“I would have liked to have been on the podium too," the Frenchman sighed, "but a problem in the brake system prevented that today.”
Schneider swooped on his team-mate's misfortune to take third place, fending off a trio of Audis that secured the next three berths. Swede Mattias Ekström battled his way into fourth position from a ninth place start, picking up crucial points towards his championship challenge.
"My first pit stop wasn't perfect, and on top of that I stalled the engine," the Audi man reported, "Aside from this, the race went without any problem - the car was perfect, and the performance of my brakes was consistently good through to the end. I'm completely satisfied with my fourth place here as, after my qualifying result, we expected to fall a lot further behind Christijan. A mere three points is good."
Team-mate's Martin Tomczyk and Tom Kristensen rounded off the Audi scorers, with the Dane, in particular, thrilling the crowd with an impressive fight to catch up with the front of the field after falling back to 17th place as a result of an early crash with fellow Audi runner Christian Abt.
"I'd rather not comment on the collision with Christian," Kristensen insisted, "Aside from that, my race was really good and, once more, I've learnt a lot about the DTM. I gave my level best and overtook every car that was directly in front of me. The pit stops, too, were super."
Opel drivers Peter Dumbreck and Manuel Reuter snatched the remaining points with positions seven and eight. The Scot was delayed when he spun at the Dutzendteich hairpin attempting to pass the Mercedes of Stefan Mücke, but recovered quickly and engaged in a fantastic late battle with Kristensen, before crossing the line in seventh position.
