The races

What a day - for Opel on the one hand and Uwe Alzen on the other. Opel
conquered not only the first ever DTM victory, but even a double victory
by last year's champion Klaus Ludwig - which meant the third position in
the championship for him - and a second position in race one by Manuel
Reuter. A sensational result, but an even bigger surprise was performed
by Uwe Alzen, who succeeded in conquering one third (race one) and one
second position on his '94 Mercedes, keeping all the '95 cars of his
manufacturer behind himself twice.

Race one

All the Opel fans at the Hockenheimring, hoping for an Opel victory this
weekend, cheered in lap two, when Manuel Reuter succeeded in overtaking
the leading Dario Franchitti. But one lap later they already had to be
afraid of another disappointment, when the young Scotsman reconquered
the lead and pulled away lap after lap. Behind those two followed Klaus
Ludwig and Jorg van Ommen, while Nicola Larini, who had started from
fourth position, suffered engine problems and fell back very fast before
he had to retire in lap seven. Meanwhile van Ommen and Ludwig battled
for third position, a battle which was won by Ludwig in lap four. This
seemed to motivate the ex-champion. Nearer and nearer he caught up to
his works mate Reuter to attack him in lap seven and taking his second
position away.

More than this second place however seemed to be impossible, for leader
Franchitti showed an absolute fascinating performance and seemed to be
definitely out of reach for anybody else. But only until lap 10, when
suddenly a big fire stopped his impressing ride. And Ludwig returned to
the stadium as the new leader, cheered on by thousands of Opel fans, who
hadn't dared to hope for this. Ludwig kept the lead to the finish line,
followed by Manuel Reuter, completing Opel's first double victory in
DTM's history. But the two Opel drivers weren't the only ones who had
reason to be happy.

Uwe Alzen indeed was the man of the weekend. Started from 13th (!)
position in his '94 Mercedes he attacked and attacked and gained
position after position. Lap 14 saw him on place 4, only the two Opels
and Mercedes works mate van Ommen in front of him. And Alzen didn't
even think about staying behind van Ommen to ensure his fantastic
fourth position. No! In the last lap he performed a marvellous attack
and gained the first podium position of his DTM career. Best Alfa Romeo
driver was Alessandro Nannini in fifth position.

Race two

This race didn't produce as much tension as the first one did, but
the crowds on the stands loved it nevertheless. Klaus Ludwig took the
lead right from the start and kept it to the chequered flag, while
Reuter fell back to fourth position (which he also kept to the finish
line). J”rg van Ommen took second position, and again it was Uwe Alzen,
who followed him like a shadow, while he had to take care of Manuel
Reuter. And those three really fascinated all the fans. Reuter trying to
overtake Alzen, Alzen attacking van Ommen and van Ommen doing everything
to keep the other two behind him. But in lap nine van Ommen couldn't
take the pressure any longer and had to let Alzen pass him.

Now it was Reuter, who pressurised van Ommen, but meanwhile Reuter
himself had to watch his mirrors. Sandy Grau had caught up and proved,
that he wanted more than fifth place. This struggle continued until the
chequered flag was shown - but without any further changes in position.
Although the last two laps produced some more excitement for Reuter, for
he had to finish the race with flames rising out of the rear bottom of
his car. In the Alfa pits disappointment was even bigger than in race
one - Giancarlo Fisichella in tenth position was the best Alfa driver.

1 - Klaus Ludwig "I was driving as if it was a dream. This was the first
time, that my car finished two races without any problems. Now the fight
with the other manufacturers is really going to start. Next year -
that's for sure - we'll have a competitive car. All the week I thought
about what kind of a present I could give to Keke on the occasion of his
retirement. Now I know: two victories."

9 - Manuel Reuter "My car and my tyres were perfect during all the two
races. But I couldn't go the pace of Dario and Klaus, so I let Klaus
pass. In race two my back started aching again. When I was informed,
that my car was on fire, I was rather depressed, but fortunately I could
manage to cross the line without loosing positions or even retirement."

22 - Uwe Alzen "Now we've got an engine with pneumatic valve control.
In race one my car was absolutely perfect, in race two I had a slight
clutch problem, but it was a great fight. I hope, that I'll be able to
be as competitive next year too."