DTM

Opel secures podium finish

In the third DTM round, held at the Whitsun weekend, at Spa-Francorchamps, Opel already proved to be on the way up. At the Belgian GP circuit, the cars bearing the lightning were able battle it out with the front-runners, at any time. And in round four, held from 3rd to 5th June at Brno, Czech Republic, this upward trend was confirmed by Opel's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who succeeded in securing an - according to the international media - 'sensational third place'.

For the former runner-up in the Formula One World Championship, this third place represented his first podium finish in his 14th DTM race. "It feels great to be back on the podium," beamed Frentzen. "This is a result we didn't expect. It's just sensational. It was important that I succeeded in getting the upper hand, at the start. This offered me the opportunity of getting the maximum performance out of my car." Behind the wheel of his Spiess powered Vectra GTS V8, Frentzen turned out to be a coequal competitor.

"Heinz-Harald has performed a splendid race and had what it needed to absolutely match the pace of the leaders," stressed Opel Motorsport Director Volker Strycek.

Sweden's Mattias Ekström scored ten valuable championship points for his win at Brno, with his Danish Audi brand-mate, Tom Kristensen, finishing second.

The next DTM round will be held from 24th to 26th June, at the Motopark Oschersleben.