DTM crossover for Hakkinen

Immediately after this year's French Grand Prix, Mika Hakkinen flew from Magny- Cours to the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic to try his hand behind the wheel of a different sort of racing car, a DTM Mercedes.

''DTM has a great history and it is very popular, especially in Germany,'' explained Mercedes Motorsport Director Norbert Haug, who was on hand to oversee the day's events. ''It is tough motorsport but maybe it is a bit more fun (than F1.) F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports, the king of motorsports and the DTM is like a popular baseline.''

On hand to give Hakkinen a driving lesson was works driver Bernd Schneider. ''I am happy to meet Mika Hakkinen today,'' said Schneider. ''I'm going to let him drive my car and I think it will be something special for me and also for Mika, to have a ride in a saloon car.''

''It looks great,'' was Hakkinen's first reaction on seeing the car. ''Absolutely fantastic. I have driven a DTM car before, back in 1992 and I remember that you have a very low grip level compared with a Formula 1 car. So you have to be very sharp and very smooth in the corners.''

Hakkinen spent a while sorting out his seating position, but before he was allowed to drive, he was put into the passenger seat, while Schneider took the wheel. ''The main thing about these cars is the downforce,'' said the German. ''You have less than in F1 and the car slides more. You have less power, so you have to carry your speed through the corners to be able to get good acceleration down the straight. But for a racing driver like Mika it shouldn't be a problem.''

''I am interested to see what the power is like coming out of the corners,'' admitted Hakkinen. ''In Formula 1 you go so much faster. I don't think that in a DTM car you are really going to feel the downforce in the same way as in F1, but maybe you should ask me again after I have driven the car!''

''I think it's always something special being in the passenger seat and it's not easy for one racing driver to sit next to another one,'' said Schneider with a grin as Hakkinen apprehensively got into the passenger seat.

The Touring Car ace put the Formula 1 driver through his paces. ''It's strange and uncomfortable,'' complained the Finn, before getting his revenge, when the two men swopped seats. ''It was very special!'' exclaimed Hakkinen. ''I nearly lost it two times, or three times...or four times actually! It was fun. I braked too late, got a too low gear and went completely sideways. If you push a car like this too much, you are history. You have to be very smooth. It was interesting to watch Bernd driving, because he has done many years in DTM. It was very impressive.''

Having finished with the two-seater version, Hakkinen was then allowed out on his own in another car and this time he upped the pace a bit, while giving his pit- crew a running commentary over the car-to-pit radio. ''I felt it was best to take it a little bit easy for my first time in the car. I would have been a bit too brave if I had put the car right on its limit.''

''This is not the sort of car where you can go into a corner and throw it in the corner,'' said Hakkinen. ''You have to be smooth so that you don't give the tyres too hard a time.'' The day ended with a short ''race'' between the two men. ''Racing with Bernd, we really tried hard.'' said Hak. ''You can touch a little bit when you overtake someone down the inside in a gentlemanly way of course. I was planning to do that kind of overtaking, but then I saw the fantastic paintwork and I decided I didn't want to destroy it.''

''I think it was a perfect experience for all of us,'' said Haug, summing up the day. ''The mechanics were looking forward to it and I think Mika enjoyed himself very much and he did good lap times as expected. He had a bit of a battle with Bernd and it was a fun day.''

''It was a good experience for me, having Mika in my car,'' agreed Schneider. ''After all, he is a double world champion.''

''Now, when I watch these races on television, I will have a better understanding of what is happening,'' concluded Hakkinen. ''I now know what it takes to get these cars round the corners. It was good fun and a great car to drive.''