Christian Abt sharing the front row for the Feature.

A miserable start for Fässler saw him immediately bog down as the lights went green, gifting the lead to Abt as Mattias Ekström ducked past to secure second. Alain Menu would go with the two Abt-Audis and entertained a lunge at Ekström into the first corner, while behind Fässler went three abreast into turn one with Schneider and Uwe Alzen.

All of the lead drivers would make it through the first corner without incident or contact, with Schneider emerging in fourth behind Menu whose lunge was repulsed by Ekström. At the back, meanwhile, Aïello would benefit from contact between Michael Bartels and Martin Tomczyk that left the #15 Opel in the gravel and Tomczyk with damage.

The early laps saw the lead battle stabilise, with Abt and Ekström working together to control the race pace and prevent the field from splitting apart in a bid to keep Aïello in the pack. That ploy would, however, mean that Menu remained a serious threat in third, and even had some half looks at passing Ekström, while Schneider ran in fourth with two sister Mercedes acting as his rear gunners.

Shortly before the stops Ekström would move past Abt to secure the lead, and would duly bolt away from Abt and the chasing pack to build a lead. Gamesmanship from Abt entering the pits then saw the #10 Abt-Audi slow down to the pit-limiter well before the marker, costing Menu, Schneider and Fässler time.

Excellent work from the Vodafone AMG-Mercedes team got Schneider out at the head of that group, while Ekström's lead only grew before he stopped a lap later. He rejoined comfortably ahead of that group in the de facto lead, while Aïello gambled on a long opening stint to move up the order.

Aïello rejoined towards the back of the top ten with fresher tyres than those ahead, and would instantly gain a position when Abt moved aside, before a curious bump pass on Alzen to move into sixth. Schneider, meanwhile, would move up to second before letting Fässler through to try and catch Ekström, although when it became clear the Swiss ace could not catch the leading Audi, the two Mercedes swapped back around.

With that the race was run, with Ekström controlling the pace expertly to claim an impressive maiden Feature Race victory, five seconds clear of Schneider. Fässler trailed his teammate in third ahead of Reuter and Schneider, while sixth with Schneider in second was enough to see Aïello crowned as the Champion with two races to spare.

Background

There were no changes to the Circuit Park Zandvoort ahead of the Feature Race, with conditions set to remain dry for the 100 km race amongst the North Sea dunes. Likewise, there would be no changes to the entry list as Laurent Aïello was granted permission to start at the back of the grid after being barred from starting the Qualifying Race, as Marcel Fässler was set to lead the field away from pole position.

Aïello's Opportunity

While neither of the main title protagonists had scored in the Zandvoort Qualifying Race, it had nonetheless been an important factor in the outcome of the title fight. Indeed, Bernd Schneider's failure to score in the Qualifikationslauf meant that he now had to win both of the remaining Feature Races in 2002, and likely see Championship leader Laurent Aïello fail to score in any of the final three races. Aïello, meanwhile, would seal the title in the Zandvoort Feature Race if Schneider failed to win, or if he finished on the podium with Schneider winning.

In the Teams' Championship Team Abt Sportsline had inched further ahead of Vodafone AMG-Mercedes, with the main pretenders split by ten points ahead of the Feature Race. Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes, meanwhile, had kept themselves mathematically in the title hunt, although they would need Marcel Fässler and Uwe Alzen to finish each of the remaining races in first and second, and see Abt Sportsline fail to score more than six points. Instead, they were likely fighting Team Abt for third behind the lead duo, with the gap between Audi and Mercedes' secondary teams having grown to eight points in HWA's favour.

Entry List

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

2002 Zandvoort 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	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
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
44	Éric Hélary	OPC Euroteam	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2001
Source:

Grid

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

		3	Laurent Aïello	—			24	Stefan Mücke	13:52.400			16	Bernd Mayländer	13:40.022			8	Joachim Winkelhock	13:33.459			17	Patrick Huisman	13:31.867			23	Martin Tomczyk	13:29.097			4	Karl Wendlinger	13:27.890			5	Uwe Alzen	13:26.493			7	Manuel Reuter	13:25.759			9	Mattias Ekström	13:25.008			6	Marcel Fässler	13:22.149
						42	Christijan Albers		—		12	Peter Dumbreck		13:40.716		44	Éric Hélary		13:38.605		2	Jean Alesi		13:33.019		11	Thomas Jäger		13:29.786		15	Michael Bartels		13:28.730		14	Timo Scheider		13:26.863		1	Bernd Schneider		13:26.206		18	Alain Menu		13:25.423		10	Christian Abt		13:24.563

Race

Results

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

2002 Zandvoort Feature Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	24	40:04.709	1:37.620	10
2nd	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	24	+5.545s		6
3rd	6	Marcel Fässler	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	24	+7.724s		4
4th	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	24	+9.744s		3
5th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	24	+10.138s		2
6th	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	24	+16.995s		1
7th	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	24	+18.333s
8th	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	24	+18.866s
9th	11	Thomas Jäger	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	24	+28.921s
10th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	24	+29.831s
11th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	24	+39.257s
12th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	24	+43.526s
13th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	24	+45.647s
14th	44	Éric Hélary	OPC Euroteam	24	+55.677s
15th	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	24	+58.218s
16th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	24	+58.696s
17th	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	23	+1 Lap
18th	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	23	+1 Lap
19th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	22	+2 Laps
Ret	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	14	Retired
Ret	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	1	Retired
Source:

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

Milestones

• Laurent Aïello declared as the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship Champion.
• Mattias Ekström secured his third victory.
• ABT Sportsline claimed their sixteenth victory as an entrant.
  • Abt-Audi earned their sixteenth win as a manufacturer.

Standings

Sixth place, with defending Champion Bernd Schneider only claiming second on the road, was enough to hand Laurent Aïello the Championship crown with one round to spare, the Frenchman having moved onto 66 points for the campaign. Schneider himself, meanwhile, was fourteen behind with thirteen points left to fight for at the finale in Hockenheim, and would instead have to focus on securing second. However, the #1 Mercedes pilot was nine ahead of Mattias Ekström in third, which meant the Swede would have to likely win the final Feature Race of the season and see Schneider fail to score.

In the Teams' Championship Team Abt Sportsline continued to lead the way with one full round to go, although their tally of 83 points was not enough for them to secure the title. Indeed, their closest challengers Vodafone AMG-Mercedes were only seven behind ahead of the finale, with 21 points available for Teams' in the final race. A variety of results would hence hand either of the two squads the title, while OPC Team Phoenix led the Opel challenge in fifth.

2002 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Laurent Aïello 66 ◄0 2nd Bernd Schneider 52 ◄0 3rd Mattias Ekström 43 ◄0 4th Marcel Fässler 28 ▲1 5th Jean Alesi 24 ▼1 6th Uwe Alzen 20 ◄0 7th Christian Abt 15 ◄0 8th Martin Tomczyk 7 ◄0 9th Alain Menu 7 ◄0 10th Manuel Reuter 7 ▲2 11th Timo Scheider 7 ◄0 12th Christijan Albers 5 ▼2 13th Joachim Winkelhock 3 ◄0 14th Karl Wendlinger 3 ◄0 15th Michael Bartels 1 ◄0

2002 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team Abt Sportsline 83 ◄0 2nd Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 76 ◄0 3rd Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes 51 ◄0 4th Team Abt 47 ◄0 5th OPC Team Phoenix 10 ▲1 6th Team Abt Sportsline Junior 7 ▼1 7th OPC Euroteam 7 ◄0 8th OPC Team Holzer 7 ◄0 9th Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 5 ◄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: