With a margin of only 0.4 seconds, the Swede crossed the finish line in third place with his Audi A4 DTM ahead of his fiercest rival Bruno Spengler from Canada (Mercedes-Benz). Thus, Ekström won the title for the second time after 2004. “The feeling of being champion again is great and indescribable”, the 29-year old cheered. With a victory and six podium finishes, Ekström was the most consistent driver of the season. Victory in the season finale went to British Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green from Ekström’s fellow Audi driver Timo Scheider. For Green, it was already the second victory in a row.

The DTM finale electrified the crowds. A total of 152,000 spectators was a new record crowd for a DTM weekend. Also several VIPs like Veronica Ferres and Franziska van Almsick watched the thrilling final. Already at the start, there were fascinating battles. Pole sitter Tom Kristensen (Audi) briefly lost the lead to his fellow Audi driver Scheider, but he got his position back right away. Title candidate Martin Tomczyk got stuck with his Audi A4 DTM between the cars of Mercedes-Benz driver Jamie Green and Timo Scheider and damaged his car. Thus, the driver from Rosenheim had an early setback in the battle for the title. Eventually, Tomczyk finished ninth at Hockenheim and third in the final points’ standings. Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) was also involved in an accident on lap one, after which his car was stuck on the track. The safety-car led the field around the 4.574 kilometres long track for one lap.

During the race, the new champion made his way up into the lead, but was overtaken by Green and Scheider. Spengler also tried everything to secure his maiden DTM title. Being two points down, the 24 year old would have had to finish ahead of Ekström. Spengler climbed up from sixth on the grid and was even leading for a while because of the pit stops. After all drivers had completed their two mandatory pit stops and the situation was clear again, the two title candidates were immediately behind each other in third and fourth place. For many laps, Spengler tried to reduce the gap. Eventually, he was 0.4 seconds short of the newly-crowned champion Ekström. Spengler ended the season as runner-up.

Mattias Ekström (DTM champion 2007, 3rd place, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “The feeling of being champion again is great and indescribable. So many so great people have been working for this the whole year. That this great effort has been crowned with the championship is just fantastic. Thanks to all the mechanics and the engineers for the great support.”

Jamie Green (winner, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes): “I am really happy with my second win in a row. It is quite strange. Firstly, I don’t win a race for two years and then two in a row, but that is the way it is. This victory counts even more than the one in Barcelona. Back there, I already showed that I have the pace to win. Today, I have proven that I can do so without external factors as well.”

Timo Scheider (2nd place, Audi Sport Team Abt): “I am super happy with my maiden podium finish in the DTM. And victory for Mattias in the championship on top of that, it couldn’t have been better for me and for Audi today.”

Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “This was a great crowd that this finale also deserved. Everybody enjoyed this race in which we have seen touring car racing at its best. I am happy that we eventually won the championship, also for the team that has been working very hard throughout the season. Especially so as we had a very strong opponent with Mercedes-Benz. Winning this top-level championship is great. I am really happy and I am looking forward to the party tonight. Unfortunately, Martin Tomczyk didn’t have race luck on his side today. Still, he has shown a good performance. I am very happy for Timo Scheider. On Friday, some people even joked that he didn’t want to finish on the podium, but he has finally broken his duck.”

Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: “Congratulations to Audi for winning the championship. I am happy that we have staged such an exciting finale. We have no reason to be disappointed. This was ‘DTM at its best’, a finale as good as it comes: from the weather up to the competition. Many thanks to our team with which we were able to win seven out of ten races. During the season, all new C-Classes have won and with Gary Paffett also a driver with a year-old car. I think that this is a worthy end of this hardly-fought championship, and we can live with the result. Over the years, our record is very good.”