Dear fans, shortly before Christmas, I would like to take the opportunity to review this past season, my first season in DTM. During this busy season, moments of peace were rare. That’s why it is nice to take a look back and review this past DTM year now. And what should I say: it was simply a great experience!

It all started in late 2007 with the first test drives. Once I drove the car there was a great desire to get the seat and race with this car. When I was informed I would get the drive, I was absolutely over the moon. Six months earlier I would have never dreamt of driving in DTM and having Ralf Schumacher as my team mate during my first year.

The Mücke Motorsport team made my transition as smooth as possible and ensured everything was prepared perfectly. I knew that it would be really competitive in DTM, but I must say I never thought it was going to be that competitive just within the 2007 cars, let alone the rest of the grid. At the first race in Hockenheim, it was unbelievable how many people were there, on the grand stands, in the paddock or even on the grid. There is so much going on around you that it was a real challenge to keep my focus on driving the car.  

After the first race there wasn’t much time for relaxing, as the 2nd race in Oschersleben was only a week later. I was lying in 10th place and top Mercedes 2007 car, when 10 laps before the end Tom Kristensen spun off the track, and took me out in the process. Even though I had a DNF it was great for me to see that I was able to show a good performance this early in the season. My summary of the weekend: the performance was very encouraging; the unfortunate end of the race was not my fault. Since Oschersleben I knew: I could drive into the top 10. A great feeling!

In Mugello, the upwards trend continued. For the first time I made it into the 2nd segment of Qualifying. In the race I was lying in 9th place for a very long time before 2 new cars managed to pass me during the last laps. Still the race was great for me as I finished top 2007 Mercedes and was fighting with Bruno Spengler for a long time in the new 2008 Mercedes. Also I managed to keep Gary Paffet behind me during the entire weekend which was great for me. It was a very positive weekend, which further encouraged my motivation.

The 4th race of the season at the Lausitzring was further encouraging. In Qualifying, once again I managed to beat Paffet, even though the Eurospeedway in this configuration was completely new to me. At the end I finished 11th again and had a nice fight with Gary Paffett in the process. My résumé for the first 3rd of the season was positive as I was steadily improving.  

The second part of my season review will focus on the middle of the season. Until then I wish you all a nice build up to Christmas.

Your Maro.