The next round at the Norisring was pretty good. Qualifying went well; I was pleased because it was the first time I’d driven on the track in the wet – as it was for a lot of the drivers – so it was very difficult conditions to go into and I just concentrated on building my speed up with every lap. I managed to keep the car on the track and qualify twelfth, and I was happy with that because it equalled my best position from Hockenheim.
We’ve still got a little bit of work to do in the dry when we are around 15th place; we’ve just got to try to get up to tenth or eleventh which will take us into the second qualifying round at every race, rather than just now and then. We just need a tenth-and-a-half. At the Norisring three tenths would have put me in the top eight; it was so close around there. Unfortunately I then had a few incidents during the race which were partly my fault.
On the plus side, I did get to meet 007 over the weekend – Roger Moore. He;s a really cool dude for his age - he’s 79 now - and a really nice guy. It was really funny when we were introduced, because I met him when I was with Mika and his wife said to me ‘oh, it’s lovely to meet you Mrs Hakkinen’. I had to say ‘no, sorry, I’m actually Susie. I race in the DTM – I’m not Mika’s wife!’
The next meeting will now be on 15 July at Mugello in Italy, where I’ve never been before. I know Audi did a pre-season test there with all its drivers, so it will be pretty tough to get there, try and learn the circuit and quickly get up-to-speed. The race starts at 5:45pm – it’s a late one – so that will be something different as well. It will be the first time I’ve raced in Italy in cars, though I raced there in karts, and I think it will be a special weekend because the Italians are very passionate about their motorsport.
![DTM VIP Party at the Norisring in 2007 (L-R): Hans Werner Aufrecht, Susie Stoddart, Roger Moore and his wife Kristina Taolstrup and Tom Kristensen [pic credit: DTM Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/346803.jpg)
