Semifinal in France: DTM in Le Mans

After the Le Mans 24 Hours and Le Mans Classic, the famous motor racing city in the French Sarthe region will be hosting a third highlight this year: from October 3 till 5, the "Circuit Bugatti" in Le Mans will be the venue for the tenth and penultimate round of the 2008 DTM, the most popular international touring car series. After the successful premiere in 2006, the DTM will be racing in Le Mans for the second time.

This is the chance for French race fans to enjoy the fascinating sight of the 480 hp strong state-of-the-art touring cars from Audi and Mercedes-Benz, featuring star drivers like five times’ DTM champion Bernd Schneider, ex-Formula 1-driver Ralf Schumacher, eight times’ Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and "Race of Champions"-winner Mattias Ekström, the defending DTM champion.

With a strong entry of 19 cars from premium brands Audi and Mercedes-Benz, the DTM is very popular among fans all over the world. The V8-powered, rear-wheel driven cars are looking spectacular and close racing on the track keeps the spectators on their feet. With an average attendance of over 80,000 visitors per round last year, the DTM is considered as the most popular international touring car series.

The three days of the event provide plenty of DTM action on the track: there are two test sessions of 90 minutes each on Friday, one free practice session of 60 minutes on Saturday morning, a spectacular qualifying session with a "shoot-out" format of three heats on Saturday afternoon and a race of over one hour including two mandatory pit stops on Sunday.

In the paddock, there is a lot to see as well. Spectators have the possibility to buy paddock tickets, allowing them to get close to where the action is. Interviews and autograph sessions with the DTM drivers are a regular feature at DTM weekends, just like the pit walkabouts.

The battle for the title could already be decided in Le Mans. Audi’s Timo Scheider, who scored his first victory in the DTM at Oschersleben and also won the DTM round at Brands Hatch in August, is currently leading the points’ standings. With two rounds remaining and a maximum of 20 points still at stake, he has a margin of seven points over Mercedes-Benz driver Paul di Resta, who has also scored two wins in his first season with a new car.

The young Scot has fond memories of Le Mans, where he scored a dominant race win on his way towards the title in the Formula 3 Euro Series back in 2006. In the DTM, he scored his maiden victory at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in May and also won the most recent round at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. Theoretically, defending champion Mattias Ekström (Audi) and Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) also still have a chance of winning this year’s DTM title.

With Alexandre Prémat, there is one French driver on the grid of the 2008 DTM. Following his achievements in single-seater racing, the Frenchman signed to drive in the DTM for Audi last year and showed a strong performance in his debut season. This year, he is alternating his activities in the DTM with his efforts in Audi’s sports car team in the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Together with team-mate Mike Rockenfeller, Prémat has won the drivers’ title in the LMP1-category of the Le Mans Series and helped Audi win the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships. In the Le Mans 24 Hours, the two finished fourth overall, accompanied by Lucas Luhr. In the DTM, Alexandre Prémat scored his best result of the season so far in the most recent round at the Circuit de Catalunya, where he finished sixth with his year-old car.

Ralf Schumacher, Germany’s second-most successful Formula 1 driver in the history of the world championship, is in his first season in the DTM. He claimed his first championship point in the series at the Nürburgring and scored his best result so far by finishing seventh in Barcelona.

As one of the DTM’s official partner series, the Formula 3 Euro Series will have two rounds at the "Bugatti Circuit" in Le Mans as well. This is one of the leading international single-seater categories, having brought forth current Formula 1 stars like Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Timo Glock, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil.

Established in 2003 from the amalgamation of the German and French national Formula 3 Championships, the Formula 3 Euro Series traditionally has a strong French involvement from teams and drivers alike.

French team ART Grand Prix from Villeneuve-la-Guyard has won the title in the past four years and is currently leading the drivers’ standings with German driver Nico Hülkenberg and has also scored victories with Jules Bianchi, the great-nephew of Luchien Bianchi, the winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1968. Signature-Plus from Bourges has won races with Edoardo Mortara and Franck Mailleux this year.

SG Formula from La Rochelle is having a successful debut season in the category with a podium finish for Yann Clairay.

Another category on the support package of the DTM is the spectacular SEAT Leon Supercopa with its 300 hp strong race cars and a huge field of young up-and-coming drivers and seasoned one-make series’ specialists. The event package is being completed by the Legend Cars Cup, the Radical European Masters and the Formul’Academy Euro Series.

In addition to the roaring engines of the Audi and Mercedes-Benz DTM racers, the 10th DTM round, held from 3rd to 5th October at Le Mans, also will feature an extraordinary music highlight: the Blues Brothers are back! On Saturday evening, the cult band will give a live concert within the scope of the French DTM weekend.

Their career as musicians was kicked off at the TV station NBC with appearances in the show ‘Saturday Night Live’. With the album ’Briefcase full of Blues’, published in 1978, the late great John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd succeeded in making their definite breakthrough and two years later, their movie ‘Blues brothers’ took them to cult status.

Some 30 years after the foundation of the band, it won’t appear in its original line-up but still has got what it takes to inspire the crowds with its sound. Despite the band name, many of the Blues Brothers tunes are based on soul and rock elements. Their unmistakable trademark: the dark sunglasses.

Within the scope of the French DTM weekend, the Blues Brothers will give their first live concert for years. The gig will begin on Saturday evening (04th October, 2008), at 20:00hrs, on the car park P16. For DTM spectators with a valid ticket, the admission will be free.

www.lemans.org

- Automobile Club de l'Ouest, ACO -  photos ITR