Opel enjoyed one of its strongest showings of the season at Brno, with three drivers making it into the points, four among the top ten and Manuel Reuter clocking the fastest lap. Swiss star Marcel Fässler just missed out on a podium with his Opel Vectra GTS V8, coming home fourth ahead of another Audi, as Emanuele Pirro recorded the best result of the year for Infineon Team Joest.
"I had the best start of the season," Fassler claimed, "The race itself was really good fun, as I did some good overtaking, but my second pit stop was a bit botched, and that cost me third place.”
Heinz-Harald Frentzen collected his first championship points after taking sixth for Opel, while stablemate Timo Scheider also left Brno with two points for his seventh place.
“We are proud that three Opels made it into the points, and that Manuel Reuter pulled off the fastest race lap," commented motorsport manager Volker Strycek, "And we’re particularly pleased with Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s sixth place, too. He has worked his way [into the DTM] step-by-step forward and finally collected some deserved points. However, we must say 'well done' to Audi and Mattias Ekström for their title win."
The DTM’s debut at Brno was also a great success, with 35,000 spectators visiting over the weekend. The 'old' DTM last staged a race at the Czech circuit in 1992, but each of the three current marques were pleased with its reintroduction to the venue.
"Compliments also to the organisers," Strycek said, echoing the views of both Haug and Ullrich, "The premiere of the new DTM here was very well organised, and the response from spectators impressive. I hope we come back again next year.”
