Hockenheimring, Apr 20: Former Grand Prix driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a close shave after his second pit stop, on lap 19. As he sped away in his Opel teammate Laurent Aiello pulled out, but the German just beat him to the track. Another Audi driver, Mattias Ekstrom, had to make his second pit stop on his 17th lap. Problems for Alesi allowed Paffett to pass and then he, too, was overtaken on lap 22 by Schneider. Alesi went out with a damaged undertray on lap 25. A broken wishbone on Schneider's Mercedes slowed him down, giving Ekstrom the chance to overtake and the reigning champion went out on lap 33. But at the finish it was the 23-year-old Paffett, 2.2 seconds ahead of teammate Christijan Albers. Ekstrom was third.


It was Paffett's first win after nine starts and he said afterwards: "I feel a bit sorry for Bernd because he drove a really good race but, no, I'm really happy to win my first race. It's incredible."


The next race will be at Estoril on May 2.


Bureau Report