Round 7 of the 2007 DTM series will be at Circuit Park Zandvoort, just a hop skip and a jump from Amsterdam. The Dutch track, with its signature sand dunes will host a DTM round for the seventh straight year. This is the earliest (calendar wise) the event has been contested, as it moves up a month. Mattias Ekström, the series point leader has won here twice (2002 & 2004). Audi and Mercedes have split in the previous six events, three wins for each marque. Two other former winners are in the field, 2005 victor, Gary Paffett and defending race champion Tom Kristensen. For a complete list of Zandvoort’s winners, click here.
The championship got quite a shake-up in the last round at Mugello. Ekström retook the points lead thanks to a strong 2nd place showing coupled with a disappointing run for Bernd Schneider. The reigning champion had an early incident was only able to finish 11th. That snapped a streak of 17 straight finishes in the points for Schneider, whose deficit is now 6.5 points.
Still, there was a lot of success for Mercedes as Mika Häkkinen used a brilliant pit strategy to pick up his 2nd win of the year. First place points boosted the Finn’s total to 20 and pulled him even with Martin Tomczyk for 5th in the championship. Paul di Resta bounced back from his recent woes to finish third, followed by Bruno Spengler and Daniel La Rosa, all in Mercedes machinery. Those points for Spengler show him in third place in the championship with di Resta tied on 22 points and within 10 of the leader.
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline picked up some breathing room thanks to Ekström and the plight of Scneider, extending their Team Title lead to 4.5 points. Click here for the full 2007 points standings.
Who will taste Dutch victory? Look for Schneider and Spengler to be strong (2nd and 4th last year) as well as the 3 former winners. Maybe even a first time winner, like say Jamie Green or Mike Rockenfeller. Keep up with all the action at www.dtm.de.
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