Bernd Schneider continued his excellent start to the 2006 DTM Championship with his second win at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, whilst Britain's Jamie Green once again failed to turn his pole position into that elusive first win.
Schneider, in the Vodafone AMG-Mercedes, made it forty-one career wins was followed home by Audi's Tom Kristensen who ended up as the only Audi in the top eight.
"It was a great race which was a lot of fun," exclaimed a delighted Schneider. "I had to fight a lot to hold off Ekström. We had a very good strategy and executed our pit stops very fast and I thank everybody in my team."
All eyes were on Green at the start, and it seems a lengthy massage on the grid did little to lift his starting jinx. Following his nightmare in the season opener at Hockenheim, Green struggled off the line allowing second place man Hakkinen to lead into the tight first corner.
Things got worse for Green on the cold track, as he exited turn one a wheel lock-up meant he was swamped by Mattias Ekstrom and Schneider ending up fourth by the end of the first lap and thereafter struggled for pace throughout the early laps.
Green pitted first on lap seven, followed by Canadian Mercedes pilot Bruno Spengler as Hakkinen continued in a strong lead closely followed by Ekstrom in the Audi, the Finn looked like a good bet for the win.
Hakkinen pitted on lap nineteen and again on lap thirty, it was to be the second stop that would lose the two-time
F1 World Champion the race as a stuck wheel nut delayed hampered the Finn. Hakkinen however was luckier that Christian Abt who lost a wheel exiting the pits thus retiring his Playboy Audi A4.
Following his lengthy stop, Hakkinen found himself under pressure from Green who had found a good turn of pace and eventually forced his way past Hakkinen banging a few panels on the way and displaying his mettle to his elder team mate.
