F?ssler happy with new CLK

After taking part in the common DTM test at Adria in Italy last month, Mercedes have been back to work this week at the A1-Ring in Austria. Work focused on set up and tyres ahead of the season opener at Hockenheim on April 27th and the final test is ...

After taking part in the common DTM test at Adria in Italy last month, Mercedes have been back to work this week at the A1-Ring in Austria. Work focused on set up and tyres ahead of the season opener at Hockenheim on April 27th and the final test is next week, two days prior to the Presentation, also at Hockenhiem, on April 9th.

Marcel Fassler.

Photo by ITR e.V..

Marcel F?ssler will drive one of four new CLKs this season and he is optimistic with the performance in testing: "We worked on set up," he told Motorsport.com after the Austria test. "I was quite happy, it seems like it (the new car) will be good. We could see more improvement from Adria and overall you can feel the car is quite good."

At Adria it was Stefan M?cke who set the fastest times on the first two days, in a 2002 spec chassis but F?ssler isn't concerned about it: "I'm not worried about the times from the older car. They always run lighter in testing and we were running different specifications and programmes, so you can't really compare."

Opel and Audi were also at Adria but, again, F?ssler was not willing to speculate on how Mercedes measure up: "We set the fastest times but Opel were running an interim car and Audi a 2002 car, so you can't really judge. But the others won't rest, they are still working and so are we."

With the first race fast approaching, how does F?ssler rate his chances this year? "I don't like to say too much," he said. "You just have to keep scoring points and take it race by race. I will do the best I can and if I know I have performed to the best of my ability, I will be happy with that."

It looks likely that F?ssler will again be partnered by Uwe Alzen this season but it won't be with the Warsteiner team. Warsteiner has dropped its DTM sponsorship -- Marcel believes it is due to the company taking a different marketing strategy and it's dropping many of its motor racing interests. A new sponsor has yet to be revealed but will be made known at the Presentation.