Ralf Schumacher finished a disappointing 14th in his first race in the German Touring Car series DTM.
The German left F1 after a poor 2007 with Toyota, and joined the DTm series racing for Mercedes Benz in the Trilux team.
He took to the track in his first race in familiar territory of Hockenheim GP Circuit.
Although only 14th, it was a solid start in the series. Incidentally, the race was won by defending world champion Markus Ekstrom in the Red Bull Audi.
“The main thing was to get a good feel for it,” Ralf commented after yesterday’s race to dtm.com.
“The start wasn’t perfect but then, I succeeded in passing two cars on the track – and one in the pit-lane, thanks to the good job delivered by my team.
“We must try to gain positions in qualifying. This time, it would have been enough if I had been some hundredths of a second faster. But Oschersleben is a completely other circuit and we will have to wait and see how I’m going to do”
He will be racing again in the second round of the season, which will be held at Oschersleben.
Ralf Happens