Not everything went according to plan in the career of “Mr. DTM” either: Bernd Schneider was “pretty miffed” when Laurent Aiello stole victory from him on the last lap
With 43 race wins, Bernd Schneider is the most successful DTM driver of all time! But not everything has always gone smoothly in the five-time champion’s 22-year DTM career. In the 2002 race at the Norisring, Schneider had to let Abt Audi driver Laurent Aiello overtake him on the last corner. “Bernd was pretty pissed off back then,” smiles Abt CEO Hans-Jürgen Abt.
“Of course, that was the top highlight,” recalls Abt of his driver’s great move. “He was ‘Mister DTM’, the best and most successful DTM driver of all time. Only Aiello has managed to beat him like that. He outsmarted him in the last corner.”
Schneider thought he saw a yellow flag at the time. “But there wasn’t one, at most a yellow Abt flag,” says Abt. “The Norisring is our home race and winning there has always been particularly difficult. It was one of the few Audi victories at the Norisring that brought us a lot of attention. Races like this are few and far between. “
Schneider has “had to nibble at it “
For Schneider, too, the crazy Norisring race is understandably memorable. He will “never forget” the race, said Schneider at this year’s 40th anniversary DTM celebration at the Norisring. “I had to nibble at it, I lost the season, finished second in the championship.”
“And my friends came up to me and said: That went badly. I think to myself: What do they expect from me? You can’t win every race and every championship every year,” recalls the 236-time DTM starter. “But that’s the expectation – and at some point you set yourself that expectation. And then you also have difficult times. “
“I believe that if you go through something like that and have people at your side who give you the right advice, you come back even stronger,” says Schneider today. “When things are going well and you win everything, everything is always easy. The times that shape you are the times when things don’t go well. They make you strong. “
“Winning is easy. Losing is much harder “
Experiences such as at the Norisring in 2002, when things didn’t go so well for Schneider, were therefore also important for the career of the most successful DTM driver of all time. “I’ve always said: Winning is easy. Losing is much more difficult,” says Schneider. “Above all, when you’ve already won a lot, the pressure is extremely high. “
Then it can also happen to a “Mr. DTM” to be surprised by the competition. Like Aiello, who won the title in his third DTM season in 2002. “Aiello was really wild,” recalls Hans-Jürgen Abt. “He was the absolute superstar on the scene back then with his special manner.”
“But he was also very familiar and that’s why he loved driving for us,” reveals the Abt boss, who knows how important the Frenchman was for the company. “He lived in his own world, but brought a lot to us as a company. Whenever there was performance to be delivered, he was there. He actually brought us to where we are today. “
