2002 Zolder Feature Race

2002 Zolder Feature Race
The Circuit Zolder debuted in 2002.
Race Information
Date	5 May 2002
No.	40
Event	DTM Zolder 2002
Location	Circuit Zolder Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Format	100 km (Feature Race)
Lap length	4.011 km (2.492 mi)
Distance	21 laps / 84.231 km (52.339 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	{{{{{natp}}}}} Unknown
Team	{{{{{natpt}}}}} Unknown
Time	Unknown
Fastest Lap
Driver	Laurent Aïello
Team	Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:42.558 on lap 16
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Laurent Aïello	Christian Abt	Bernd Schneider
Winner Team	Team Abt Sportsline
Time	41:09.411
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2002 Zolder Qualifying Race		2002 Donington Park Qualifying Race

The 2002 Zolder Feature Race, formally known as the DTM Zolder 2002 Feature Race, was the fourth race of the 2002 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit Zolder in Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium on 5 May 2002. The race would see Laurent Aïello charge to victory for the third successive race, as teammate Christian Abt leapt up the field to second.

Aïello would start the Feature Race from pole position, after he led stablemate Mattias Ekström across the line in the soaking wet Qualifikationslauf. Michael Bartels and Timo Scheider would then share the second row for Opel, while Abt and Mercedes' Bernd Schneider were to share the third.

Rain would return to Zolder for the Feature Race, resulting in the race again starting behind the Safety Car as had happened in the Qualifikationslauf. Indeed, Aïello would have to wait until the start of lap three to finally lead the field, away, and would run unopposed into the first corner as Ekström started in second.

Given the conditions the opening tour would be very respectful, with no incidents nor dramatic changes to the order. As a result Aïello would be able to break clear of Ekström without issue, while behind Bartels would defend heavily from Scheider and Schnieder fought with Abt for fifth, moving through on the back straight on lap four.

Elsewhere, Joachim Winkelhock would become the first driver to have an off, sliding off track at the chicane as he had in the Qualifikationslauf. Scheider then had an off a lap later at the same point and dropped down to eighth behind Patrick Huisman, before Huisman himself went off a few moments later.

The compulsory stops were kicked off by Christijan Albers the moment the pits opened, as Aïello bolted clear at the head of the field. Indeed, the Frenchman would have a trouble free-run once the pit stops were sorted, despite emerging behind stablemate Martin Tomczyk moments before the German youth slid off the circuit.

Indeed, Tomczyk's off at the chicane and subsequent return, with gravel pouring out of his car resulted in the Safety Car being called, just before Bartels served his stop. As a result the lead Opel in the field was dumped to the back of the field, while Aïello was restored to the head of the field for the restart.

Aïello duly aced the restart to secure the lead, while behind Abt, who had jumped both Schneider and Ekström held second. Fortunately the race would quickly settle again in spite of the conditions, as Bartels was disqualified from the race for passing the Safety Car before his stop, despite serving a stop-go for the same offence.

The conditions would worsen as the race wore on, with more drivers going off as the rain continued and time ticked away. Then, with two minuted to go Albers would spin into the gravel at the chicane, resulting in the officials stopping the race prematurely as the Dutchman decided to climb out of his car.

As a result Aïello was declared the victor after 21 of the original 26 lap distance had been recorded, two seconds ahead of Abt in second. Schneider was next up ahead of Ekström, while Scheider and Albers would complete the scorers, the Dutchman having been restored to sixth place as the result was taken from the last completed lap before the red flag.

Background

Victory for Laurent Aïello in the Qualifikationslauf had moved him further ahead in the early Championship hunt, putting him on fifteen points. Mattias Ekström had therefore slipped six behind in second, while Jean Alesi was a further five behind in third. Indeed, the order had proved fairly static after the third race, with Michael Bartels the only major mover after his first point of the campaign.

Team Abt Sportsline had remained at the head of the charge in the Teams' Championship, and had increased their tally to fifteen points. Sister squad Team Abt had likewise remained in second, but slipped five behind, with no changes to the order behind. As a result Vodafone AMG-Mercedes held third ahead of Team Abt Sportsline Junior, while OPC Team Holzer had moved level with the latter in fifth.

Entry List

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

2002 Zolder 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
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 Zolder Feature Race in shown below:

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

• * Olivier was unable to start the race due to damage in the first race.

Race

Results

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

2002 Zolder Feature Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	3	Laurent Aïello	Team Abt Sportsline	21	41:09.411		10
2nd	10	Christian Abt	Team Abt Sportsline	21	+1.950s	1:44.723	6
3rd	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	21	+7.913s		4
4th	9	Mattias Ekström	Team Abt	21	+13.872s		3
5th	14	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Holzer	21	+19.265s		2
6th	42	Christijan Albers	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	21	+26.711s		1
7th	5	Uwe Alzen	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	21	+27.884s
8th	15	Michael Bartels	OPC Team Holzer	21	+30.817s
9th	6	Marcel Fässler	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	21	+33.137s
10th	2	Jean Alesi	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	21	+36.179s
11th	24	Stefan Mücke	Service 24h AMG-Mercedes	21	+40.290s
12th	17	Patrick Huisman	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	21	+42.477s
13th	12	Peter Dumbreck	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	21	+48.592s
14th	18	Alain Menu	OPC Euroteam	21	+51.585s
15th	7	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Phoenix	21	+56.132s
16th	16	Bernd Mayländer	OASE/CEB AMG-Mercedes	21	+57.870s
17th	8	Joachim Winkelhock	OPC Team Phoenix	21	+1:20.420
18th	4	Karl Wendlinger	Team Abt	20	+1 Lap
19th*	11	Thomas Jäger	Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes	15	Damage
Ret	23	Martin Tomczyk	Team Abt Sportsline Junior	11	Accident
DNS	19	Yves Olivier	OPC Euroteam
Source:

• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
• * Jäger was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 75% of the race distance.

Milestones

• Laurent Aïello secured his seventh win.
• ABT Sportsline claimed their ninth victory as an entrant.
  • Abt-Audi registered their ninth victory as a manufacturer.

Standings

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.

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

2002 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Team Abt Sportsline 31 ◄0 2nd Team Abt 13 ◄0 3rd Vodafone AMG-Mercedes 11 ◄0 4th OPC Team Holzer 5 ▲1 5th Team Abt Sportsline Junior 3 ▼1 6th Service 24h AMG-Mercedes 1 ▲5

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: