Defending DTM Champion Laurent Aiello broke Mercedes’ monopoly on the top step of the podium with a comfortable victory around the Nurburgring short course on Sunday.
The former multiple Super Touring Car Champion passed polesitter Mattias Ekstrom on the run down to the first hairpin and proceeded to maintain a small gap over his pursuers for the entire 41 lap duration.
Aiello was never in complete control however, and it took some very defensive driving on the part of his fellow Audi drivers Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk part in the early stages to allow Aiello to eke out a gap over Mercedes duo Christijan Albers and Bernd Schneider.
However even after Tomczyk retired from proceedings on lap 12 and Ekstrom’s challenge faded even further, Aiello was never headed apart from the two mandatory pit stop shuffles in which young Briton Gary Paffett starred in his year old Mercedes.
Paffett put in his best DTM performance by far on his way to eighth place and a well deserved Championship point, the 2002 German Formula 3 Champion leading during the first pit stop window and displaying some excellent race craft as he battled with, and overtook, Opel Astra trio Jo Winkelhock, Alain Menu and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
But Paffett’s display was taking place some half a minute behind the leading runners and the sizeable German crowd were treated to some inter-team politics in the final dozen or so laps as Mercedes bosses tried to figure out who would be best placed to give chase to Aiello.
Albers held second initially from Schneider with fourth placed Ekstrom no longer a threat and it appeared as though the young Dutchman let the multiple DTM Champion through under orders when the former Zakspeed
F1 driver easily moved into second spot in the first turn on lap 28.
