2004 Oschersleben Race

2004 Oschersleben Race
The Oschersleben circuit returned in 2004.
Race Information
Date	8 August 2004
No.	73 (7 of 2004)
Event	DTM Oschersleben 2004
Location	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben Template:ANH Oschersleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Format	150 km / 70 min (Championship Race)
Lap length	3.668 km (2.279 mi)
Distance	42 laps / 154.014 km (95.700 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Martin Tomczyk
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt
Time	1:20.471
Fastest Lap
Driver	Tom Kristensen
Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	1:21.880 on lap 8
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Tom Kristensen	Martin Tomczyk	Manuel Reuter
Winner Team	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Time	59:09.876
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2004 Nürburgring Race		2004 Zandvoort Race

The 2004 Oschersleben Race, formally known as the DTM Oschersleben 2004, was the eighth race of the 2004 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Oschersleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on 8 August 2021. The race would see Tom Kristensen claim his maiden DTM victory in only his seventh appearance after jumping Martin Tomczyk in the second round of stops.

Qualifying had seen Tomczyk sweep to pole position in Super Pole, defeating the Dane by 0.076s to secure an all-Audi front row. Gary Paffett and Bernd Schneider would then share the second row for AMG-Mercedes, while Manuel Reuter led the Opel charge from fifth.

The start of the race saw Tomczyk manage to scramble off the line ahead of Kristensen to secure the lead, with the Dane unable to force a lunge into the first corner. Behind, Schneider, Paffett and a fast starting Christijan Albers went three abreast into the first corner, with Paffett winning the truel into turn two, with the rest of the field getting through without issue.

Further around the opening tour Markus Winkelhock found himself elbowed out of the pack and into the grass, although the German racer was able to scramble back onto the circuit. Out front, meanwhile, Tomczyk and Kristensen did their best to break clear on the opening tour, although both Paffett and Albers were able to glue themselves to the tail of the #12 Audi.

As the early laps ticked away the top four began to break apart, with Tomczyk able to establish a small one and a half second lead over Kristensen, while Paffett gapped Albers. The lead trio would subsequently all dive in to serve their first stop at the end of lap six as the pits opened, rejoining at the back of the field.

Schneider's hopes were ended shortly after his stop, as he rejoined right in front of Peter Dumbreck and duly turned across the nose of the Opel. Schneider spun and then ripped the front of his car off on the side of Dumbreck's car, resulting in significant damage to both cars, although both continued.

Albers was the next to fall out of the fight for victory, the Dutchman being slapped with a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line exiting the pits from his stop. Paffett then lost his chance to challenge for victory by getting caught behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who completed a long first stint.

Paffett decided to make an early second stop to recover lost time to Tomczyk and Kristensen, although that ploy only succeeded in allowing Manuel Reuter to close up to his tail. The fight for the lead would also be settled in the pits, as a slow stop for Tomczyk saw the German youth slip behind the Dane, with both comfortably ahead of Paffett.

With that the race was run, with Kristensen controlling the pace ahead of Tomczyk to secure his maiden victory in the DTM, two seconds clear of the German youth. Reuter used his younger tyres in the closing stages to pass Paffett to complete the podium, while Mattias Ekström failed to find a way past the Englishman and had to settle for fifth. Laurent Aïello was next up ahead of Timo Scheider, while Marcel Fässler claimed eighth to round out the strongest weekend in almost two seasons for Opel.

Background

There were no changes to the field ahead of the seventh round of the season, which saw the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters return to one of its original stomping grounds. Indeed, having missed out on a spot on the calendar in both 2002 and 2003, the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben returned to the DTM fold in 2004, and was unchanged from the Series' previous visit in 2001.

Paffett Push

Mattias Ekström had returned to the top of the Championship as the season entered its second half, the Swede having moved onto 47 points after his podium at the Nürburgring. Christijan Albers had hence slipped to second, and fallen five behind the Swedish racer having failed to finish on the podium for the first time in 2004, while Gary Paffett had moved within twelve of the lead in third. Bernd Schneider and Tom Kristensen followed in fourth and fifth, while no other drivers had added their names to the scorers' list.

Elsewhere, Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes had retained the lead in the Teams' Championship, although their advantage had been cut to just two points after the trip to the Nordschleife. Indeed, Audi Team Abt had cut their rival's lead as a result of Ekström's podium, while Vodafone/DC Bank's sister squad AMG-Mercedes had inched slightly closer in third. AMG-Mercedes, meanwhile, had remained at the head of the Manufacturers' Championship, having moved 31 points clear of Audi in second.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2004 Oschersleben Race is displayed below:

2004 Oschersleben Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/DaimlerChrysler AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM
2	Christijan Albers	Vodafone/DaimlerChrysler AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM
3	Marcel Fässler	OPC Team Holzer 1	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
4	Laurent Aïello	OPC Team Phoenix	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	A4 DTM
6	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	A4 DTM
7	Gary Paffett	AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM
8	Jean Alesi	AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM
9	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	OPC Team Holzer 2	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
10	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Holzer 2	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
11	Christian Abt	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	A4 DTM
12	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	A4 DTM
14	Peter Dumbreck	OPC Team Holzer 1	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
15	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Phoenix	Opel	Vectra GTS V8
16	Jeroen Bleekemolen	OPC Euroteam	Opel	Astra V8 Coupé DTM
17	Markus Winkelhock	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM
18	Stefan Mücke	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM
20	Jarek Janiš	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM
21	Bernd Mayländer	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	CLK-DTM
44	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest	Audi	A4 DTM
45	Frank Biela	Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest	Audi	A4 DTM
Source:

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2004 Oschersleben Race are outlined below:

2004 Oschersleben Race Qualifying Result
Super Pole Results
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	6	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Team Abt	1:20.752	—	163.478 km/h	1
2nd	12	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:20.828	+0.072s	163.324 km/h	2
3rd	7	Gary Paffett	AMG-Mercedes	1:20.932	+0.180s	163.114 km/h	3
4th	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	1:20.934	+0.182s	163.110 km/h	4
5th	10	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Holzer 2	1:20.945	+0.193s	163.088 km/h	5
6th	2	Christijan Albers	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	1:20.999	+0.247s	162.979 km/h	6
7th	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt	1:21.004	+0.252s	162.969 km/h	7
8th	14	Peter Dumbreck	OPC Team Holzer 1	1:21.447	+0.695s	162.083 km/h	8
9th	4	Laurent Aïello	OPC Team Phoenix	1:21.649	+0.897s	161.682 km/h	9
10th	15	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Phoenix	1:21.914	+1.162s	161.159 km/h	10
Qualifying Results
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt	1:20.471	—	164.049 km/h	SP
2nd	12	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:20.531	+0.060s	163.926 km/h	SP
3rd	2	Christijan Albers	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	1:20.659	+0.188s	163.666 km/h	SP
4th	7	Gary Paffett	AMG-Mercedes	1:20.744	+0.273s	163.494 km/h	SP
5th	15	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Phoenix	1:20.765	+0.294s	163.451 km/h	SP
6th	6	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Team Abt	1:20.817	+0.346s	163.346 km/h	SP
7th	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	1:21.020	+0.549s	162.937 km/h	SP
8th	10	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Holzer 2	1:21.065	+0.594s	162.847 km/h	SP
9th	14	Peter Dumbreck	OPC Team Holzer 1	1:21.080	+0.609s	162.816 km/h	SP
10th	4	Laurent Aïello	OPC Team Phoenix	1:21.212	+0.741s	162.552 km/h	SP
11th	11	Christian Abt	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	1:21.294	+0.823s	162.388 km/h	11
12th	8	Jean Alesi	AMG-Mercedes	1:21.363	+0.892s	162.250 km/h	12
13th	44	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Team Joest	1:21.370	+0.899s	162.236 km/h	13
14th	3	Marcel Fässler	OPC Team Holzer 1	1:21.444	+0.973s	162.089 km/h	14
15th	45	Frank Biela	Audi Team Joest	1:22.183	+1.712s	160.631 km/h	15
16th	16	Jeroen Bleekemolen	OPC Euroteam	1:22.691	+2.220s	159.644 km/h	16
17th	18	Stefan Mücke	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	1:22.734	+2.263s	159.561 km/h	17
18th	20	Jarek Janiš	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	1:22.788	+2.317s	159.457 km/h	18
19th	17	Markus Winkelhock	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	1:22.974	+2.503s	159.100 km/h	19
20th	21	Bernd Mayländer	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	1:23.044	+2.573s	158.966 km/h	20
NC	9	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	OPC Team Holzer 2	—			21
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
• * Frentzen was unable to set a time in qualifying.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2004 Oschersleben Race in shown below:

		9	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	—			17	Markus Winkelhock	1:22.974			18	Stefan Mücke	1:22.734			45	Frank Biela	1:22.183			44	Emanuele Pirro	1:21.370			11	Christian Abt	1:21.294			4	Laurent Aïello	1:21.649			5	Mattias Ekström	1:21.004			10	Manuel Reuter	1:20.945			7	Gary Paffett	1:20.932			6	Martin Tomczyk	1:20.752
						21	Bernd Mayländer		1:23.044		20	Jarek Janiš		1:22.788		16	Jeroen Bleekemolen		1:22.691		3	Marcel Fässler		1:21.444		8	Jean Alesi		1:21.363		15	Timo Scheider		1:21.914		14	Peter Dumbreck		1:21.447		2	Christijan Albers		1:20.999		1	Bernd Schneider		1:20.934		12	Tom Kristensen		1:20.828

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2004 Oschersleben Race is displayed below:

2004 Oschersleben Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	12	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	42	59:09.876	1:21.880	10
2nd	6	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Team Abt	42	+2.696s	1:22.034	8
3rd	10	Manuel Reuter	OPC Team Holzer 2	42	+9.180s	1:22.393	6
4th	7	Gary Paffett	AMG-Mercedes	42	+12.369s	1:22.220	5
5th	5	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt	42	+13.242s	1:22.193	4
6th	4	Laurent Aïello	OPC Team Phoenix	42	+13.831s	1:22.279	3
7th	15	Timo Scheider	OPC Team Phoenix	42	+23.189s	1:22.358	2
8th	3	Marcel Fässler	OPC Team Holzer 1	42	+31.010s	1:22.705	1
9th	11	Christian Abt	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	42	+31.360s	1:22.777
10th	8	Jean Alesi	AMG-Mercedes	42	+32.162s	1:22.758
11th	14	Peter Dumbreck	OPC Team Holzer 1	42	+33.273s	1:22.844
12th	2	Christijan Albers	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	42	+39.267s	1:22.108
13th	45	Frank Biela	Audi Team Joest	42	+56.183s	1:23.114
14th	9	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	OPC Team Holzer 2	42	+1:04.497	1:22.903
15th	44	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Team Joest	42	+1:08.730	1:22.331
16th	17	Markus Winkelhock	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	42	+1:10.744	1:23.110
17th	18	Stefan Mücke	Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes	42	+1:23.461	1:23.658
18th	16	Jeroen Bleekemolen	OPC Euroteam	41	+1 Lap	1:23.950
19th	21	Bernd Mayländer	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	41	+1 Lap	1:23.720
20th	20	Jarek Janiš	Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes	41	+1 Lap	1:23.362
Ret	1	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	25	Damage	1:22.250
Source:

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

Milestones

• Maiden victory for Tom Kristensen.
  • Also Kristensen's first podium finish and maiden fastest lap.
• ABT Sportsline secured their 21st win as an entrant.
  • 21st win for Audi as a manufacturer.

Standings

Mattias Ekström remained atop the Championship as the DTM headed towards its final phase of the season, the Swede having moved onto 51 points for the campaign. His lead had hence increased to nine points over Christijan Albers as the Dutchman failed to score for a second successive race, while Gary Paffett had moved to within eleven of the lead in third. Maiden victor Tom Kristensen, meanwhile, had shot into the top five ahead of Martin Tomczyk, with Bernd Schneider slipping to sixth.

Elsewhere, Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes' first non-score of the season had cost them the lead in the Championship, as Audi Team Abt hit the head of the field. The German squad had moved ten clear of their Mercedes powered rivals, while HWA's second team were a further ten behind in third. In the Manufacturers' Championship AMG-Mercedes had seen their lead slashed to fourteen points by Audi, while Opel's biggest points haul of the campaign was not enough to prevent them from slipping even further behind the Ingolstadt marque.

2004 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Mattias Ekström 51 ◄0 2nd Christijan Albers 42 ◄0 3rd Gary Paffett 40 ◄0 4th Tom Kristensen 27 ▲1 5th Martin Tomczyk 23 ▲1 6th Bernd Schneider 22 ▼2 7th Jean Alesi 14 ◄0 8th Timo Scheider 13 ◄0 9th Laurent Aïello 12 ◄0 10th Manuel Reuter 8 ▲4 11th Marcel Fässler 8 ▼1 12th Peter Dumbreck 6 ▼1 13th Emanuele Pirro 5 ▼1 14th Stefan Mücke 2 ▼1

2004 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Audi Team Abt 74 ▲1 2nd Vodafone/DC Bank AMG-Mercedes 64 ▼1 3rd AMG-Mercedes 54 ◄0 4th Audi Team Abt Sportsline 27 ▲1 5th OPC Team Phoenix 25 ▼1 6th OPC Team Holzer 1 14 ◄0 7th OPC Team Holzer 2 8 ▲2 8th Audi Team Joest 5 ▼1 9th Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes 2 ▼1 10th OPC Euroteam 0 ◄0 11th Sonax Dark Dog AMG-Mercedes 0 ◄0 2004 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st AMG-Mercedes 120 ◄0 2nd Audi 106 ◄0 3rd Opel 47 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

• Liveries: byggxx, 'Rennwagen (2004)', dtm.fandom.com/de, (DTM Wiki/de, 2021), https://dtm.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Rennwagen_(2004), (Accessed 20/07/2021)

References: