Whilst the top eight at the close of play was comprised of four Audis and four Mercedes', there was no disguising the fact that the Ingolstadt manufacturer had held a distinct upper hand over its Stuttgart rival weekend-long. Norbert Haug admitted there was much work to do if the squad is to repeat its 2007 Oschersleben one-two success, achieved courtesy of Paffett and di Resta, though the German remained adamant the potential was there.
“With Paul's speed the race at the front might have become even more interesting towards the end,” the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President stated. “He posted the fastest race lap and being third prior to his second pit-stop he closed the gap behind the leader by three tenths of a second
“In his DTM première,
Ralf Schumacher showed a good race and his fastest lap with last year's car was less than a tenth slower than the one a year ago here in Hockenheim. Congratulations to Mattias Ekström and Abt-Audi on their first win and on three podium positions in the first race of the new season. Without podium positions this was like a little cold shower for us, but cold water keeps everybody in the team wide awake.”
![Mercedes ace Bruno Spengler in action in the 2008 DTM curtain-raiser at Hockenheim [pic credit: Mercedes-Benz Motorsport]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/429611.jpg)
