McNish misses out on podium finish
Allan McNish broke his DTM points duck at Brno today but left the Czech Republic disappointed after a potential podium finish was snatched away from him.
The Scotsman enjoyed the most competitive weekend of his rookie German touring car season so far to figure amongst the front-runners in his Audi.
McNish started from seventh but led the race briefly before settling into a battle for the podium.
But that challenge was blunted when he was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him out of the top four and leaving him to collect two points for seventh place.
“I’m disappointed,” said McNish. “A top-three was definitely achievable and to miss out on my first DTM podium due to a pit lane speeding violation is hard to take – I’m still not sure how it happened.
“But, taking all of the positives from the last three days, I was on the pace throughout which bodes well for the remainder of the season.”
McNish’s Audi team enjoyed a resurgence this weekend with reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom winning the race to steal the championship lead away from Englishman Gary Paffett.
Six-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen came home second to give Audi a one-two finish as Heinz-Harald Frentzen earned his best-ever DTM finish with third for Opel.
Bromley-born Paffett took fourth place for Mercedes despite a penalty for jumping the start and he has slipped three points behind Ekstrom in the standings.
Paffett said: “It was my mistake but I managed to work my way through from 14th to claim some valuable points.”
Leicester’s Jamie Green brought his Mercedes home in fifth while two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen was down in 13th.
