Jamie Green was one of the leading lights in the DTM in 2006, setting a run of searing qualifying laps that left the opposition – including the likes of former grand prix aces Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, no less – trailing in his wake.
Here the young British hope looks back over the highs and lows of his season, including the jubilation of leading in front of his home crowd at
Brands Hatch and the frustration of not being able to convert that stunning qualifying pace into his elusive maiden victory in the series.
Q:
You’ve just completed your second season in the DTM and it was a relatively successful one, but looking back it seems like you did everything but win a race?
Jamie Green:
I think that’s fair comment. I think the main thing this year was my starts which held me back. Towards the end of the year I managed to get that together, but I definitely had a difficult season. In the first race at Hockenheim an engine misfire put me out before I even started, so the year didn’t get going very well and it pretty much stayed that way throughout. It was very frustrating, but the main thing was I had good speed all year and showed how quick I can be.
Q:
Like you say, you proved your speed with your stunning run of qualifying results including four pole positions. Would you say overall you’re more encouraged by your form or frustrated by the lack of results?
JG:
I’m definitely very happy with the pace I showed, especially when you consider the competition I was up against. Just to drive alongside people like Hakkinen, Alesi and Frentzen is an honour. Sometimes I had to pinch myself to believe that someone like me, who started out in stock car racing as a ten-year-old, was actually there in the same event as them. I would never have dreamed I would be on the grid alongside Mika Hakkinen – I grew up watching him on TV as a kid.
