Flying Scot Di Resta takes Brands DTM win
Scot Paul Di Resta won the Brand Hatch round of the German Touring Car Championship yesterday for the second year running. The Mercedes driver led practically from start to finish in a pretty dominant performance. Bruno Spengler came second with reigning champ Timo Scheider behind him. Gary Paffett finished in fourth, just behind the leadrs. David Coulthard suffered a drive through penalty early on, placing himself practically last, but he was able to fight back in style. The former F1 star fought hard back up through the field to finish 12th.
Di Resta now has a firm second place in the championship standings with 43 points, just ahead of Gary Paffett, who has 39. Bruno Spengler is leading with nine points in hand with four rounds left to go.
From the trackside...
From a personal point of view, I felt Brands Hatch put on another good show and it was a real pleasure to see those fire-breathing DTM machines once more. The circuit really is one of the jewels in the crown of British Motorsport, a classic track that is still more or less in it's original configuration. We were sat in one of the grandstands on the main straight and got to experience the rush of all those powerful saloons flying into Paddock Hill Bend. You also get to see 95% of the Indy circuit from there, another reason why Brands is loved so much by race goers.
On the negative side, the Formula 3 Euroseries was absolutely dire. I really mean it. We were all stunned by the lack of racing, instead all we got was a high speed formation parade of mainly Italian and German youngsters who probably fail to appreciate the irony of the job title 'Race Driver'.
On the plus side we got to see some real tin top touring car action with the VW Sirocco race, which also included former F1 drivers Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell and Johnny Herbert. Blundell managed third with a very spirited drive, not bad for someone who hadn't raced in seven years! In fact on a pure racing level it was the best event of the weekend.
What happened to the circuits?
As part of my 'Look back to 1990', I'm going to take a quick look at the venues the season used. Several tracks have long stopped being used (Paul Ricard hosted the French Grand Prix for the last time that year) and some are still on the calendar in neutered form.
In 1990 the F1 calendar looked like this:
R1: USA Grand Prix, Phoenix street circuit.
R2: Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos.
R3: San Marino Grand Prix, Imola.
R4: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo.
R5: Canadian Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, Montreal.
R6: Mexican Grand Prix, Mexico City.
R7: French Grand Prix, Paul Ricard circuit.
R8: British Grand Prix, Silverstone.
R9: German Grand Prix, Hockenheim.
R10: Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest.
R11: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Franchorchamps.
R12: Italian Grand Prix, Monza.
R13: Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril.
R14: Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez.
R15: Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka.
R16: Australian Grand Prix, Adelaide.
It was not all good, the Phoenix street circuit was a naff 90 degree corner affair, the Budapest track was just as rubbish as it is now and despite being a decent bike circuit, Jerez was always boring for cars. However, the vast majority of the tracks were pretty decent. The demanding Adelaide street circuit is still superior to Melbourne, and Hockenheim in those days was a 210mph blast through the forests. Imola was used for the San Marino Grand Prix in it's fast and dangerous form, with the Tamburello causing one large accident a year (If only they could have moved back that wall).
My lasting memory of the 1990 season is not Senna taking Prost off the track at Suzuka, but of Nigel Mansell overtaking Gerhard Berger at 180mph around the Peralta at the Mexico City circuit. As schoolboy, I remember being enthralled by the wheel-to-wheel fight they'd been having for a few laps before, only to see Mansell trying to sell Berger a dummy down the back straight, before launching himself around the outside of the banked 180 degree corner. Pure white knuckle racing that you don't see often now. Instead, you get the rich and famous taking flights to Dubai to see cars trying to race around the Abu Dhabi track with no exciting corners or challenge. And they call it progress...
My DTM weekend at Brands
Last weekend, I went to watch the Brands Hatch round of the German Touring Car Championship. it is the third time I've seen this round of the series, having visited in 2006 and 2008. This year, despite many visible signs of the recession, proved to be my favourite so far. This was because of the wheel-to-wheel racing that we don't see very often in this era of strategy obsession and aerodynamic stalemates. Also, on a more childish note, there were a few spectacular crashes!
It's interesting to note the difference between the DTM and the British Touring Car Championship, as they are quite different, despite both being competitions for Touring class cars. The BTCC is, and always has been, real tin-top bash-about racing with road cars that have been converted for racing use. Vauxhall Vectra's with roll cages, souped up engines and sponsor-strewn body work are pitted against similar Ford's, Honda's and Chevrolets.
DTM however, is a different kettle of fish entirely. Those cars may look like Audi and Mercedes, but in fact quite different beasts (and beasts they are). The subject is covered in depth and in a more expert manner here, but these cars are not modified road vehicles. They construct a lightweight version of the actual car's bodywork and a race car around it. The driver is situated centrally with an extra long steering column, plus an F1 style steering wheel. These cars also have all types of aerodynamic giggerly-pokery going on too, with some widget that wouldn't be out of place on an F1 car.
The race itself was pretty good, with Scotsman Paul Di Resta taking his maiden win in the series, despite two restarts. Timo Schieder took second to add to his championship lead points tally, Martin Tomyczk was an impressive third and England's Gary Paffett came in fourth.
Matthias Lauda wrote his car off in spectacular style in front of us watching at Paddock Hill Bend, thanks to an off he'd had earlier at Druids. A lot of gravel had been shoved into the car air intakes, so at the next heavy braking area he came to (Paddock Hill Bend), the rules of physics dictated that the gravel would continue to travel fast as the car slowed. This meant that the car drove over the gravel, lost grip and was slung off the track. Fortunately Lauda was unharmed and lives to race another day.
So, all in all, it was good weekend of racing and I would recommend it to any racing enthusiast (some would say it's better value for money than a Grand Prix). So next year, hire a car and get on up (or down) to Brands Hatch!