2007 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

The 2007 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twenty-first season of premier German touring car championship and also eighth season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000.

2007 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Drivers' Champion:
Mattias Ekström
Teams' Champion:
Abt Sportsline

Previous

2006

Next

2008

Support series:
Formula 3 Euro Series

Mattias Ekström (left) won his second Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Drivers' Championship while Bruno Spengler (right) finished second in the championship.

The Drivers' Championship was won by Mattias Ekström.

Season summary

The season started dramatically with massive crash on opening lap of Hockenheim race. As a result, Tom Kristensen and Alexandre Prémat were forced to sit out races.^[1][2]

The season also included many controversial moments. In Lausitzring, the safety car caught the wrong driver and this shook up race results almost completely. Organizers admitted that Mika Häkkinen deserved the win and Paul di Resta second place, but other drivers were not in the places where they should have been. As a result, half points were awarded and thus race director Roland Bruynseraede was sacked on 31 May 2007.^[3]

At Zandvoort, Audi drivers swapped positions on the start/finish straight on the final lap, handing the race win to Martin Tomczyk instead of Prémat.^[4] Audi Motorsport Director Wolfgang Ullrich denied the presence of team orders and instead said that Prémat did the move on his own.^[5]

At the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona before 42,000 spectators, Häkkinen collided with Martin Tomczyk and Daniel la Rosa with Mattias Ekström. This and couple of other incidents caused that all Audi drivers withdrew from the race on the instruction of Audi Motorsport Director Wolfgang Ullrich with nine laps to go. Häkkinen and la Rosa were excluded from the race (which was meaningless as both drivers retired in the incidents), fined and given 10-place grid penalty for final race of the season.^[6][7]

This was the final season that Vodafone was a front windscreen sponsor as well as Blaupunkt as a front vehicle plate sponsor.

Teams and drivers

The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2007 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.

Manufacturer	Car	Team	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Mercedes-Benz	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2007	HWA Team	1	Bernd Schneider	All
			2	Bruno Spengler	All
			5	Jamie Green	All
			6	Mika Häkkinen	All
	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006	Persson Motorsport	9	Gary Paffett	All
			10	Alexandros Margaritis	All
	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005		19	Paul di Resta	All
	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006	Mücke Motorsport	14	Susie Stoddart	All
			15	Daniel la Rosa	All
	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005		18	Mathias Lauda	All
Audi	Audi A4 DTM 2007	Abt Sportsline	3	Mattias Ekström	All
			4	Martin Tomczyk	All
			7	Tom Kristensen	1, 5-10
				Frank Biela	2
				Markus Winkelhock	3-4
			8	Timo Scheider	All
	Audi A4 DTM 2006	Team Rosberg	11	Mike Rockenfeller	All
			12	Lucas Luhr	All
		Team Phoenix	16	Christian Abt	All
			17	Alexandre Prémat	1, 3-10
				Marco Werner	2
	Audi A4 DTM 2005	Futurecom TME	20	Adam Carroll	1-5
				Markus Winkelhock	6-10
			21	Vanina Ickx	All
Sources:[8][9]

Driver changes

Jean Alesi left the DTM after five seasons in the championship, citing frustration with driving a year old car in 2006.^[10]

2006 Formula 3 Euro Series champion Paul di Resta joined the series with Persson Motorsport.^[11]

Stefan Mücke left the series after five seasons.^[12] He was replaced at Mücke Motorsport by Mathias Lauda who had driven for Perrsson Motorsport the previous season.

2005 DTM champion Gary Paffett returned to the series with Perrsson Motorsport after spending the previous year focussing on his role as test driver at the McLaren F1 Team.^[13]

Heinz-Harald Frentzen left the series after claiming that he had no support from Audi.^[14] He was replaced by Timo Scheider who had driven for Team Rosberg the previous season.^[15]

Mike Rockenfeller and Lucas Luhr joined the series with Team Rosberg after both switching from being Porsche factory drivers to Audi factory drivers.^[15]

GP2 frontrunner Alexandre Prémat joined the series with Team Phoenix.^[15]

GP2 driver Adam Carroll joined the series with Futurecom TME.^[16]

Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler both left the series.

Mid season changes

Tom Kristensen had to miss three rounds due to injuries sustained at the season opener in Hockenheim. He was replaced by Frank Biela at Oschersleben and Markus Winkelhock at EuroSpeedway and Brands Hatch.^[17][18]

Alexandre Prémat had to miss the Oschersleben round due to injuries sustained at the season opener in Hockenheim. He was replaced by Marco Werner.^[19]

Adam Carroll left Futurecom TME after the fifth round after failing to fulfill sponsorship obligations and returned to the GP2 Series. He was replaced by Markus Winkelhock for the remainder of the season.^[20]

Race calendar and winners

Round	Circuit	Date	Local Time	Pole position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning manufacturer	TV
	Präsentation Düsseldorf	15 April	10:00
1	Hockenheimring	22 April	14:00	Bruno Spengler	Mattias Ekström	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	ARD
2	Oschersleben	6 May	14:00	Mika Häkkinen	Jamie Green	Gary Paffett	Laureus AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
3	EuroSpeedway	20 May	14:00	Bruno Spengler	Mattias Ekström	Mika Häkkinen	AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
4	Brands Hatch	10 June	13:00	Mika Häkkinen	Martin Tomczyk	Bernd Schneider	Original-Teile AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
5	Norisring	24 June	14:00	Bruno Spengler	Bruno Spengler	Bruno Spengler	DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
6	Mugello	15 July	17:45	Mattias Ekström	Martin Tomczyk	Mika Häkkinen	AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
7	Zandvoort	29 July	13:00	Timo Scheider	Jamie Green	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	ARD
8	Nürburgring	2 September	15:00	Martin Tomczyk	Bruno Spengler	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	ARD
9	Barcelona	23 September	14:00	Martin Tomczyk	Bruno Spengler	Jamie Green	Salzgitter AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
10	Hockenheimring	14 October	14:00	Tom Kristensen	Jamie Green	Jamie Green	Salzgitter AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD
Source:[21]

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.^[22]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Points	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver HOC OSC LAU• BRH NOR MUG ZAN NÜR CAT HOC Pts 1 Mattias Ekström 1 7 10 3 3 2 3 3 Ret 3 50 2 Bruno Spengler 14 Ret 3 5 1 4 5 2 2 4 47 3 Martin Tomczyk 2 5 9 2 Ret Ret 1 1 Ret 9 40 4 Jamie Green 6 11 6 6 6 Ret 11 5 1 1 34.5 5 Paul di Resta 5 2 2 Ret 15 3 14 6 3 8 32 6 Bernd Schneider 7 6 4 1 2 11 12 7 Ret 5 31.5 7 Timo Scheider 9 4 5 13 14 Ret 4 4 Ret 2 25 8 Mika Häkkinen 10 17 1 4 9 1 7 10 DSQ 17 22 9 Gary Paffett 8 1 8 10 4 Ret 9 12 5 Ret 20.5 10 Alexandros Margaritis 4 8 Ret 9 7 Ret 8 13 4 7 16 11 Alexandre Prémat Ret Ret 7 8 7 2 9 10† 16 13 12 Mike Rockenfeller 12 3 13 Ret 13 6 10 17 7† DSQ 11 13 Daniel la Rosa 3 14 16† DSQ 12 5 DNS 14 DSQ 10 10 14 Tom Kristensen Ret 5 8 18† 8 9† 6 9 15 Mathias Lauda 13 13 7 12 11 12† 15 11 6 11 4 16 Christian Abt Ret 10 17† 8 10 Ret 6 15 11† 15 4 17 Lucas Luhr 11 12 14 11 18† Ret 16 16 8† 12 1 18 Adam Carroll Ret 9 11 15 17† 0 19 Markus Winkelhock Ret 14 9 13 Ret 12† 13 0 20 Susie Stoddart Ret 16 12 16 16 10 17 18 Ret 14 0 21 Vanina Ickx 15 Ret 15 17 Ret Ret DNS 19 13† 18 0 22 Marco Werner 15 0 23 Frank Biela 18† 0 Pos Driver HOC OSC LAU• BRH NOR MUG ZAN NÜR CAT HOC Pts Sources:[23][24]

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

• † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

• Half points were awarded at EuroSpeedway because of mistakes by race director during the safety car period. (Points were awarded 5-4-3-2.5-2-1.5-1-0.5).

Teams' championship

Pos.	Team	No.	HOC	OSC	LAU•	BRH	NOR	MUG	ZAN	NÜR	CAT	HOC	Points
1	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	3	1	7	10	3	3	2	3	3	Ret	3	90
		4	2	5	9	2	Ret	Ret	1	1	Ret	9
2	Original-Teile / DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes	1	7	6	4	1	2	11	12	7	Ret	5	78.5
		2	14	Ret	3	5	1	4	5	2	2	4
3	Salzgitter / AMG Mercedes	5	6	11	6	6	6	Ret	11	5	1	1	56.5
		6	10	17	1	4	9	1	7	10	DSQ	17
4	stern / Laureus AMG Mercedes	9	8	1	8	10	4	Ret	9	12	5	Ret	36.5
		10	4	8	Ret	9	7	Ret	8	13	4	7
5	Audi Sport Team Abt	7	Ret	18†	Ret	14	5	8	18†	8	9†	6	34
		8	9	4	5	13	14	Ret	4	4	Ret	2
6	TV Spielfilm / JAWA4U.de AMG Mercedes	14	Ret	16	12	16	16	10	17	18	Ret	14	32
		19	5	2	2	Ret	15	3	14	6	3	8
7	Audi Sport Team Phoenix	16	Ret	10	17†	8	10	Ret	6	15	11†	15	17
		17	Ret	15	Ret	7	8	7	2	9	10†	16
8	TrekStor / Trilux AMG Mercedes	15	3	14	16†	DSQ	12	5	DNS	14	DSQ	10	14
		18	13	13	7	12	11	12†	15	11	6	11
9	Audi Sport Team Rosberg	11	12	3	13	Ret	13	6	10	17	7†	DSQ	12
		12	11	12	14	11	18†	Ret	16	16	8†	12
10	Futurecom TME	20	Ret	9	11	15	17†	9	13	Ret	12†	13	0
		21	15	Ret	15	17	Ret	Ret	DNS	19	13†	18
Pos.	Team	No.	HOC	OSC	LAU•	BRH	NOR	MUG	ZAN	NÜR	CAT	HOC	Points
Sources:[22][23]