Qualifying Pos. Driver Team - Car Time 1 Uwe Alzen/D Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 55.685 2 Klaus Ludwig/D Zakspeed-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 55.719 3 Manuel Reuter/D Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 56.578 4 Stefano Modena/I Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti 56.878 5 J.J. Lehto/FIN Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 56.980 6 Giancarlo Fisichella/I Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155 V6 Ti 57.017 7 Bernd Schneider/D D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class 57.626 8 Jan Magnussen/DK Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes C-Class 57.812 9 Dario Franchitti/GB D2 Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class 58.078 10 Joerg van Ommen/D UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class 59.320 11 Hans-Joachim Stuck/D Rosberg-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 55.686 12 Nicola Larini/I Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti 55.696 13 Alexander Wurz/A Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 55.796 14 Yannick Dalmas/F Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 55.818 15 Gabriele Tarquini/I Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti 56.134 16 Alessandro Nannini/I Alfa Corse Martini-Alfa 155 V6 Ti 56.324 17 Oliver Gavin/GB Joest-Opel Calibra V6 4x4 56.356 18 Alexander Grau/D Warsteiner AMG-Mercedes C-Class 56.407 19 Michael Bartels/D Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti 56.562 20 Christian Danner/D Alfa Corse TV Spielf.Alfa 155V6Ti 56.854 21 Kurt Thiim/DK UPS Team AMG-Mercedes C-Class 57.721 22 Jason Watt/DK Alfa Corse JAS-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti 58.377 23 Bernd Maylander/D Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class 58.494 24 Ellen Lohr/D Team Persson AMG-Mercedes C-Class 58.711 25 Gianni Giudici/I Giudici Racing-Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti 59.777Note that Top 10 qualifying took place in much wetter conditions that Group B qualifying.
Lap 4, and Ludwig led Alzen by 1.627s from Reuter (+2.676), Modena (+2.997), Lehto (+3.283) and Schneider (+3.679). The Mercedes of Schneider was going well, despite this supposedly being a four wheel drive track.
Schneider in turn had his mirrors full of junior drivers, Franchitti and Magnussen scrapping behind him. Lap 5, and Modena finally got past Reuter. It looked like he would spend the rest of the race going backwards, but at least he would lose some success ballast.
Lap 10, and Franchitti caught Schneider napping at the first corner hairpin. Schneider was fully occupied with the Opel of Lehto (5th) in front, and went wide. Through went Franchitti, and Schneider dropped back. Up at the front meanwhile, Ludwig and Alzen were doing their best to imitate the Moss/Fangio Mercedes train from the fifties, the cars never more than 0.5s apart.
Lap 16, and Lehto was up to fourth, having dispensed with Reuter. lap 18 and Reuter was sixth as Franchitti swept past under braking for the first corner. Considering the aerodynamic handicap he was under, Reuter was still doing impressively well.
Not going so well was Kurt Thiim, his Mercedes letting him down on lap 20, victim of a puncture. He had a tyre change and went back out, but a lap down. The front two though were only fractions apart, and Alzen was having to brake on a wider line to avoid rear-ending Ludwig, as he didn't have quite enough momentum to drag past. This was the most interesting battle on the track.
Lap 27 and out went the Alfa of Nannini, victim of a brake malady. But the interest was still at the front, as Ludwig and Alzen were never more than 0.3s apart, and they were coming up to lap Danner and Watt. Danner caused no problem, deliberately going very wide at the hairpin to let them through. No such luck for Dalmas though, the Opel driver having made contact with Magnussen, damaging the left front bodywork and breaking the wheel. He was forced to limp back to the pits, and on the way the flailing wheel broke the brake fluid line, causing the car to ignite, to the consternation of his pit crew as he pulled in. Danner was the next to go, planting his car in the barrier after spinning on the approach to the hairpin. Also in the pits was Michael Bartels, his Alfa also having brake problems.
On the move though was Helsinki winner Stuck, using a forceful manouevre down the inside of Van Ommen at the hairpin, moving up to 7th (lap 37), his next target Reuter. This lap we lost yet another Alfa though, the smoky Martini Racing car of Larini heading pitwards, also with brake problems.....
Entering the last five laps, and Ludwig had managed to extend his lead to one second. Two laps to go and Magnussen had a huge accident, sailing up the escape lane at the hairpin at a huge speed, victim of possible brake failure. He destroyed all the barriers, moving the temporary concrete barriers at the end of the lane, shielded by tyres, back by at least one metre. The front end of the car caught fire, but Magnussen was OK, albeit extremely shocked and shaken. The race then ran uneventfully to flag fall.
Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
1 Klaus Ludwig/D Opel 32:27.861
2 Uwe Alzen/D Opel + 0.089
3 Stefano Modena/I Alfa 7.745
4 J.J. Lehto/FIN Opel 9.008
5 Dario Franchitti/GB Mercedes 17.505
6 Manuel Reuter/D Opel 20.431
7 Hans-Joachim Stuck/D Opel 20.836
8 Joerg van Ommen/D Mercedes 21.892
9 Bernd Schneider/D Mercedes 22.871
10 Oliver Gavin/GB Opel 27.916
11 Giancarlo Fisichella/I Alfa 31.901
12 Alexander Wurz/A Opel 32.180
13 Alexander Grau/D Mercedes 42.169
14 Ellen Lohr/D Mercedes 50.609
15 Jason Watt/DK Alfa -1 lap
16 Bernd Maylander/D Mercedes 1 lap
17 Jan Magnussen/DK Mercedes 3 laps
FL: Uwe Alzen/D 50.397 (164.30 kph)
Not classified:
Nicola Larini/I brake problems after 37 laps
Yannick Dalmas/F collision with Magnussen in lap 33
Christian Danner/D accident in 33rd lap
Michael Bartels/D brake problems in lap 33
Alessandro Nannini/I brakes, 26 laps
Kurt Thiim/DK engine, lap 20
Gianni Giudici/I engine, 12 laps
Gabriele Tarquini/I spun off in lap 3
Ludwig was stamping his authority on this race with more assurance, 1.0s ahead by lap 5, the order being Ludwig, Alzen, Lehto, Modena, Stuck, Reuter, Van Ommen, Schneider (fastest on the track by 0.003s from Ludwig) and Gavin. The next lap though and Gavin was in for a stop/go penalty for his coming together with Franchitti. This seemed a touch unfair, as it was a racing accident, and if he had backed iff he would have been rear-ended by the car following.
Stuck was soon past Modena, creating an Opel 1,2,3,4, the Zakspeed pair leading the Team Rosberg pair. The highest placed Alfa was fifth, Modena playing close attention to Stuck while having to fend of Reuter. Reuter in turn was having to fend off the fastest man on the track, Mercedes driver Bernd Schneider. The gaps yo-yo'ed, but no-one could pass. Considering that Reuter was carrying the maximum 50kg of ballast possible, it made the championship leaders performance look all the more impressive.
Modena though succumbed, Reuter going past, quickly followed by Schneider. Modena tried to regain his place at the hairpin, but left his braking too late, allowing Van Ommen through, and Alez Wurz nearly made it as well. A couple of laps later and Modena went wide at the hairpin again, and Wurz was through.
Lap 19, and Ludwig led Alzen by 1.096s, from Lehto (+7.144), Stuck (+9.963), Reuter (+11.479) and Schneider (+12.896). Lap 22, and Thiim was in problems again, almost pitching his car into the wall, while Larini retired yet again with brake problems (Danner had also gone out with this). In the race though, Alex Wurz was putting Van Ommen under pressure, the Opel cornering faster than the Mercedes which had the edge on top speed, the four wheel drive car putting the power down better. Alzen had also caught Ludwig, and things were more interesting. The gaps were small, but passing was the problem. Lap 36 and Thiim was finally out, the Danish driver pulling off the circuit.
The leading pair were lapping traffic, and this worked in Ludwig's favour, Ludwig managing to pull out 1.6s on Alzen. This killed Alzen's charge, and the pair ran through to the flag. Traffic also caused Wurz to drop back, and on lap 41 both Fisichella and Modena headed pitwards with terminal brake problems. The only Alfa left running was the privateer Alfa of Gianni Guidici in his 1995 car. Everyone then ran cleanly to the flag, although crossing the finishing line Ludwig's car was issuing white smoke.
Result
Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
1 Klaus Ludwig/D Opel 36:51.009
2 Uwe Alzen/D Opel + 1.759
3 J.J. Lehto/FIN Opel 11.408
4 Hans-Joachim Stuck/D Opel 13.106
5 Manuel Reuter/D Opel 13.894
6 Bernd Schneider/D Mercedes 20.229
7 Joerg van Ommen/D Mercedes 20.816
8 Alexander Wurz/A Opel 21.241
9 Ellen Lohr/D Mercedes -1 lap
10 Alexander Grau/D Mercedes 1 lap
11 Bernd Maylander/D Mercedes 1 lap
12 Oliver Gavin/GB Opel 1 lap
13 Stefano Modena/I Alfa 2 laps
14 Gianni Giudici/I Alfa 4 laps
FL: Uwe Alzen/D 49.686 (166.65 kph)
DNS: Magnussen, Danner, Watt (damages from accidents in 1st race),
Bartels (broken suspension), Tarquini (broken exhauster) and
Dalmas (suspension).
Championship points:
Pos Driver Pts
1 Manuel Reuter/D 130
2 Hans-Joachim Stuck/D 76
3 Uwe Alzen/D 72
4 J.J. Lehto/FIN 65
5 Klaus Ludwig/D 64
6 Dario Franchitti/GB 51
Jan Magnussen/DK 51
Alessandro Nannini/I 51
9 Bernd Schneider/D 49
10 Joerg van Ommen/D 45
11 Giancarlo Fisichella/I 36
12 Stefano Modena/I 18
13 Alexander Grau/D 16
14 Oliver Gavin/GB 14
15 Michael Bartels/D 10
Nicola Larini/I 10
17 Yannick Dalmas/F 9
Gabriele Tarquini/I 9
Alexander Wurz/A 9
20 Ellen Lohr/D 7
21 Christian Danner/D 6
Kurt Thiim/D 6
23 Bernd Maylaender/D 4
24 Jason Watt/DK 2
Manufacturers:
1 Opel 171
2 Mercedes Benz 101
3 Alfa Romeo 87