Scheider had stayed out for a long first run following the first corner incident, and caught the race leaders after their first pit-stops. He was able to comfortably keep up - and even close on the frontrunners before his stop - a pace that allowed him to jump up to a staggering eighth position by the halfway point. However, that late collision with Tomczyk proved costly. A similar incident with Markus Winkelhock's Mercedes meant that Dumbreck was forced to observe a drive-through penalty, and he finished down in twelfth.
Pirro, despite running a temperature and being involved in the collision right at the start of the race and dropping to the rear of the field, finished sixth, scoring three more points for Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest.
"I'm very happy about my result, because before the start I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stick it out," the Italian admitted, "I've been running a temperature and have had to take medication. The race was tough and, what's more, it started badly, as I was flung around right in the first corner. But then I found a good rhythm and was able to catch up one place after another."
Scheider's disappointment, however, enabled Marcel Fassler and Manuel Reuter to score their first points of the year, making it three Opels in the revised top eight.
Outside the point-scorers, Audi's Tom Kristensen came home tenth, after incurring a rather more bizarre penalty than his two Audi rivals. The Dane received a drive-through after a mechanic got his hand caught while lowering the car on the grid, and the A4 had to be lifted once more.
"If you start from 18th place and are given a drive-though penalty on top, you can't expect a better result than this," Kristensen sighed, "My car was very good, and I would've liked to score the points for Audi. Without the drive-through penalty, which I find rather difficult to understand, I'd have easily scored points. Yet, I have no choice but to accept this penalty."
