Gary Paffett drove the Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class to victory in the 2009 DTM’s fourth round at Zandvoort. After 41 laps, Paffett repeated his win of 2005 at this track.

Paffett achieved his second win of the year after his victory at the Lausitzring on 31st May and his 12th in the DTM. For Mercedes-Benz it is the 149th win in the DTM out of 314 races since 1988.

Paffett took the overall lead with 24 points ahead of Mattias Ekström (Audi) on 22 points. Bruno Spengler, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class, who came home seventh today, and Timo Scheider (Audi) are tied in third place with 18 points each.

The team Salzgitter/Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG with Paffett and Spengler lead the team ranking with 42 points which is comparable to the Formula 1 Constructors‘ World Championship.

Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up ninth ahead of Maro Engel (GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class). Jamie Green (Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) finished 12th followed by Ralf Schumacher (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class) and Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class).

Mathias Lauda (stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired on lap 12 due to technical problems.

A total of 38,000 spectators attended the 2009 DTM’s fourth round at Zandvoort during the weekend.
The start: Paffett had qualified second on the grid and started from the front row whilst Spengler was third; Di Resta fifth and Jamie Green seventh. On the opening lap, Paffett, Spengler and Di Resta maintained their positions whilst Green dropped to 12th. Schumacher improved from 18th on the grid to 15th.

Lap 3: Paffett closed in on leader Jarvis.
Lap 5: Jarvis and Di Resta in fifth place were covered by less than two second.
Lap 10: Paffett completed his first pitstop, at the same time as Jarvis; Paffett rejoined behind Jarvis. Di Resta also pitted. Stoddart came in one lap later.
Lap 12: Green came in for his first mandatory stop; Lauda retired in the pits.
Lap 14: First pit stop by Schumacher. Jarvis ran wide and Paffett passed him.
Lap 16: Spengler came in for his first stop.
Lap 20: Second pitstop for the Canadian.
Lap 23: Di Resta came in for his second routine halt; Green came in one lap later.
Lap 25: Paffett pitted from the lead and rejoined the race in fifth place.
Lap 26: Stoddart completed her second stop, followed by Schumacher on the next lap. On lap 28, Engel came in for his second stop.
Lap 29: All drivers had completed their respective two pitstops - Paffet was back in the lead.
Lap 33: Stoddart ran wide at the end of the front straight.
Finish (lap 41): Paffett took his second win of the year; Spengler came home seventh.
 
Gary Paffett (2009 Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) winner: “I am really happy about my second win of the year. Thank you to my team – everybody did a great job. My car and the pitstops were perfect. I was clearly faster than Oliver Jarvis; however, it took me some time to overtake him. Afterwards I had a flawless race and it is great to arrive at the upcoming race in Oschersleben as the overall leader.“
 
Bruno Spengler (2009 Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Class) seventh: “I am disappointed. I was third on the grid and wanted to win; therefore I’m not satisfied with seventh place and only two points. However, I lacked grip and was not able to drive faster.“

Paul Di Resta (2009 AMG Mercedes C-Class) ninth: “A difficult race. At the start, Mike Rockenfeller hit me hard and later I was pushed by Mattias Ekström. Afterwards my car was damaged and although I gave it my all I was not able to move up.“

Maro Engel (2008 GQ AMG Mercedes C-Class) 10th: “I made a mistake at the start and dropped to 18th. Then we changed our strategy and I was able to improve to a 10th-place finish, less than 15sec behind Gary which is not too bad. From a better grid positions points would have been possible again.”

Jamie Green (2008 Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class) 12th: “I had a poor start and then I was hit by a couple of Audis, that’s why I lost seven positions. Afterwards I lacked speed and was not able to move up again.“

Ralf Schumacher (2009 Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class) 13th: “Today I was way too slow and I don’t know why. I’m sorry for my team that I was not able to do better.”

usie Stoddart (2008 TV-Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) 14th: “My race was quite OK. Unfortunately, my second gear did not work in the closing stages and I had two offs.”

Mathias Lauda (2008 stern AMG Mercedes C-Class) retired: “A kinky race. I lost more and more speed on the straightaways and on lap 12, the team told me to come to the pits and retire.”
 
Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “A great win by Gary Paffett and this despite additional weight – a perfect drive, perfect pitstops and a perfect C-Class. Thank you for this to the HWA team headed by Gerhard Ungar and Hans-Jürgen Mattheis as well as to our partner teams Mücke and Persson. It’s a shame that the obvious team order of our rivals distorted the true result. In the next race we will start in the heavyweight class – with 20 kilograms more than our opposition following three wins out of four races so far – but we look forward to it.”