Champion Aiello on the podium.

The opening shot of the new DTM season has been fired, producing an exhilarating start to the 2003 campaign with a new-look format and ever-excitable crowds witnessing the first race of Laurent Aiello's title defence at Hockenheim.

After 37 laps and many spectacular position fights, the 33-year old Frenchman only had to Bernd Schneider and Marcel F?ssler in front of him as he finished in third place. Mattias Ekstr?m, meanwhile, completed a successful start for Abt Sportsline team by taking eighth place in the field of 21 drivers.

The new DTM season could hardly have had a more turbulent start. Just as the green flag dropped, rain set in over the Hockenheimring Baden-W?rttemberg and, with only three laps in the book, the race director had no option but to deploy the safety car because all cars had started the race on slick tyres. Even then, for Peter Terting - at 19 years old, the youngest driver in the history of the DTM - the neutralisation came too late. On the opening lap, the Audi Junior spun off the slippery track and had to retire after hitting a wall.

"Of course, I had a different expectation of my premiere in the DTM - particularly that I expected it to last a few laps longer," Terting sighed, "But conditions were so difficult that even a slight mistake was enough. It really is too bad - in all tests and practice sessions, I only spun once and then I could continue, but here in the race, it already happens on the first lap. But I have learned an awful lot and I will try to benefit from that in Italy."

After the first range of pit-stops, it was reigning champion Aiello in particular who excited the spectators. The Abt driver, who had started the race from fourth place on the grid, had a spectacular fight with Mercedes driver Jean Alesi, finally defeating his fellow Frenchman after much door-to-door running. F?ssler was the next adversary in Aiello's chase but, after the Swiss driver had countered several attacks, the champion decided to play it safe and made do with third place. At the finish line, Aiello and F?ssler were separated by only 0.29secs.

"I am very happy," Aiello admitted, "In the opening round, we wanted to score as many points as possible and we succeeded. My TT-R is feeling very good and is definitely a winning car. Now, we will get to know it even better, we will sort out all the minor details and try to strike back. At Adria, I definitely want to qualify better and then attack again."

"That was a dramatic start of our new season, as conditions could hardly have been more difficult," team boss Hans-J?rgen Abt commented, "The team had to get used to the new format, then also the rain and a total of three pit-stops. The important thing is that we are among the front runners. Congratulations to Bernd Schneider and Mercedes-Benz, but we will get our revenge."

The rain also complicated things for Ekstr?m. The young Swede, who celebrated his maiden DTM victory at Zandvoort last year, initially dropped back many places, but made it all the way back up into eighth position on a drying track in the closing stages, scoring one championship point.

"In the race, my TT-R was very difficult to drive, so I just waited until the track finally got dryer and then I started catching up," he explained, "Of course, I wanted more but, in these conditions, I am not dissatisfied - today, Swedish television has been broadcasting a DTM race for the first time. In a fortnight, I will make sure that a Swede can be seen on the screen more often."

Team-mate Karl Wendlinger had problems with the radio contact after a strong performance in the first part of the race. As with this year's new race format, including two mandatory tyre changes and refuelling, communication between driver and pit crew is particularly important, and Wendlinger had no chance of scoring any points.

"Unfortunately, today, I had to learn how difficult it is to find a perfect tactic without radio contact," the Austrian F1 veteran sighed, "It got lost right at the start of the race. I got rain tyres instead of slicks during my first pit-stop and thus lost a lot of time. But I made it all through the race, I had some duels and I am confident for the next rounds."

The was bad luck also for Christian Abt and Martin Tomczyk. Initially, Abt had to come in for a drive-through penalty, because he allegedly been speeding in the pit-lane, and finally ended up in the gravel trap as the throttle of his Abt-Audi TT-R was stuck. Tomczyk, who had started from the front row, drove error-free on a rain-soaked track and was fourth before his first mandatory pit-stop. During both tyre changes, however, there were problems with the left front wheel, which prevented him from being rewarded for his strong performance in qualifying.

"Today, it was quite chaotic, as rain right at the start of the race is probably the most unfortunate thing that can happen," Abt admitted, "Later on, I had some bad luck, as I slid into a tyre barrier after my throttle pedal got stuck. But anyway, this was the first of ten rounds, we are all on the pace, now, it can continue."

"During my pit-stop, there were problems with a wheel being stuck," Tomczyk confirmed, "It couldn't be solved properly and therefore, the new wheel didn't get on right away. It wasn't the fault of the mechanics, they have been doing their best as ever. Apart from that, things went quite well. After the start, I remained calm and I stayed out of all the troubles. We will continue like this."