Timo Scheider, Audi’s History Man
In clinching the DTM title at Hockenheim last weekend, Timo Scheider wrote both himself and Audi into the series history books. During the course of the season, Scheider took Audi’s 50th race win in the DTM, while his title ensured Audi became the first ever manufacturer to claim a hattrick of DTM titles since the series began in 1984, with Scheider becoming only the second driver ever to retain the DTM title.
Scheider joins DTM legend Bernd Schneider as the holder of that particular honour, with the Mercedes great having won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. For Scheider though, the route to the top of the DTM’s tree hasn’t been smooth, with the 30-year-old not reaching the podium until his seventh season of tin-top racing.
The Early Years
Born in Lahnstein on the River Rhine, Scheider began karting in 1989, winning the Winter Cup at Kerpen in 1992 before going on to win the German Junior Karting Cup two years later. This brought about a step up to single seaters with immediate success.
The German Formula Renault 1800 championship fell to Scheider in his first season, although the step up to the Formula Renault 2000 category in 1996 proved a tougher nut to crack. Alex Müller won the title with Scheider down in fourth, but that was still enough to earn graduation to Formula Three and a plum seat at reigning champions KMS Benetton Junior Team, who had overseen Jarno Trulli to the 1996 title.
Third on his debut augured well, but Scheider was up against the immoveable force that was Nick Heidfeld, who swept to the title. Timo ran him close however, winning three races and finishing just six points behind in the standings, well clear of teammates Müller and Dominik Schwager, though it was both of them who moved up to F3000 with the Oreca run BMW Junior Team at the seasons end.
Two more years of German Formula Three followed, but no titles were forthcoming. In 1998 racing one of the few Martini’s in the field with Josef Kaufmann Racing, Scheider again picked up three wins, but finished well down in seventh overall as Bas Leinders took the title. A year on and it was another future DTM star taking the honours, in the shape of Christijan Albers, while Scheider, who partnered Marcel Fassler in the Bemani Dallara, came home sixth.
His third season of F3 would be make-or-break for Scheider’s future single seater aspirations, and four consecutive podiums, including a win at the Sachensring, from the opening four races seemed to point to a successful season. But the win in Saxony proved to be his last for six years, as Scheider failed to return to the rostrum until October.
DTM: Part One
After an absence of three years, the DTM was resurrected in 2000, with Scheider handed the wheel of one of the eight Opel Astra V8 Coupes that would take part in the series. Having driven Opel engined Formula Three machines for the past three years Scheider was familiar to the Rüsselsheim manufacturer, earning himself a drive in the Holzer run cars, alongside Uwe Alzen, Joachim Winkelhock and Eric Helary.
Twelfth in the standings, with 45 points and a best result of fourth in each of the opening two races at Hockenheim was the outcome, but still enough to keep Timo in the Holzer run Opel in 2001. With Manuel Reuter’s runner up spot overall though, the Astra had reached its DTM zenith, as the marque remained winless over the next five seasons.
Unsurprisingly as a relatively inexperienced touring car driver, Scheider struggled in the uncompetitive Opel, slumping to 19th in the 2001 championship, with a best result of sixth at Zandvoort. In 2002, still with Holzer, Scheider improved to eighth in the standings, comprehensively beating teammate Michael Bartels. A best result of fourth at the Hockenheim finale augured well for 2003 and also highlighted Scheider’s impressive ability at the circuit where he would eventually clinch two DTM titles.
For his fourth DTM season Scheider was switched to the Phoenix run Astra alongside Peter Dumbreck, as Reuter and Alain Menu took the Holzer seats. Still with his PM Magazin liveried car, Scheider again came eighth in the standings, but was outshone by Dumbreck, who while finishing only a position higher, outscored his teammate 45 points to 12, and whereas the Scot finished in the top five on four occasions, Scheider could do so only once at the EuroSpeedway, collecting his best result of the season, a fourth place (and top Opel).
At Zandvoort though, Scheider went perilously close to winning his first touring car race, having clinched his first pole position, and leading comfortably at the Dutch track, the Astra lost a wheel. Battling with Albers, Scheider entered the pits, but in their haste to maintain his lead mechanics didn’t tighten his right front wheel, and Scheider would have to wait another five years for his first taste of victory in the series.
A win in an Opel did however come mid-season at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, with Scheider partnering Reuter and Marcel Tiemann to the win in a Phoenix prepared machine.
2004 saw Opel switch to the Vectra GTS V8, and Scheider back at Team Holzer alongside Reuter and debutant Heinz-Harald Frenzten, and with a new livery as his red and black PM car became a red and white ‘Woman’ sponsored machine. A fifth place at Adria was Scheider’s best result as he remained eighth in the championship but top Opel driver, ahead of Reuter, Frentzen, Dumbreck, Fassler, Jeroen Bleekmolen and Laurent Aiello.
Intermission
Despite having seen off more established DTM names within the Opel ranks, the manufacturer cut their team from six works entries to four, with Scheider one of the casualties. As luck would have it, the German missed out on another dire DTM season for Opel, with two podiums for Frentzen being the rare high points, as the ex-F1star was the only Opel man to make the season ending top ten.
For Scheider the season would see him build an excellent reputation in sportscar circles, as he partnered former Opel teammate Michael Bartels to within a point of the FIA GT1 Drivers’ Championship at the wheel of a Maserati MC12. The duo would lose out on the overall title to the ultra consistent Swiss Gabriel Cardel, whose Ferrari 550 Maranello ran like clockwork to take points in every round. Failures to score at Imola and on home tarmac at Oscherleben would cost the Vitaphone team the drivers’ title, although the teams’ championship will have been some consolation.
Scheider and co did though picked up the prestigious win at the Spa 24 Hours and also victory in Istanbul while the new A1 GP championship provided a chance to return to single seaters, as Scheider occupied the Team Germany seat for over half the rounds, sharing with future F1 driver Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Stahl.
Despite being run by the crack Super Nova team, it was a poor season with Scheider’s second at the penultimate round at Laguna Seca in America being the highlight.
DTM: Part Two
Although only 27, Scheider’s wealth of DTM experience saw Audi end his sportscar ‘exile’. Having driven one of the Ingolstadt company’s ‘taxis’ at the Norisring in 2005, a car Scheider admitted was “the best DTM car that I ever drove, the fact that Audi came calling was no surprise.
“Timo has shown that he is one of the fastest in a DTM car,” said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich at the time, “He brings five years of DTM experience with him to Audi. He is also an intelligent and stylish guy who fits perfectly to the Audi brand.”
Partnered with Frank Stippler in the year old Rosberg machines, Scheider came out on top of the older Audi machines to finish in the top ten of the DTM, with a brace of sixth places as his best position. A return to the 24 Hours of Spa in AF Corse’s Ferrari 430 GT saw Scheider add a GT2 class win to his repertoire, with Mika Salo and Rui Aguas his co-drivers.
An up-to-date 2007 A4 was his reward for his ’06 exploits in the ageing Audi, completing the four strong Abt Sportsline team and bringing about a, then, career best finish of seventh overall. That included finishing in the top five in half of the races, with a first ever DTM podium coming in the final round at Hockenheim, a race that in the next two seasons would see Scheider clinch the championship.
Second time out in 2008 saw a first win, at Oscherleben, with the season providing Scheider with eight podiums from the eleven races. The Audi man held off a late surge Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta, who finished in the top two at each of the last five races, to clinch back-to-back titles for Audi, following Mattias Ekström’s 2007 title.
Brands Hatch was his second victory of the season, with a strong performance, once again, at the season finale at Hockenheim making it three wins for the year.
The 2008 ADAC Sportsman of the Year award was added to the trophy cabinet alongside the DTM title, and while Scheider returned in an unchanged lead Audi team for 2009, many would have bet on ’08 title rivals Di Resta and Ekström to be ahead of him in the fight for the championship.
Once again though it was Scheider who would take the title to join Bernd Schneider in that illustrious club. Just like in 2008 a Brit in a Mercedes would run him close, but this time it was 2005 DTM champion Gary Paffett, who had the speed, it not the outright consistent podium finishes.
A disqualification from eighth at Zandvoort as Audi suffered a variety of penalties threatened to derail the reigning champs season, but Scheider bounced back with four straight podium finishes, including wins at Oscherleben and Barcelona to seize control of the championship.
Scheider recovered to finish as lead Audi in France as the make suffered a raft of punctures, but Paffett had narrowed his advantage to seven points going into the final race. As in other years though, Hockenheim was the scene of a vintage performance by Timo, as he finished runner up to his rival to claim his second title, and Audi’s hattrick, by five points.
The 30-year-old joins an exclusive list of multiple DTM champions along with Ekström (2), Klaus Ludwig (3) and Schneider (4) and as previously mentioned shares the distinction of being only the second driver ever to retain the DTM.
Scheider is also now comfortably the most experienced driver on the DTM grid, with almost 100 starts in the category and the only man to have been in the championship back in 2000 when it was reborn; a far cry from his hopes to be a pop star if not a racing driver, although by starring in a Nintendo television commercial alongside his fiancée Jasmin and son Loris, Scheider has already gone someway to attaining ‘celebrity’ status in his homeland.
As for what the future holds, in 2010 Scheider will be gunning for an unprecedented hattrick of titles and with the cars frozen to this year’s standards, the double champion knows he has a machine capable of again doing well. While struggling with Opel, critics would have laughed at the idea that Scheider could become an all time DTM great, but with a very consistent finishing record and having spent 2009 carving his name into history, next year and beyond will be interesting watching, not only for the future of the championships, but also to see just how far up the all time stakes Scheider can rise.
Timo Scheider’s DTM Record
2000 Opel Team Holzer 12th 45pts
2001 Opel Team Holzer 19th 7pts
2002 Opel Team Holzer 8th 10pts
2003 Opel Team Phoenix 8th 12pts
2004 Opel Team Holzer 8th 15pts
2006 Audi Sport Team Rosberg 10th 12pts
2007 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 7th 25pts
2008 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 1st 75pts
2009 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 1st 64pts
